fe/ 


HISTORY  OF  NATIONS. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND 


DURING    THE     REIONS    OF 

QUEEN  MARY    AND   OF   KING  JAMES  VI. 

TILL    HIS 

ACCESSION    TO   THE    CROWN    OF    ENGLAND. 

WITH  A 

REVIEW    OF   THE    SCOTTISH    HISTORY 

PREVIOUS  TO  THAT  PERIOD  : 

AMD    AN     APPENDIX,    CONTAINING    ORIGINAL    LETTERS. 

BY  WILLIAM  ROBERTSON,  D.D 

PRINCIPAL    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    EDINBURGH,    ETC.    ETC. 

COMPLETE   IN   ONE    VOLUME. 


THE  BRADLEY    COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS. 

NEW  YORK 


lectio.. 


o 
PREFACE 


SRLF 
URL 

V  7/8  66  5  | 


TO 

THE   FIRST    EDITION. 


I  deliver  this  book  to  the  world  with  all  the  diffidence  and  anxiety 
natural  to  an  author  on  publishing;  his  first  performance.  The  time  I  have 
employed,  and  the  pains  I  have  taken,  in  order  to  render  it  worthy  of  the 
public  approbation,  it  is,  perhaps,  prudent  to  conceal,  until  it  be  known 
whether  that  approbation  shall  ever  be  bestowed  upon  it. 

But  as  I  have  departed,  in  many  instances,  from  former  historians,  as  I 
have  placed  facts  in  a  different  light,  and  have  drawn  characters  w  ;  new 
colours,  I  ought  to  account  for  this  conduct  to  my  readers  ;  and  toprodure 
the  evidence  on  which,  at  the  distance  of  two  centuries,  I  presume  to  con 
tradict  the  testimony  of  less  remote,  or  even  of  contemporary  historians. 

The  transactions  in  Mary's  reign  gave  rise  to  two  parties,  which  were 
animated  against  ea»  h  other  wilb  the  fiercest  political  hatred,  embittered 
by  religious  zeal.  Each  of  these  produced  historians  of  considerable  merit, 
who  adopted  all  their  sentiments,  and  defended  all  their  actions.  Truth 
was  not  the  sole  object  of  these  authors.  Blinded  by  prejudices,  and 
heated  by  the  part  which  they  themselves  had  acted  in  the  scenes  theyde 
scribe,  they  wrote  an  apology  for  a  faction,  rather  than  the  history  of  their 
country.  Succeeding  historians  have  followed  these  guides  almost  im- 
plicitly, and  have  repeated  their  errors  and  misrepresentations.  But  as  the 
same  passions  which  inflamed  parties  in  that  age  have  descended  to  theii 
posterity;  as  almost  every  evt-nt  in  Mary's  reign  has  become  the  object  ot 
doubt  or  of  dispute  ;  the  eager  spirit  of  controversy  soon  discovered,  that 
without  some  evidence  more  authentic  and  more  impartial  tnan  that  of 
such  historians,  none  of  the  points  in  question  could  be  decided  with  cer- 
tainty. Records  have  therefore  been  searched,  original  papers  have  been 
produced,  and  public  archives,  as  well  as  the  repositories  of  private  men 
have  been  ransacked  by  the  zeal  and  curiosity  of  writers  of  different  par- 
ties. The  attention  of  Cecil  to  collect  whatever  related  to  that  period,  in 
which  he  acted  so  conspicuous  a  part,  hath  provided  such  an  immense  store 
of  ongina!  papers  for  illustrating  this  part  of  the  English  and  Scottish  his- 
>iv,  as  are  almost  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  utmost  avidity  of  an  antiquary. 

r  Robert  Cotton  (whose  library  is  now  the  property  of  the  public)  made 
:;reat  and  valuable  additions  to  Cecil's  collection  ;  and  from  this  magazine, 
Digges,  the  compilers  of  the  Cabbala,  Anderson,  Keith,  Haynes,  Forbes, 
have  drawn  most  of  the  papers  which  they  have  printed.  No  history  oi 
Scotland,  that  merits  any  degree  of  attention,  has  appeared  since  these 
collections  were  published.  Ry  consulting  them,  I  have  been  enabled,  in 
many  instances,  to  correct  the  inaccuracies  of  former  historians,  to  avoid 
their  mistakes,  and  to  detect  their  misrepresentations. 

But  many  important  papers  have  escaped  the  notice  of  those  industrious 
collectors ;  and,  after  all  they  have  produced  to  light,  much  still  remained 
in  darkness,  unobserved  or  unpublished.  It  was  my  duty  to  search  for 
these  ;  and  1  found  this  unpleasant  task  attended  with  considerable  utility. 

The  library  of  the  Faculty  of  Advocates  at  Edinburgh  contains  not  only 
'  large  collection  c/  original  papers  relating  to  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  but 


v  P  R  E  F  A  C  K. 

copies  of  others  no  less  curious,  which  have  been  preserved  by  Sir  Robert 
Cotton,  or  are  extant  in  the  public  offices  in  England.  Of  all  these  the 
curators  of  that  library  were  pleased  to  allow  me  the  perusal. 

Though  the  Britisli  museum  be  not  yet  open  to  the  public,  Dr.  Birch, 
whose  obliging  disposition  is  well  known,  procured  me  access  to  that  noble 
collection,  which  is  worthy  of  the  magnificence  of  a  great  and  polished 
nation. 

That  vast  and  curious  collection  of  papers  relating  to  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, which  was  made  by  Dr.  Forbes,  and  of  which  he  published  only 
two  volumes,  having  been  purchased  since  his  death  by  the  Lord  Viscoun' 
ltoysfon,  his  lordship  was  so  good  as  to  allow  me  the  use  of  fourteen  vol- 
i mes  in  quarto,  containing  that  part  of  them  which  is  connected  with  my 
subject. 

Sir  Alexander  Dick  communicated  to  me  a  very  valuable  collection  ol 
original  papers,  in  two  large  volumes.  They  relate  chiefly  to  the  reign  oi 
James.  Many  of  them  are  marked  with  Archbishop  Spotiswood's  hand  : 
and  it  appears  from  several  passages  in  his  History,  that  he  had  perused 
them  with  great  attention. 

Mr.  Calderwood,  an  eminent  presbyterian  clergyman  of  the  last  century, 
compiled  a  History  of  Scotland  from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James 
V.  to  the  death  of  James  VI.  in  six  large  volumes  :  wherein  he  has  inserted 
many  papers  of  consequence,  which  are  no  where  else  to  be  found.  This 
History  has  not  been  published,  but  a  copy  of  it,  which  still  remains  in 
manuscript,  in  the  possession  of  the  church  of  Scotland,  was  put  into  my 
hands  by  my  worthy  friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Wishart,  principal  cleik 
of  the  church. 

Sir  David  Dalrymple  not  only  communicated  to  me  the  papers  which 
he  has  collected  relating  to  Gowrie's  conspiracy  ;  but,  by  explaining  to  me 
his  sentiments  with  regard  to  that  problematical  passage  in  the  Scottish 
history,  has  enabled  me  to  place  that  transaction  in  a  light  which  dispels 
much  of  the  darkness  and  confusion  in  which  it  has  been  hitherto  involved. 

Mr.  Goodall,  though  he  knew  my  sentiments  with  regard  to  the  conduct 
and  character  of  Queen  Mary  to  be  extremely  different  from  his  own,  com- 
municated to  me  a  volume  of  manuscripts  in  his  possession,  which  contains 
a  great  number  of  valuable  papers  copied  from  the  originals  in  the  Cot- 
tonian  Library  and  Paper  Office,  by  the  late  Reverend  Mr.  Crawfoid, 
Regius  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  I 
likewise  received  from  him  the  original  Register  of  letters  kept  by  the 
Regent  Lennox  during  his  administration. 

I  have  consulted  all  these  papers,  as  far  as  I  thought  they  could  be  of 
any  use  towards  illustrating  that  period  of  which  I  write  the  history.  With 
what  success  I  have  employed  them  to  confirm  what  was  already  known, 
to  ascertain  what  was  dubious,  or  to  determine  what  was  controverted,  the 
Public  must  judge. 

I  might  easily  have  drawn,  from  the  different  repositories  to  which  I  had 
access,  as  many  papers  as  would  have  rendered  my  Appendix  equal  in 
iize  to  the  most  bulky  collection  of  my  predecessors.  But  I  have  satis- 
tied  myself  with  publishing  a  few  of  the  most  curious  among  them,  to  which 
I  found  it  necessary  to  appeal  as  vouchers  for  my  own  veracity.  None  of 
these,  as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  ever  appeared  in  any  former  collection. 

I  have  added  A  Critical  Dissertation  concerning  the  Murder  of  King 
Henry,  and  the  Genuineness  of  the  Queen's  Letters  to  Boihwell.  The  facts 
and  observations  which  relate  to  Mary's  letters,  I  owe  to  my  friend  Mr. 
John  Davidson,  one  of  the  Clerks  to  the  Signet,  who  hath  ev^mined  this 
point  with  his  usual  acuteness  and  industry 


PREFACE 

TO 

THE  ELEVENTH  EDITION 


It  is  now  twenty-eight  years  since  I  published  the  History  of  Scotland. 
During  that  time  I  have  been  favoured  by  my  friends  with  several  remarks 
upon  it ;  and  various  strictures  have  been  made  by  persons  who  entertained 
sentiments  different  from  mine,  with  respect  to  the  transactions  in  the  reign 
of  Queen  Mary.  From  whatever  quarter  information  came,  in  whatever 
mode  it  has  been  communicated,  1  have  considered  it  calmly  and  with 
attention.  Wherever  1  perceived  that  I  had  erred,  either  in  relating 
events,  or  in  delineating  characters,  I  have,  without  hesitation,  corrected 
those  errors.  Wherever  I  am  satisfied  that  my  original  ideas  were  just  and 
well  founded,  I  adhered  to  them  ;  and  resting  upon  their  conformity  to 
evidence  already  produced,  I  enter  into  no  discussion  or  controversy  in  order 
to  support  them.  Wherever  the  opportunity  of  consulting  original  papers, 
either  in  print  or  in  manuscript,  to  which  I  had  not  formerly  access,  has 
enabled  me  to  throw  new  light  upon  any  part  of  the  History,  I  have  made 
alterations  and  additions,  which,  I  flatter  myself,  will  be  found  to  be  of  some 
importance. 

COLLEGE    OF    EDINBURGH, 

March  5,  1787 


THE 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 


BOOK  I. 

CONTAINING    A    REVIEW    OF    THE    SCOTTISH    HISTORY    PREVIOUS   TO   THE 

DEATH    OF    JAMES    V. 

The  first  ages  of  the  Scottish  History  are  dark  and  fabulous.  Nation^, 
as  well  a'o  men,  arrive  at  maturity  by  degrees,  and  the  events  which  hap- 
pened during  their  infancy  or  early  youth,  cannot  be  recollected,  and 
deserve  not  to  be  remembered.  The  gross  ignorance  which  anciently 
covered  all  the  north  of  Europe,  the  continual  migrations  of  its  inhabit- 
ants, and  the  frequent  and  destructive  revolutions  which  these  occasioned, 
render  it  impossible  to  give  any  authentic  account  of  the  origin  of  the  dil- 
ferent  kingdoms  now  established  there.  Every  thing  beyond  that  short 
period  to  which  well  attested  annals  reach  is  obscure  ;  an  immense  space 
is  left  for  invention  to  occupy  ;  each  nation,  with  a  vanity  inseparable 
from  human  nature,  hath  filled  that  void  with  events  calculated  to  display 
its  own  antiquity  and  lustre.  History,  which  ought  to  record  truth  and  to 
teach  wisdom,  often  sets  out  with  retailing  fictions  and  absurdities. 

The  Scots  carry  their  pretensions  to  antiquity  as  high  as  any  ot  their 
neighbours.  Relying  upon  uncertain  legends,  and  the  traditions  of  their 
bards,  still  more  uncertain,  they  reckon  up  a  series  of  kings  several  ages 
before  the  birth  of  Christ;  and  give  a  particular  detail  of  the  occurrences 
which  happened  in  their  reigns.  But  with  regard  to  the  Scots,  as  well  as 
the  other  northern  nations,  we  receive  the  earliest  accounts  on  which  we 
can  depend,  not  from  their  own,  but  from  the  Roman  authors  [81].  When 
the  Romans,  under  Agricola,  first  carried  their  arms  into  the  northern  parts 
of  Britain,  they  found  it  possessed  by  the  Caledonians,  a  fierce  and  war- 
like people ;  and  having  repulsed  rather  than  conquered  them,  they  erected 
a  strong  wall  between  the  Firths  of  Forth  and  Clyde,  and  there  fixed  the 
boundaries  of  their  empire  [121].  Adrian,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  o, 
defending  such  a  distant  frontier,  contracted  the  limits  of  the  Roman  pro- 
vince in  Britain,  by  building  a  second  wall,  which  ran  between  Newcastle 
*nd  Carlisle.  The  ambition  of  succeeding  emperors  endeavoured  tc 
recover  what  Adrian  had  abandoned ;  and  the  country  between  the  two 
walls  was  alternately  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans  and  that  of  the 
Caledonians.  About  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  the  inroads  of  the 
Goths  and  other  barbarians  oblige  i  the  Romans,  in  order  to  defend  the 
centre  of  their  empire,  to  recall  t'nose  legions  which  guarded  the  frontier 
provinces;  and  at  that  time  they  quitted  all  their  conquests  in  Britain. 

421.]  Their  long  residence  in  the  island  had  polished,  in  some  degree, 
the  rude  inhabitants,  and  the  Britons  were  indebted  to  their  intercourse 
with  the  Romans,  for  the  art  of  writing  and  the  use  of  numbers,  without 
which  it  is  impossible  long  to  preserve  the  memory  of  past  events. 

North  Britain  was,  by  their  retreat,  left  under  the  dominion  of  the  Scots 
and   I'icts.     The  former,  who  are  not  mentioned  by  any  Roman  author 


8  THE   HISTORY  fBooK  1 

before  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  were  probably  a  colony  of  the  Celtas 
or  Gauls  ;  their  affinity  to  whom  appears  from  their  language,  their  man- 
ners, and  religious  rites  ;  circumstances  more  decisive  with  regard  to  the 
origin  of  nations  than  either  fabulous  traditions  or  the  tales  of  ill-informed 
and  credulous  annalists.  The  Scots,  it  we  may  believe  the  common 
accounts,  settled  at  first  in  Ireland  ;  and  extending  themselves  by  degrees, 
landed  at  last  on  the  coast  opposite  to  that  island,  and  fixed  their  habitations 
there.  Fierce  and  bloody  wars  were,  during  several  ages,  carried  on 
between  them  and  the  Picts  [808].  At  length,  Kenneth  II.,  the  sixty-ninth 
king  of  the  Scots  (according  to  their  own  fabulous  authors),  obtained  a 
complete  victory  over  the  Picts,  and  united  under  one  monarchy  all  the 
country  from  the  wall  of  Adrian  to  the  Northern  Ocean.  The  Kingdom 
henceforward  became  known  by  its  present  name,  which  is  derived  from 
a  people  who  at  first  settled  there  as  strangers,  and  remained  long  obscure 
and  inconsiderable. 

From  this  period  the  History  of  Scotland  would  merit  some  attention, 
were  it  accompanied  with  any  certainty.  But  as  our  remote  antiquities 
are  involved  in  the  same  darkness  with  those  of  other  nations,  a  calamity 
peculiar  to  ourselves  has  thrown  almost  an  equal  obscurity  over  our  more 
recent  transactions.  This  was  occasioned  by  the  malicious  policy  of  Ed- 
ward I.  of  Englajid.  Towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century,  this 
monarch  called  rh  question  the  independence  of  Scotland  ;  pretending  that 
the  kingdom  was  held  as  a  fief  of  the  crown  of  England,  and  subjected 
to  all  the  conditions  of  a  feudal  tenure.  In  order  to  establish  his  claim, 
he  seized  the  public  archives,  he  ransacked  churches  and  monasteries,  and 
getting  possession,  by  force  or  fraud,  of  many  historical  monuments,  which 
tended  to  prove  the  antiquity  or  freedom  of  the  kingdom,  he  carried  some 
of  them  into  England,  and  commanded  the  rest  to  be  burnt.*  A  universal 
oblivion  of  past  transactions  might  have  been  the  effect  of  this  fatal  event, 
but  some  imperfect  chronicles  had  escaped  the  rage  of  Edward  ;  foreign 
writers  had  recorded  some  important  facts  relating  to  Scotland  ;  and  the 
traditions  concerning  recent  occurrences  were  fresh  and  worthy  of  credit. 
These  broken  fragments  John  de  Fordun,  who  lived  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, collected  with  a  pious  industry,  and  from  them  gleaned  materials 
which  he  formed  into  a  regular  history.  His  work  was  received  by  his 
countrymen  with  applause :  and,  as  no  recourse  could  be  had  to  more 
ancient  records,  it  supplied  the  place  of  the  authentic  annals  of  the  king- 
dom. It  was  copied  in  many  monasteries,  and  the  thread  of  the  narrative 
was  continued,  by  different  monks,  through  the  subsequent  reigns.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  John  Major,  and  Hector  Boethius  pub 
lished  their  histories  of  Scotland,  the  former  a  succinct  and  dry  writer,  the 
latter  a  copious  and  florid  one,  and  both  equall}7  credulous.  Not  many 
years  after,  Buchanan  undertook  the  same  work  ;  and  if  his  accuracy  and 
Impartiality  had  been,  in  any  degree,  equal  to  the  elegance  of  his  taste, 
and  to  the  purity  and  vigour  of  his  style,  his  history  might  be  placed  on 
d  level  with  the  most  admired  compositions  of  the  ancients.  But,  instead 
of  rejecting  the  improbable  tales  of  chronicle  writers,  he  was  at  the 
utmost  pains  to  adorn  them  ;  and  hath  clothed,  with  all  the  beauties  and 
graces  of  fiction,  those  legends,  which  formerly  had  only  its  wildness  and 
extravagance. 

The  History  of  Scotland  may  properly  be  divided  into  four  periods. 
The  first  reaches  from  the  origin  of  the  monarchy  to  the  reign  of  Kenneth 
II.  The  second,  from  Kenneth's  conquest  of  the  Picts  to  the  death  of 
Alexander  III.  The  third  extends  to  the  death  of  James  V.  The  last, 
from  thence  to  the  accession  of  James  VI.  to  the  crown  of  England. 

The  first  period   is  the  region  of  pure  fable  and  conjecture,  and  oughf 

*  Innes,  Essay  552. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  9 

to  be  totally  neglected,  or  abandoned  to  the  industry  and  credulity  of  anti- 
quaries. Truth  begins  to  dawn  in  the  second  period,  with  a  light,  feeble 
at  first,  but  gradually  increasing,  and  the  events  which  then  happened  may 
be  slightly  touched,  but  merit  no  particular  or  laborious  inquiry.  In  the 
third  period,  the  History  of  Scotland,  chiefly  by  means  ot  records  pre- 
served in  England,  becomes  more  authentic :  not  only  are  events  related, 
but  their  causes  and  effects  explained ;  the  characters  of  the  actors  are 
displayed;  the  manners  of  the  age  described  ;  the  revolutions  in  the  con- 
stitution pointed  out :  and  here  every  Scotsman  should  begin  not  to  read 
only,  but  to  study  the  history  of  his  country.  During  the  fourth  period, 
the  affairs  of  Scotland  were  so  mingled  with  those  of  other  nations,  is 
situation  in  the  political  state  of  Europe  was  so  important,  its  influence  on 
the  operations  ot  the  neighbouring  kingdoms  was  so  visible,  that  its  history 
becomes  an  object  of  attention  to  foreigners  ;  and  without  some  knowledge 
of  the  various  and  extraordinary  revolutions  which  happened  there,  they 
cannot  form  a  just  notion  with  respect  either  to  the  most  illustrious  events, 
or  to  the  characters  of  the  most  distinguished  personages  in  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  following  history  is  confined  to  the  last  of  these  periods  :  to  give 
a  view  of  the  political  state  of  the  kingdom  during  that  which  imme- 
diately preceded  it  is  the  design  of  this  preliminary  book.  The  imper- 
fect knowledge  which  strangers  have  of  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  and  the 
prejudices  Scotsmen  themselves  have  imbibed,  with  regard  to  the  various 
revolutions  in  the  government  of  their  country,  render  such  an  introduction 
equally  necessary  to  both. 

The  period  from  the  death  ot  Alexander  III.  to  the  death  of  James  V 
contains  upwards  of  two  centuries  and  a  half,  from  the  year  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  eighty-six,  to  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
torty-two. 

It  opens  with  the  famous  controversy  concerning  the  independence  of 
Scotland.  Before  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms,  this  was  a  question  of 
much  importance.  If  the  one  crown  had  been  considered,  not  as  imperial 
and  independent,  but  as  feudatory  to  the  other,  a  treaty  of  union  could 
not  have  been  concluded  on  equal  terms,  and  every  advantage  which  the 
dependent  kingdom  procured  must  have  been  deemed  the  concession  of  a 
sovereign  to  his  vassal.  Accordingly,  about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  and  while  a  treaty  of  union  between  the  two  kingdoms  was  nego- 
tiating, this  controversy  was  agitated  with  all  the  heat  which  national  ani 
mosities  naturally  inspire.  What  was  then  the  subject  of  serious  concern, 
the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  has  rendered  a  matter  of  mere  curiosity. 
But  though  the  objects  which  at  that  time  warmed  and  interested  both 
nations  exist  no  longer,  a  question  which  appeared  so  momentous  to  our 
ancestors  cannot  be  altogether  indifferent  or  uninstructive  to  us. 

Some  of  the  northern  counties  of  England  were  early  in  the  hands  of  the 
Scottish  kings,  who,  as  far  back  as  the  feudal  customs  can  be  traced,  held 
these  possessions  of  the  kings  of  England,  and  did  homage  lo  them  on  that 
account.  This  homage,  due  only  for  the  territories  which  they  held  in 
England,  was  in  nowise  derogatory  from  their  royal  dignity.  Nothing  is 
more  suitable  to  feudal  ideas  than  that  the  same  person  should  be  both  a 
lord  and  a  vassal,  independent  in  one  capacity,  and  dependent  in  another.* 
The  crown  of  England  was,  without  doubt,  imperial  and  independent, 

*  A  very  singular  proof  of  this  occurs  in  the  French  History,  Arpiusold  the  vioomte  of  the  city  of 
Bourgfis  to  Phiiip  I.,  who  did  homage  to  the  count  of  Sancerre  tor  a  part  of  these  lands,  which  held 
of  that  nobleman,  A.  D.  110U.  I  believe  that.no  example  of  a  king'sdoing  homage  to  one  of  his  own 
subjects  is  to  he  met  with  in  the  histories  either  of  England  or  Scotland.  Philip  le  Bel  abolished  thie 
practice  in  France,  A.  D.  1302.  Henault.  Jlbrege  Chrvnol.  Somewhat  similar  to  this,  is  a  charter 
of  the  Abbotof  Melross,  A.  D.  1535,  constituting  Jam  es  V.the  )5ailiff  or  Steward  of  that  Abbey,  vest- 
ing in  him  all  the  powers  which  portaiue'l  to  that  o  n<j,  and  leuutnng  him  to  be  answerable  to  th() 
,Abhot  fir  his  ex  arc  tse  of  tl)6  same,    4rch,iv.  publ.  Eiiui. 

Vol.  Ill,— « 


10  THE  HISTORY 

though  (he  princes  who  wore  it  were,  for  many  ages,  the  vassals  of  the 
kings  of  France  ;  and,  in  consequence  of  their  possessions  in  that  kingdom, 
bound  1o  perform  all  the  services  which  a  feudal  sovereign  has  a  title  to 
exact.  The  same  was  the  condition  of  the  monarchs  ot  Scotland  :  fiee 
and  independent  as  kings  of  their  own  country,  but,  as  possessing  English 
territories,  vassals  to  the  kings  of  England.  The  English  monarchs,  satis- 
fied with  their  legal  and  uncontroverted  rights,  were,  during  a  long  period, 
neither  capable  nor  had  any  thoughts  of  usurping  more.  England  when 
conquered  by  the  Saxons,  being  divided  by  them  into  many  small  king- 
loms,  was  in  no  condition  to  extend  its  dominion  over  Scotland,  united  a! 
that  time  under  one  monarch.  And  though  these  petty  principalities  wen 
gradually  formed  into  one  kingdom,  the  reigning  princes,  exposed  to  con 
tinuai  invasions  of  the  Danes,  and  often  subjected  to  the  yoke  of  those 
formidable  pirates,  seldom  turned  their  arms  towards  Scotland,  and  were 
little  able  to  establish  new  rights  in  that  country.  The  first  kings  of  the 
Norman  race,  busied  with  introducing  their  own  laws  and  manners  into  the 
kingdom  which  they  had  conquered,  or  with  maintaining  themselves  on  the 
throne  which  some  of  them  possessed  by  a  very  dubious  title,  were  as  little 
solicitous  to  acquire  new  authority,  or  to  form  new  pretensions  in  Scotland. 
An  unexpected  calamity  that  befell  one  of  the  Scottish  kings  first  encouraged 
the  English  to  think  of  bringing  his  kingdom  under  dependence.  William, 
surnamed  the  Lion,  being  taken  prisoner  at  Alnwick,  Hemy  II.,  as  the  price 
of  his  liberty,  not  only  extorted  from  him  an  exorbitant  ransom,  and  a 
promise  to  surrender  the  places  of  greatest  strength  in  his  dominions,  but 
compelled  him  to  do  homage  for  his  whole  kingdom.  Richard  I.,  a  gene- 
rous prince,  solemnly  renounced  this  claim  of  homage  ;  and  absolved 
William  from  the  hard  conditions  which  Henry  had  imposed.  Upon  the 
death  of  Alexander  III.,  near  a  century  after,  Edward  I.,  availing  himself 
of  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Scotland,  acquired  an  influence  in  that  kingdom 
which  no  English  monarch  belbre  him  ever  possessed,  and  imitating  the 
interested  policy  of  Henry,  rather  than  the  magnanimity  of  Richard,  revived 
the  claim  of  sovereignty  to  which  the  former  had  pretended. 

Margaret  of  Norway,  granddaughter  of  Alexander,  and  heir  to  his  crownr 
did  not  long  survive  him.  The  right  of  succession  belonged  to  the  descend- 
ants of  David  earl  of  Huntingdon,  third  son  of  King  David  I.  Among 
these,  Robert  Bruce,  and  John  Baliol,  two  illustrious  competitors  for  the 
crown,  appeared.  Bruce  was  the  son  of  Isabel,  earl  David's  second 
daughter  ;  Baliol,  the  grandson  of  Margaret  the  eldest  daughter.  Accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  succession  which  are  now  established,  the  right  of  Baliol 
was  preferable  ;  and  notwithstanding  Bruce's  plea  of  being  nearer  in  blood 
to  earl  David,  Baliol's  claim,  as  the  representative  of  his  mother  and  grand- 
mother, would  be  deemed  incontestable.  But  in  that  age  the  order  of  suc- 
cession was  not  ascertained  with  the  same  precision.  The  question 
appeared  to  be  no  less  intricate  than  it  was  important.  Though  the  pre- 
judices of  the  people,  and  perhaps  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  favoured 
Bruce,  each  of  the  rivals  was  supported  by  a  powerful  faction.  Arms 
alone,  it  was  feared,  must  terminate  a  dispute  too  weighty  for  the  laws  to 
decide  But,  in  order  to  avoid  the  miseries  of  a  civil  war,  Edward  was 
chosen  umpire,  and  both  parties  agreed  to  acquiesce  in  his  decree.  This 
had  well  nigh  proved  fatal  to  the  independence  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  nation, 
by  its  eagerness  to  guard  against  a  civil  war,  was  not  only  exposed  to  that 
calamity  but  almost  subjected  to  a  foreign  yoke.  Edward  was  artful, 
brave,  enterprising,  and  commanded  a  powerful  and  martial  people,  at 
peace  witti  the  whole  world.  The  anarchy  which  prevailed  in  Scotland, 
and  the  ambition  of  competitors  ready  to  sacrifice  their  countiy  in  order  to 
obtain  even  a  dependent  crown,  invited  him  first  to  seize  and  then  to  sub- 
ject the  kingdom.  The  authority  of  an  umpire,  which  had  been  unwarily 
oestowed  upon  him.  and  from  which  the  Scots  dreaded  no  dangerous  con- 


OF  SCOTLAND.  11 

sequences,  enabled  him  to  execute  his  schemes  with  the  greater  facility. 
Under  pretence  of  examining  the  question  with  the  utmost  &olemnity,  he 
summoned  all  the  Scottish  barons  to  Norham  ;  and,  having  gained  some 
and  intimidated  others,  he  prevailed  on  all  who  were  present,  not  except- 
ing Bruce  and  Baliol,  the  competitors,  to  acknowledge  Scotland  to  be  a  fief 
oftbe  English  crown,  and  to  swear  fealty  to  him  as  their  Sovereign  or  Liege 
Lord.  This  step  led  to  another  still  more  important.  As  it  was  vain  to 
pronounce  a  sentence  which  he  had  not  power  to  execute,  Edward 
demanded  possession  of  the  kingdom,  that  he  might  be  able  to  deliver  it  to 
him  whose  right  should  be  found  preferable;  and  such  was  the  pusillanim- 
ity of  the  nobles,  and  the  impatient  ambition  of  the  competitors,  that  boti; 
assented  to  this  strange  demand,  and  Gilbert  de  Umfraville,  earl  of  Angus, 
was  the  only  man  who  refused  to  surrender  the  castles  in  his  custody  to  the 
enemy  of  his  country.  Edward,  finding  Baliol  the  most  obsequious  and 
the  least  formidable  of  the  two  competitors,  soon  alter  gave  judgment  in 
his  favour.  Baliol  once  more  professed  himself  the  vassal  of  England,  and 
submitted  to  every  condition  which  the  sovereign  whom  he  had  now 
acknowledged  was  pleased  to  prescribe. 

Edward,  naving  thus  placed  a  creature  of  his  own  upon  the  throne  of  Scot- 
land, and  compelled  the  nobles  to  renounce  the  ancient  liberties  and  inde- 
pendence of  their  country,  had  reason  to  conclude  that  his  dominion  was 
now  fully  established.  But  he  began  too  soon  to  assume  the  master :  his 
new  vassals,  fierce  and  independent,  bore  with  impatience  a  yoke  to  which 
they  were  not  accustomed.  Provoked  by  his  haughtiness,  even  the  passive 
spirit  of  Baliol  began  to  mutiny.  But  Edward,  who  had  no  longer  use  for 
such  a  pageant  king,  forced  him  to  resign  the  crown,  and  openly  attempted 
to  seize  it  as  fallen  to  himself  by  the  rebellion  of  his  vassal.  At  that  critical 
period  arose  sir  William  Wallace,  a  hero,  to  whom  the  fond  admiration  of 
his  countrymen  hath  ascribed  many  fabulous  acts  of  prowess,  though  his 
real  valour,  as  well  as  integrity  ana  wisdom,  are  such  as  need  not  the 
heightenings  of  fiction.  He,  almost  single,  ventured  to  take  arms  in  defence 
of  the  kingdom,  and  his  boldness  revived  the  spirit  of  his  countrymen.  At 
last,  Robert  Bruce,  the  grandson  of  him  who  stood  in  competition  with 
Baliol,  appeared  to  assert  his  own  rights,  and  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  his 
country.  The  nobles,  ashamed  of  their  former  baseness,  and  enraged  at 
the  many  indignities  offered  to  the  nation,  crowded  to  his  standard.  In 
order  to  crush  him  at  once,  the  English  monarch  entered  Scotland  at  the 
head  of  a  mighty  army.  Many  battles  were  fought,  and  the  Scots,  though 
often  vanquished,  were  not  subdued.  The  ardent  zeal  with  which  the 
nobles  contended  for  the  independence  of  the  kingdom,  the  prudent  valour 
of  Bruce,  and  above  all,  a  national  enthusiasm  inspired  by  such  a  cause, 
baffled  the  repeated  etforts  of  Edward,  and  counterbalanced  all  the  advan- 
tages which  he  derived  from  the  number  and  wealth  of  his  subjects. 
Though  the  war  continued  with  little  intermission  upwards  of  seventy 
years,  Bruce  and  his  posterity  kept  possession  of  the  throne  of  Scotland, 
and  reigned  with  an  authority  not  inferior  to  that  of  its  former  monarchs. 

But  while  the  sword,  the  ultimate  judge  of  all  disputes  between  contend- 
ing nations,  was  employed  to  terminate  this  controversy,  neither  Edward 
nor  the  Scots  seemed  to  distrust  the  j  ustice  of  their  cause  ;  and  both  appealed 
to  history  and  records,  and  from  these  produced,  in  their  own  favour,  such 
evidence  as  they  pretended  to  be  unanswerable.  The  letters  and  memo- 
rials addressed  by  each  party  to  the  pope,  who  was  then  reverenced  as  the 
common  father,  and  often  appealed  to  as  the  common  judge  of  all  Christian 
princes,  are  still  extant.  The  fabulous  tales  of  the  early  British  history, 
the  partial  testimony  of  ignorant  chroniclers,  supposititious  treaties  and  char- 
ters, are  the  proofs  on  which  Edward  founded  his  title  to  the  sovereignty 
of  Scotland  ;  and  the  homage  done  by  the  Scottish  monarchs  for  their  lands 
in  England  is  preposterously  supposed  to  imply  the  subjection  of  'heir 


12  THE  HISTORY 

whole  kingdom.*  Ill  (bunded,  however,  as  their  right  was,  the  English 
did  not  fail  to  revive  it,  in  all  the  subsequent  quarrels  between  the  two 
kingdoms;  while  the  Scots  disclaimed  it  with  the  ut most  indignation.  To 
this  we  must  impute  the  fierce  and  implacable  hatred  to  each  other,  which 
long  inflamed  both.  Their  national  antipathies  were  excited,  not  only  by 
the  usual  circumstances  of  frequent  hostilities,  and  reciprocal  injuries  ;  but 
the  English  considered  the  Scots  as  vassals  who  had  presumed  to  rebel  ; 
and  the  Scots,  in  their  turn,  regarded  the  English  as  usurpers  who  aimed 
at  enslaving  their  country. 

1306.]  At  the  time  when  Robert  Bruce  began  his  reign  in  Scotland,  the 
same  form  of  government  was  established  in  all  the  kingdoms  of  Eurcj  ' 
This  surprising  similarity  in  their  constitution  and  laws  demonstrates  that 
the  nations  which  overturned  the  Roman  empire,  and  erected  these  king 
^oins,  though  divided  into  different  tribes  and  distinguished  by  different 
names,  were  either  derived  originally  from  the  same  source,  or  had  been 
placed  in  similar  situations.  W  hen  we  take  a  view  of  the  feudal  system 
of  laws  and  policy,  that  stupendous  and  singular  fabric  erected  by  them, 
the  first  object  that  strikes  us  is  the  king.  And  when  we  are  told  that  he 
is  the  sole  proprietor  of  all  the  lands  within  his  dominions,  that  ali  his 
subjects  derive  their  possessions  from  him,  and  in  return  consecrate  their  lives 
to  his  service ;  when  we  hear  that  all  marks  of  distinction  and  titles  of 
dignity  flow  from  him  as  the  only  fountain  of  honour ;  when  we  behold 
the  most  potent  peers,  on  their  bended  knees,  and  with  folded  hands, 
swearing  fealty  at  his  feet,  and  acknowledging  him  to  be  their  Sovereign 
and  their  Liege  Lord;  we  are  apt  to  pronounce  him  a  powerful,  nay,  an 
absolute  monarch.  No  conclusion,  however,  would  be  more  rash,  or  worse 
founded.  The  genius  of  the  feudal  government  was  purely  aristocratical. 
With  all  the  ensigns  of  royalty,  and  with  many  appearances  of  despotic 
power,  a  feudal  king  was  the  most  limited  of  all  princes. 

Before  they  sallied  out  of  their  own  habitations  to  conquer  the  world, 
many  of  the  northern  nations  seem  not  to  have  been  subject  to  the  govern- 
ment of  kings  ;t  and  even  where  monarchical  government  was  established, 
the  prince  possessed  but  little  authority.  A  general,  rather  than  a  king, 
his  military  command  was  extensive,  his  civil  jurisdiction  almost  nothing.  J 
The  army  which  he  led  was  not  composed  of  soldiers,  who  could  be 
compelled  to  serve,  but  of  such  as  voluntarily  followed  his  standard. § 
These  conquered  not  for  their  leader,  but  for  themselves  ;  and,  being  free 
in  their  own  country,  renounced  not  their  liberty  when  the>  acquired  new 
settlements.  They  did  not  exterminate  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the 
countries  which  they  subdued  ;  but,  seizing  the  greater  part  of  their  lands, 
they  took  their  persons  under  protection.  The  difficulty  of  maintain- 
ing a  new  conquest,  as  well  as  the  danger  of  being  attacked  by  new 
invaders,  rendering  it  necessary  to  be  alwavs  in  a  posture  of  defence,  the 
form  of  government  which  they  established  was  altogether  military,  and 
nearly  resembled  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in  their  native 
country.  Their  general  still  continuing  to  be  the  head  of  the  colony,  part  of 
the  conquered  lands  were  allotted  to  him  ;  the  remainder,  under  the  name 
of  beneficia  or  fiefs,  was  divided  among  his  principal  officers.  As  the 
common  safety  required  that  these  officers  should,  iqon  all  occasions,  be 
ready  to  appear  in  arms,  for  the  common  defence,  and  should  continue 
obedient  to  their  general,  they  hound  themselves  10  take  the  field,  when 
called,  and  to  serve  him  with  a  number  of  men,  in  proportion  to  the  extent 
of  their  territory.  These  great  officers  again  parcelled  out  their  lands 
among  their  followers,  and  annexed  the  same  condition  to  the  grant.  A 
feudal  kingdom  was  properly  the  encampment  of  a  great  army     military 

*  Anderson's  Historical  Essay  concerning  the  Independency,  &c  \  i  a*,  lib.  yj. c.83, 

I  Tacit,  de  Mor.  Germ,  c  7  11  6  Ctea.  lib.  vi.  c.  23, 


OF   SCOTLAND.  13 

ideas  predominate' 1,  military  subordination  was  established,  and  the  pos- 
session of  land  was  the  pay  which  soldiers  received  for  their  personal 
service.  In  consequence  of  these  notions,  the  possession  of  land  was 
granted  during  pleasure  only,  and  kings  were  elective.  In  other  words, 
an  officer  disagreeable  to  his  general  was  deprived  of  his  pay,  and  the 
person  who  was  most  capable  of  conducting  an  army  was  chosen  to  com- 
mand it.  Such  were  the  first  rudiments  or  infancy  of  feudal  government. 
But  long  before  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  feudal 
system  had  undergone  many  changes,  of  which  the  following  were  the 

nost  considerable.     Kings,  formerly  elective,  were  then  hereditary;  and 
•is,  granted  at  first  during;  pleasure,  descended  from  father  to  son,  and 

vere  become  perpetual.  These  changes,  not  less  advantageous  to  the 
nobles  than  to  the  prince,  made  no  alteration  in  the  aristocratical  spirit  of 
the  feudal  constitution.  The  king,  who  at  a  distance  seemed  to  be  invested 
with  majesty  and  power,  appears  on  a  nearer  view  to  possess  almost  none 
of  those  advantages  which  bestow  on  monarchs  their  grandeur  and  authority. 
His  revenues  were  scanty;  he  had  not  a  standing  army ;  and  the  jurisdic- 
tion he  possessed  was  circumscribed  within  very  narrow  limits. 

At  a  time  when  pomp  and  splendour  were  little  known,  even  in  the 
palaces  of  kings ;  when  the  officers  of  the  crown  received  scarcely  any 
salary  besides  the  fees  and  perquisites  of  their  office  ;  when  embassies  to 
foreign  courts  were  rare;  when  armies  were  composed  of  soldiers  who 
served  without  pay;  it  was  not  necessary  that  a  King  should  possess  a 
great  revenue  ;  nor  did  the  condition  of  Europe,  in  those  ages,  allow  its 
princes  to  be  opulent.  Commerce  made  little  progress  in  the  kingdoms 
where  the  feudal  government  was  established.  Institutions  which  had  nc 
other  object  but  to  inspire  a  martial  spirit,  to  train  men  to  be  soldiers,  and 
to  make  arms  the  only  honourable  profession,  naturally  discouraged  the 
commercial  arts.  The  revenues,  arising  from  the  taxes  imposed  on  the 
different  branches  of  commerce,  were  by  consequence  inconsiderable  ;  and 
fhe  prince's  treasury  received  little  supply  from  a  source,  which,  among  a 
trading  people,  flows  with  such  abundance  as  is  almost  inexhaustible.  A 
'ixed  tax  was  not  levied  even  on  land  :  such  a  burden  would  have  appeared 
intolerable  to  men  who  received  their  estates  as  the  reward  of  their  valour 
and  who  considered  their  service  in  the  field  as  a  full  retribution  for  what 
they  possessed.  The  king's  demesnes,  or  the  portion  of  land  which  he 
still  retained  in  his  own  hands  unalienated,  furnished  subsistence  to  his 
court,  and  defrayed  the  ordinary  expense  of  government.*  The  only 
stated  taxes  which  the  feudal  law  obliged  vassals  to  pay  to  the  king,  01 
to  those  of  whom  they  held  their  lands,  were  three  :  one  when  his  eldest 
son  was  made  a  knight  ;  another,  when  his  eldest  daughter  was  married  ; 
md  a  third,  in  order  to  ransom  him  if  he  should  happen  to  be  taken 
prisoner.     Besides  these,  the  king  received  the  feudal  casualties  of  the 

vird,  marriage,  &c.  of  his  own  vassals.     And,  on  some  extraordinary 

■  :casions,  his  subjects  granted  him  an  aid,  which  they  distinguished  by 

le  name  of  a  benevolence,  in  order  to  declare  that  he  received  it  not  in 
consequence  of  any  right,  but  as  a  gift  flowing  from  their  good  will.f  All 
'.hese  added  together  produced  a  revenue  so  scanty  and  precarious  as 
naturally  incited  a  feudal  monarch  to  aim  at  diminishing  the  exorbitant 
power  and  wealth  of  the  nobility,  which,  instead  of  enabling  him  tocarr) 

n  his  schemes  with  full  effect,  kept  him  in  continual  indigence,  anxiety, 
and  dependence. 

Nor  could  the  king  supply  the  defect  of  his  revenues  by  the  terror  of 
nis  arms.  Mercenary  troops  and  standing  armies  were  unknown  as  long 
as  the  feudal  government  subsisted  in  vigour.     Europe  was  peopled  with 

*  Crai».  de  Feud.  lib.  i.  Dieg.  14.     Du  Cange  Gloss,  voc.  Dominicum.  •  Ou  Cange,  voo 

\uxilium. 


14  THE   HISTORY  [Book  1. 

soldiers.  The  rassals  of  the  king,  and  the  sub-vassals  of  the  barons,  were 
all  obliged  to  carry  arms.  While  the  poverty  of  princes  prevented  them 
from  fortifying  their  frontier  towns,  while  a  campaign  continued  but  a  few 
weeks,  and  while  a  fierce  and  impetuous  courage  was  impatient  to  bring 
every  quarrel  to  the  decision  of  a  battle,  an  army  without  pay,  and  with  little 
discipline,  was  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  both  of  the  security  and  of  the 
glory  of  the  nation.  Such  an  army,  however,  far  from  being  an  engine  at  the 
king's  disposal,  was  often  no  less  formidable  to  him  than  to  his  enemies. 
The  more  warlike  any  people  were,  the  more  independent  they  became ; 
md  the  same  persons  being  both  soldiers  and  subjects,  civil  privileges  ami 
.imunities  were  the  consequence  of  their  victories,  and  the  reward  of 
iicir  martial  exploits.  Conquerors,  whom  mercenary  armies,  under  our 
present  forms  of  government,  often  render  the  tyrants  of  their  own  people, 
as  well  as  the  scourges  of  mankind,  were  commonly  under  the  feudal 
constitution  the  most  indulgent  of  all  princes  to  their  subjects,  because  they 
stood  most  in  need  of  their  assistance.  A  prince,  whom  even  war  and 
victories  did  not  render  the  master  of  his  own  army ,  possessed  hardly  any 
shadow  of  military  power  during  times  of  peace.  His  disbanded  soldiers 
mingled  with  his  other  subjects  ;  not  a  single  man  received  pay  from  him ; 
many  ages  elapsed  even  before  a  guard  was  appointed  to  defend  his  per 
son ;  and  destitute  of  that  great  instrument  of  dominion,  a  standing  army, 
the  authority  of  the  king  continued  always  feeble,  and  was  often  con- 
emptible. 

Nor  were  these  the  only  circumstances  which  contributed  towards 
depressing  the  regal  power.  By  the  feudal  system,  as  has  been  already 
observed,  the  king's  judicial  authority  was  extremely  circumscribed.  At 
first,  princes  seem  to  have  been  the  supreme  judges  of  their  people,  and, 
In  person,  heard  and  determined  all  controversies  among  them.  The 
multiplicity  of  causes  soon  made  it  necessary  to  appoint  judges,  who,  in 
the  king's  name,  decided  matters  that  belonged  to  the  royal  jurisdiction. 
But  the  barbarians,  who  overran  Europe,  having  destroyed  most  of  the 
great  cities,  and  the  countries  which  they  seized  being  cantoned  out  among 
powerful  chiefs,  who  were  blindly  followed  by  numerous  dependents, 
whom,  in  return,  they  were  bound  to  protect  from  every  injury;  the 
administration  of  justice  was  greatly  interrupted,  and  the  execution  of  any 
egal  sentence  became  almost  impracticable.  Theft,  rapine,  murder,  and 
disorder  of  all  kinds  prevailed  in  every  kingdom  of  Europe,  to  a  degree 
almost  incredible,  and  scarcely  compatible  with  the  subsistence  of  civil 
society.  Every  offender  sheltered  himself  under  the  protection  of  some 
powerful  chieftain,  who  screened  him  from  the  pursuits  of  justice.  To 
apprehend  and  to  punish  a  criminal  often  required  the  union  and  effort  oi 
half  a  kingdom.*  In  order  to  remedy  these  evils,  many  persons  of  dis- 
tinction were  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  justice  within  their  own 
territories.  But  what  we  may  presume  wa; ,  at  first,  only  a  temporary 
grant,  or  a  personal  privilege,  the  encroaching  spirit  of  the  nobles  gradually 
converted  into  a  right,  and  rendered  hereditary.     The  lands  of  some  were, 

*  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  occurs  in  the  following  history,  so  late  as  the  year  one  thousand 
fire  hundred  and  sixty-one.  Mary,  having  appointed  a  court  of  justice  to  be  held  on  the  borders,  the 
inhabitants  of  no  less  than  eleven  counties  were  summoned  to  guard  the  person  who  was  to  act  as 
judge,  and  to  enable  him  to  enforce  his  decisions.  The  words  of  a  proclamation,  which  afford  such 
convincing  proof  of  the  feebleness  of  the  feudal  government,  deserve  our  notice — "  And  because 
it  is  Qow^sary  for  the  execution  of  Her  Highness'  commandments  and  service,  thai  her  justice  be 
well  accompanied,  and  her  authority  sufficiently  fortified,  by  the  concurrence  of  a  good  power  of 
her  faithful  subjects — Therefore  commands  and  charges  all  and  sundry  Earls,  Lords,  Barons,  Free- 
holders,  Lauded  men,  and  other  Gentlemen,  dwelling  within  the  said  counties,  that  they  and  every 
one  of  then.,  w'th  their  kin,  friends,  servants,  and  household  men,  well  bodin  in  feir  of  war  in  the 
in  iat  substantial  manne  .  [i  e.  completely  armed  and  provided, J  and  with  twenty  days'  victuals,  to 
meet  and  to  pass  forward  with  him  to  the  borough  of  Jedburgh,  and  there  to  remain  during  the  said 
space  of  twenty  day^,  and  to  receive  such  direction  and  commands  as  shall  be  given  to  tllein  in  our 
Sovereign  Lady's  name,  for  quietness  of  the  country  :  and  to  put  the  same  in  execution  under  the 
pain  of  losing  their  life,  lands,  and  goods."     Keith's  Hist,  of  Scotland,  198. 


OF   SCOTLAND  15 

in  process  of  time,  erected  into  Baronies,  those  of  others  into  Regalities. 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  former  was  extensive  ;  that  of  the  latter,  as  the 
name  implies,  royal  and  almost  unbounded.  All  causes,  whether  civil  or 
criminal,  were  tried  by  judges,  whom  the  lord  of  the  regality  appointed  ; 
and  if  the  king's  courts  called  any  person  within  his  territory  before  them, 
the  lord  of  regality  might  put  a  stop  to  their  proceedings,  and  by  the 
privilege  of  repledging,  remove  the  cause  to  his  own  court,  and  even  punish 
his  vassal  if  he  submitted  to  a  foreign  jurisdiction.*  Thus  almost  every 
question,  in  which  any  person  who  resided  on  the  lands  of  the  nobles  was 
interested,  being  determined  byjudges  appointed  by  the  nobles  themselves, 

leir  vassals  were  hardly  sensible  of  being  in  any  degree  subject  to  the 
crown.  A  feudal  kingdom  was  split  into  many  small  principalities,  almost 
independent,  and  held  together  by  a  feeble  and  commonly  an  impercepti- 
ble bond  of  union.  The  king  was  not  only  stripped  of  the  authority 
annexed  to  the  person  of  a  supreme  judge,  but  his  revenue  suffered  no  small 
diminution  by  the  loss  of  those  pecuniary  emoluments  which  were  in  that 
age  due  to  the  person  who  administered  justice. 

In  the  same  proportion  that  the  king  sunk  in  power,  the  nobles  rose 
towards  independence.  Not  satisfied  with  having  obtained  an  hereditary 
right  to  their  fiefs,  which  they  lbrmerly  held  during  pleasure,  their  ambi- 
tion aimed  at  something  bolder,  and,  by  introducing  entails,  endeavoured, 
as  far  as  human  ingenuity  and  invention  can  reach  that  end,  to  render  their 
possessions  unalienable  and  everlasting.  As  they  had  full  power  to  add  to 
the  inheritance  transmitted  to  them  from  their  ancestors,  but  none  to  dimi- 
nish it,  time  alone,  by  means  of  marriages,  legacies,  and  other  accidents, 
brought  continual  accessions  of  wealth  and  of  dignity;  a  great  family,  like 
a  river,  became  considerable  from  the  length  of  its  course,  and,  as  it  roiled 
on,  new  honours  and  new  property  flowed  successively  into  it.  Whatever 
influence  is  derived  from  tides  of  honour,  the  feudal  barons  likewise  pos- 
sessed in  an  ample  manner.  These  marks  of  distinction  are,  in  their  own 
nature,  either  official  or  personal,  and  being  annexed  to  a  particular  charge, 
or  bestowed  by  the  admiration  of  mankind  upon  illustrious  characters, 
ought  to  be  appropriated  to  these.  But  the  son,  however  unworthy,  could 
not  bear  to  be  stripped  of  that  appellation  by  which  his  father  had  been 
distinguished.  His  presumption  claimed  what  his  virtue  did  not  merit; 
titles  of  honour  became  hereditary,  and  added  new  lustre  to  nobles  already 
in  possession  of  too  much  power.  Something  more  audacious  and  more 
"xtravagant  still  remained.  The  supreme  direction  of  all  affairs,  both 
civil  and  military,  being  committed  to  the  great  officers  of  the  crown,  the 
fame  and  safety  of  princes,  as  well  as  of  their  people,  depended  upon  the 
fidelity  and  abilities  of  these  officers.  But  such  was  the  preposterous 
ambition  of  the  nobles,  and  so  successful  even  in  their  wildest  attempts  to 
aggrandize  themselves,  that  in  all  the  kingdoms  where  the  feudal  institu 
tions  prevailed,  most  of  the  chief  officers  of  state  were  annexed  to  great 
families,  and  held,  like  fiefs,  by  hereditary  right.  A  person  whose  unduti- 
tul  behaviour  rendered  him  odious  to  his  prince,  or  whose  incapacity 
exposed  him  to  the  contempt  of  the  people,  often  held  a  place  of  powei 
and  trust  of  the  greatest  importance  to  both.  In  Scotland,  the  offices 
of  Lord  Justice  General,  Great  Chamberlain,  High  Steward,  High  Con- 
stable, Earl  Marshal,  and  High  Admiral,  were  all  hereditary;  and  in  many 
counties,  the  office  of  Sheriff  was  held  in  the  same  manner. 

Nobles,  whose  property  was  so  extensive,  and  whose  power  was  so 
great,  could  not  fail  ot  being  turbulent  and  formidable.  Nor  did  they  want 
instruments  for  executing  their  boldest  designs.  That  portion  of  their 
lands,  which  they  parcelled  out  among  their  followers,  supplied  them  with 
a  numerous   band  of  faithful   and  determined  vassals;  while  that  which 

*  Craig,  lib  iii.  Diet;.  7> 


16  THEHISTORY  IBook  I. 

they  retained  in  their  own  hands  enabled  them  to  live  with  a  princely 

splendour.     The  great  hall  of  an  ambitious  baron  was  often  more  crowded 

than  the  court  of  his  sovereign.     The  -        g  castles,  in  which  they  resided, 

afforded  a  secure  retreat  to  the  discontented  and  seditious.     A  _reat  part 

of  their  revenue  was  spent  upon  multitudes  of  indigent  but  boid  retainers. 

if  at  any  time  they  left  their  retreat  to  in  the  court  of  their 

sovereign,  they  were  accompanied,  even  in  times  ot   peace,  with  a 

train  ot  armed  followers.     The  usual  retinue  of  William,  the  sixth  Earl  ot 

Douglas,  consisted  of  two  thousand  horse.     Those  of  the  other  nobles  were 

ihcentand  formidable  in  proportion.     Impatient  of  subordination,  and 

ttiug  their  proper  rank,   such  potent  and  haughty  barons  were   the 

-  rather  than  the  subjects  of  their  prince.     They  often  despised  his 

orders,  insulted  his  person,  and  wrest<  am  his  crown.     The  history 

of  Europe,  during  several  ages,  contains  little  else  but  the  accounts  of  the 

rs  and  revolutions  occasioned  by  their  exorbitant  ambition. 

But,  if  the  authority  of  the  barons  far  exceeded  its  proper  bounds  in  the 

other  nations  of  Europe,  we  may  affirm  that  the  balance  which  ought  to 

be  preserved  between  a  king  and  his  nobles  was  almost  entirely  lost  in 

Scotland.     The  Scottish  nobles  enjoyed,  in  common  with  those  of  other 

nations,  all  the  means  for  extending  their  authority,  which  arise  from  the 

aristocraticaJ  genius  of  the  feudal  government.     Besides  these,  they 

-  ssed  advantages  peculiar  to  themselves  :  the  accidental  sources  of  theii 

power  were  considerable  ;  and  singular  circumstances  concurred  w  ith  the 

spirit  of  the   constitution  to  aggrandize  them.     To  enumerate  the  most 

remarkable  of  these  will  serve  both  to  explain  the  political  state  of  the 

_  torn,  and  to  illustrate  many  important  occurrences  in  the  period  now 

under  our  review 

I.  The  natHre  of  their  country  was  one  cause  of  the  power  and  inde 
pendence  of  the  Scottish  nobility.  Level  and  open  countries  are  formed 
for  servitude.  The  authority  of  the  supreme  magistrate  reaches  with  ease 
to  the  most  distant  comers ;  and  w  hen  nature  has  erected  no  barrier,  and 
affords  no  retreat,  the  guilty  or  obnoxious  are  soon  detected  and  punishe^. 
Mountains,  and  fens,  and  rivers,  set  bounds  to  despotic  power,  and  amidst 
these  is  the  natural  seat  of  freedom  and  independence.  In  such  places  did 
the  Scottish  nobles  usually  fix  their  residence.  By  retiring  to  his  own 
castle,  a  mutinous  baron  could  defy  the  power  of  his  sovereign,  it  being 
almost  impracticable  to  lead  an  army,  through  a  barren  country,  to  places 
of  difficult  access  to  a  single  man.  The  same  causes  which  checKed  the 
progress  of  the  Roman  arms,  and  rendered  all  the  efforts  of  Edward  I. 
abortive,  often  protected  the  Scottish  nobles  from  the  vengeance  of  theii 
prince ;  and  they  owed  their  personal  independence  to  those  very  moun- 
tains and  marshes  which  saved  their  country  from  being  conquered. 

II.  The  want  ot"  ^reat   cities   in  Scotland    contributed  not  a  little  to 
urease   the  power  of  the  nobility,  and  to  weaken  that  of  the  prince 

-ver  numbers  of  men  assemble  together,  order  must  be  established 
and  a  regular  form  of  government  instituted  :  the  authority  of  the  magis 
trate  must  be  recognised,  and  his  decisions  meet  with  prompt  and  full 
obedience.  Laws  ani  subordination  take  rise  in  cities:  and  where  there 
are  few  cities,  as  in  Poland,  or  none,  as  in  Tartary,  there  are  few  or  no 
traces  of  a  well  arranged  police.  But  under  the  feudal  Governments, 
commerce,  the  chief  means  of  assembling  mankind,  was  neglected  ;  the 
nobles,  in  order  to  strengthen  their  influence  over  their  vassals,  resided 
among  them,  and  -  eared  at  couit,  where  they  found  a  superior, 

or  dwelt  in  cities,  where  they  met  with  equals.  In  Scotland,  the  fertile 
counties  in  the  South  lying  open  to  the  E  _-Iish,  no  town  situated  there 
could  rise  to  be  great  or  populo  .-.  -        ntinual  inroads  and  alarms 

the  residence  ot  our  monarchs  wjs  not  fixed  to  any  particular   place 
aiany  parts  of  the  country  were  barren  and  uncultivated ;  and  in  conse 


OF   SCOTLAND.  17 

quence  of  Jie«e  peculiar  circumstances,  added  to  the  geneial  causes  flow 
ing  from  the  injure  of  the  feudal  institutions,  the  towns  in  Scotland  were 
extremely  few,  and  very  inconsi  lerable.  The  vassals  of  every  baror 
'H;cupied  a  distinct  portion  of  the  kingdom,  and  formed  a  separate  and 
almost  independent  society.  Instead  of  giving  aid  towards  reducing  to 
obedience  their  seditious  chieftain,  or  any  whom  he  took  under  his  pro- 
tection, they  were  all  in  arms  for  his  defence,  and  obstructed  the  opera 
tions  of  justice  to  the  utmost.  The  prince  was  obliged  to  connive  at 
criminals  whom  he  could  not  reach;  the  nobles,  conscious  of  this  advan- 
tage, were  not  afraid  to  offend  ;  and  the  difficulty  of  punishing  almost 
assured  them  of  impunity. 

III.  The  division  of  the  country  into  clans  had  no  small  effect  in  render- 
ing the  nobles  considerable.     The  nations  which  overran  Europe  were 
originally  divided  into  many  small  tribes;  and  when  they  came  to  parcel 
out  the  lands  which  they  had  conquered,  it  was  natural  for  every  chief- 
tain to  bestow  a  portion,  in  the  first  place,  upon  those  of  his  own  tribe  or 
family.     These  all  held  their  lands  of  him  ;  and  as  the  safety  of  each  indi 
vidual  depended  on  the  general  union,  these  small  societies  clung  togethei. 
and  were  distinguished  by  some  common  appellation,  either  patronymical 
or  local,  long  before  the  introduction  of  surnames,  or  ensigns  armorial. 
But  when  these  became  common,  the  descendants  and  relations  of  every 
chieftain  assumed  the  same  name  and  arms  with  him;  other  vassals  were 
proud  to  imitate  their  example,  and  by  degrees  they  were  communicated 
to  all  those  who  held  of  the  same  superior.     Thus  clanships  were  formed; 
and  in  a  generation  or  two,  that  consanguinity,  which  was,  at  first,  in  a  great 
measure  imaginary,  was  believed  to  be  real.     An  artificial  union  was  con 
verted  into  a  natural  one  ;  men  willingly  followed  a  leader,  whom  thej 
regarded  both  as  the  superior  of  their  lands  and  the  chief  of  their  blood 
and  served  him  not  only  with  the  fidelity  of  vassals,  but  with  the  affectioi 
of  friends.     In  the  other  feudal  kingdoms,  we  may  observe  such  unions  a- 
we  have  described,  imperfectly  formed;  but  in  Scotland,  whether  the) 
were  the  production  of  chance,  or  die  effect  of  policy,  or  introduced  by  tin 
Irish  colony  above   mentioned,  and  strengthened  by  carefully  preserving 
their  genealogies  both  genuine    and  fabulous,  clanships  were  universal 
Such   a  confederacy  might  be  overcome,  it  could  not  be  broken  ;  and  no 
change  of  manners  or  of  government  has  been  able,  in  some  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  to  dissolve  associations  which  are  founded  upon  prejudices  so 
natural  to  the  human  mind.      How  formidable  were  nobles  at  the  head  o: 
followers,  who,  counting  that  cause  just  and  honourable  which  their  chief 
approved,  rushed   into  the  field  at  his  command,  ever  ready  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  in  defence  of  his  person  or  of  his  fame!     Against  such  men  a 
king  contended  with  great  disadvantage  ;  and  that  coid  service  which 
money  purchases,  or  authority  extorts,  was  not  an  equal  match  for  then 
ardour  and  zeal. 

IV.  The  sma'lness  of  their  number  may  be  mentioned  among  the  causes 
of  the  grandeur  of  the  Scottish  nobles.  Our  annals  reach  not  back  to  the 
first  division  of  property  in  the  kingdom  ;  but  so  far  as  we  can  trace  the 
matter,  the  original  possessions  of  the  nobles  seem  to  have  been  extensne. 
The  ancient  Thanes  were  the  equals  and  the  rivals  of  their  prince.  Many 
of  the  earls  and  barons,  who  succeeded  them,  were  masters  of  territories 
no  less  ample.  France  and  England,  countries  wide  and  fertile,  afforded 
settlements  to  a  numerous  and  powerful  nobility.  Scotland,  a  kingdorr 
neither  extensive  nor  rich,  could  not  contain  many  such  overgrown  propri 
etors.  But  the  power  of  an  aristocracy  always  diminishes  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  of  its  numbers  :  feeb  vided  among  a  multitude,  irre- 

sistible if  centred  in  a  few.     When  nobles  are  numerous,  their  operations 
nearlv  resemble  those  of  the  pei  h<  .  are  roused  only  by  what  they 

feel,  not   by  what  they  apprehend ;  and  submit  to  many  arbitrary  and 
Vol   HI. — 3 


It  THE   HISTORY  [Book  I. 

oppressive  acts,  .>efore  they  take  anus  against  their  sovereign.  A  small 
body,  on  the  contrary,  is  more  sensible  and  more  impatient ;  quick  in 
discerning,  and  prompt,  in  repelling  danger,  all  its  motions  are  as  sudden 
as  those  of  the  other  are  slow.  Hence  proceeded  the  extreme  jealousy 
with  which  the  Scottish  nobles  observed  their  monarchs,  and  the  herceness 
with  which  they  opposed  their  encroachments.  Even  the  virtue  of  a 
prince  did  not  render  them  less  vigilant,  or  less  eager  to  defend  their 
rights;  and  Robert  Bruce,  notwithstanding  the  splendour  of  his  victories, 
and  the  glory  of  his  name,  was  upon  the  point  of  experiencing  the  vigour 
of  their  resistance,  no  less  than  his  unpopular  descendant  James  III 
Besides  this,  the  near  alliance  of  the  great  families,  by  frequent  intermar- 
riages, was  the  natural  consequence  of  their  small  number ;  and  as  con 
sanguinity  was,  in  those  ages,  a  powerful  bond  of  union,  all  the  kindred 
of  a  nobleman  interested  themselves  in  his  quarrel  as  a  common  cause; 
and  every  contest  the  king  had,  though  with  a  single  baron,  soon  drew 
upon  him  the  arms  of  a  whole  confederacy. 

V.  Those  natural  connections,  both  with  their  equals  and  with  their 
inferiors,  the  Scottish  nobles  strengthened  by  a  device,  which,  if  not  peculiar 
to  themselves,  was  at  least  more  frequent  among  diem  than  in  any  other 
nation.  Even  in  times  of  profound  peace,  they  tornied  associations,  which, 
when  made  with  their  equals,  were  called  leagues  of  mutiial  defence;  and 
when  with  their  inferiors,  bonds  of  manrent.  By  the  former,  the  contracting 
parties  bound  themselves  mutually  to  assist  each  other,  in  all  causes  and 
against  all  persons.  By  the  latter,  protection  was  stipulated  on  the  one 
hand,  and  fidelity  and  personal  service  premised  on  the  other.*  Self-pre- 
servation, it  is  probable,  forced  men  at  first  into  these  confederacies;  and, 
while  disorder  and  rapine  were  universal,  while  government  was  unsettled, 
and  the  authority  of  laws  little  known  or  regarded,  near  neighbours  found 
it  necessaiy  to  unite  in  this  manner  for  their  security;  and  the  weak  were 
obliged  to  court  the  patronage  of  the  strong.  By  degrees,  these  asso- 
ciations became  so  many  alliances  offensive  and  defensive  against  Un- 
throne; and  as  their  obligation  was  held  to  be  more  sacred  than  any  tie 
whatever,  they  gave  much  umbrage  to  our  kings,  and  contributed  not  a 
little  to  the  power  and  independence  of  the  nobility.  In  the  reign  of  James 
II.  William,  the  eighth  earl  of  Douglas,  entered  into  a  league  of  this  kind 
with  the  earls  of  Crawford,  Ross,  Murray,  Ormond,  the  lords  Hamilton, 
Balveny,  and  other  powerful  barons;  and  so  formidable  was  this  combi- 
nation to  the  king,  that  he  had  recourse  to  a  measure  no  less  violent  than 
unjust,  in  order  to  dissolve  it. 

VI.  The  frequent  wars  between  England  and  Scotland  proved  another 
cause  of  augmenting  the  power  of  the  nobility.  Nature  has  placed  no 
barrier  between  the  two  kingdoms;  a  river,  almost  every  where  fordable, 
divides  them  towards  the  east ;  on  the  west  they  are  separated  by  an 
imaginary  line.  The  slender  revenues  of  our  kings  prevented  them  for 
fortifying  or  placing  garrisons  in  the  towns  on  the  frontier;  nor  would  ll  ( 
jealousy  of  their  subjects  have  permitted  such  a  method  of  defence.  'J  he 
barons,  whose  estates  lay  near  the  border?,  considered  themselves  as  bound, 
both  in  honour  and  interest,  to  repel  the  enemy.  The  wardens/dps  ol  the 
different  marches,  offices  of  great  power  and  dignity,  were  generally 
bestowed  on  them.  This  gained  them  the  leading  of  the  warlike  counties 
in  the  south;  and  their  vassals,  living  in  a  state  of  perpetual  hostility,  or 
enjoying  at  best  an  insecure  peace,  became  more  inured  to  war  than  even 
the  rest  of  their  countrymen,  and  more  willing  to  accompany  their  chieftain 
in  his  most  hardy  and  dangerous  enterprises.  It  was  the  valour,  no  les« 
than  the  number  of  their  followers,  that  rendered  the  Douglases  great 
The  nobles  in  the  northern  and  midland  counties  werf  often  dutiful  ana 

*  Act  30,  Pari.  1424.    Act  43,  Pari   1555 


OF  SCOTLAND.  19 

obsequious  to  tne  crown,  but  our  monarchs  always  found  it  in  » ictica^.e 
to  subdue  the  mutinous  and  ungovernable  spirit  of  the  borders.  In  ail 
our  domestic  quarrels,  those  who  could  draw  to  their  side  the  inhabitants 
of  the  southern  counties,  were  almost  sure  of  victory  ;  and  conscious  of  uAs 
advantage,  the  lords  who  possessed  authority  there,  were  apt  to  forget  tne 
duty  which  they  owed  their  sovereign,  and  to  aspire  beyond  the  rank  at 
subjects. 

VII.  The  calamities  which  befell  our  kings  contributed  more  than  any 
other  cause  to  diminish  the  royal  authorily.  Never  was  any  race  of 
monarchs  so  unfortunate  as  the  Scottish.  Ot  six  successive  princes,  from 
Robert  III.  to  James  VI.,  not  one  died  a  natural  death  ;  and  the  minorities 
during  that  time,  were  longer  and  more  frequent  than  ever  happened  n 
any  other  kingdom.  From  Robert  Bruce  to  James  VI.,  we  reckon  ten 
princes ;  and  seven  of  these  were  called  to  the  throne  while  they  were 
minors,  and  almost  infants.  Even  the  most  regular  and  best  established 
governments  feel  sensibly  the  pernicious  effects  of  a  minority,  and  either 
become  languid  and  inactive,  or  are  thrown  into  violent  and  unnatural  con- 
vulsions. But  under  the  imperfect  and  ill-adjusted  system  of  government 
in  Scotland  these  effects  were  still  more  fatal ;  the  fierce  and  mutinous 
spirit  of  the  nobles,  unrestrained  by  the  authority  of  a  king,  scorned  all 
subjection  to  the  delegated  jurisdiction  of  a  regent,  or  to  the  feeble  com- 
mands of  a  minor.  The  royal  authority  was  circumscribed  within  nai rower 
limits  than  ever;  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  naturally  inconsiderable,, 
were  reduced  almost  to  nothing;  and  the  aristocratical  power  gradually 
rose  upon  the  ruins  of  the  monarchical.  Lest  the  personal  power  of  a 
regent  should  enable  him  to  act  with  too  much  vigour,  the  authority 
annexed  to  that  office  was  sometimes  rendered  inconsiderable  by  being 
divided;  or,  if  a  single  regent  was  chosen,  the  greater  nobles,  and  the 
heads  of  the  more  illustrious  families,  were  seldom  raised  to  that  dignity. 
It  was  often  conferred  upon  men  who  possessed  little  influence,  and  excited 
no  jealousy.  They,  conscious  of  their  own  weakness,  were  obliged  to 
overlook  some  irregularities,  and  to  permit  others;  and,  in  order  to  support 
their  authority,  which  was  destitute  of  real  strength,  they  endeavoured  to 
gain  the  most  powerful  and  active  barons,  by  granting  them  possessions 
and  immunities,  which  raised  them  to  still  greater  power.  When  the  king 
nimself  came  to  assume  the  reigns  of  government,  he  found  his  revenues 
wasted  or  alienated,  the  crown  lands  seized  or  given  away,  and  the  nobles 
so  accustomed  to  independence,  that,  after  the  struggles  of  a  whole  reign, 
he  was  seldom  able  to  reduce  them  to  the  same  state  in  which  thev  had 
been  at  the  beginning  of  his  minority,  or  to  wrest  from  them  what  they  had 
usurped  during  that  time.  If  we  take  a  view  of  what  happened  to  each 
of  our  kings,  who  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  placed  in  this  situation,  the 
truth  and  importance  of  this  observation  will  fully  appear. 

The  minority  of  David  II.  the  son  of  Robert  Bruce,  was  disturbed  by 
the  pretensions  of  Edward  Baliol,  who,  relying  on  the  aid  o'"  England,  and 
on  the  support  of  some  disaffected  barons  among  the  S>  -.  invaded  the 
kingdjm.  The  success  which  at  first  attended  his  arms  ob^ged  the  young 
king  to  retire  to  France ;  and  Baliol  took  possession  of  the  throne.  A  small 
body  of  the  nobles,  however,  continuing  faithful  to  their  exiled  prince, 
drove  Baliol  out  of  Scotland;  and  after  an  absence  of  nine  years  David 
returned  from  France,  and  took  the  government  of  the  kingdom  into  his 
own  hands.  But  nobles,  who  were  thus  wast  ng  their  blood  and  treasure 
in  defence  of  the  crown,  had  a  right  to  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their 
ancient  privileges;  and  even  some  title  to  arrogate  new  ones.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  maxim  in  that  age  [1329],  that  every  leader  might  claim  as 
his  own  the  territory  which  his  sword  had  won  from  the  enemy.  Great 
acquisitions  were  gained  by  the  nobility  in  (bat  way:  and  to  these  fhe 
gratitude  and  liberality  ol  David  added,  by  <iistributing  among  such  as 


20  THE  HISTORY  |Book  l 

adhered  to  him  the  vast  possessions  which  fell  to  the  crown  ny  the  forfeiture 
of  his  enemies.  The  family  of  Douglas,  which  began  to  rise  above  the 
other  nobles  in  the  reign  of  his  father,  augmented  both  its  power  and  its 
property  during  his  minority. 

1405.J  James  I.  was  seized  by  the  English  during  the  continuance  of  a 
truce,  and  ungenerously  detained  a  prisoner  almost  nineteen  years.  During 
that  period  the  kingdom  was  governed,  first  by  his  uncle  Robert,  Duke  of 
Albany,  and  then  by  Murdo,  the  son  of  Robert.  Both  these  noblemtn 
aspired  to  the  crown;  and  their  unnatural  ambition,  if  we  may  believe 
most  of  our  historians,  not  only  cut  short  the  days  of  prince  David,  the 
king's  eldest  brother,  but  prolonged  the  captivity  of  James.  They  flattered 
themselves  that  they  might  step  with  less  opposition  into  a  throne,  when; 
almost  vacant ;  and  dreading  the  king's  return  as  the  extinction  of  their 
authority,  and  the  end  of  their  hopes,  they  carried  on  the  negotiations  for 
obtaining  his  liberty  with  extreme  remissness.  At  the  same  time  they 
neglected  nothing  that  could  either  soothe  or  bribe  the  nobles  to  approve 
of  their  scheme.  They  slackened  the  reins  of  government;  they  allowed 
the  prerogative  to  be  encroached  upon;  they  suffered  the  most  irregular  acts 
of  power,  and  even  wanton  instances  of  oppression,  to  pass  with  impunity; 
they  dealt  out  the  patrimony  of  the  crown  among  those  whose  enmity  they 
dreaded  or  whose  favour  they  had  gained ;  and  reduced  the  royal  autho- 
rity to  a  state  of  imbecility,  from  which  succeeding  monarchs  laboured  ir 
vain  to  raise  it. 

1437.]  During  the  minority  of  James  II.  the  administration  of  affairs, 
■is  well  as  the  custody  of  the  king's  person,  were  committed  to  Sir  William 
Ciichton  and  Sir  Alexander  Livingston.  Jealousy  and  discord  were  the 
effects  of  their  conjunct  authority,  and  each  of  them,  in  order  to  strengthen 
himself,  bestowed  new  power  and  privileges  upon  the  great  men  whose 
aid  he  courted  ;  while  the  young  earl  of  Douglas,  encouraged  by  their 
divisions,  erected  a  sort  of  independent  principality  within  the  kingdom  ; 
and,  forbidding  his  vassals  to  acknowledge  any  authority  but  his  own,  he 
created  knights,  appointed  a  privy  council,  named  officers  civil  and  mili- 
tary, assumed  every  ensign  of  royalty  but  the.  title  of  king,  and  appeared 
in  public  with  a  magnificence  more  than  royal. 

1460.]  Eight  persons  were  chosen  to  govern  the  kingdom  during  the 
minority  of  James  111.  Lord  Boyd,  however,  by  seizing  the  person  of  the 
young  King,  and  by  the  ascendant  which  he  acquired  over  him,  soon  en- 
grossed the  whole  authority.  He  formed  the  ambitious  project  of  raising 
his  family  to  the  same  pitch  of  power  and  grandeur  with  those  of  the  prime 
nobility;  and  he  effected  it.  While  intent  on  this,  he  relaxed  the  vigour 
of  government,  and  the  barons  became  accustomed  once  more  to  anarchy 
and  independence.  The  power  which  Boyd  had  been  at  so  much  pains 
to  acquire  was  of  no  long  continuance,  and  the  fall  of  his  family,  according 
to  the  fate  of  favourites,  was  sudden  and  destructive  ;  but  upon  its  ruin^ 
the  family  of  Hamilton  rose,  which  soon  attained  the  highest  rank  in  the 
kingdom. 

As  the  minority  of  James  V.  was  longer,  it  was  likewise  more  turbulent 
than  those  of  the  preceding  kings.  And  the  contending  nobles,  encouraged 
or  protected  either  by  the  king  of  France  or  of  England,  formed  them- 
selves into  more  regular  factions,  and  disregarded  more  than  ever  the 
restraints  of  order  and  authority.  The  French  had  the  advantage  of  seeing 
one,  devoted  to  their  interest,  raised  to  be  regent.  This  was  the  duke 
of  Albany,  a  native  of  France,  and  a  grandson  of  James  II.  But  Alexan- 
der Lord  Home,  the  most  eminent  of  all  Scottish  peers  who  survived  the 
fatal  battle  of  Flowden,  thwarted  all  his  measures  during  the  first  years  ol 
his  administration  ,  and  the  intrigues  of  the  queen  dowager,  sister  ol 
Henry  VIII.  rendered  the  latter  part  of  it  no  less  feeble.  Though  sup- 
ported by   French   auxiliaries  the   nobles  despised   his  authority,  and, 


OF  SCOTLAND.  tl 

regardless  either  of  his  threats  or  his  entreaties,  peremptorily  refused  two 
several  times  to  enter  England,  to  the  borders  of  which  kingdom  he  had 
led  them.  Provoked  by  these  repeated  instances  of  contempt,  the  regent 
abandoned  his  troublesome  station,  and,  retiring  to  F;ance,  preferred  the 
tranquillity  of  a  private  life  to  an  office  destitute  of  real  authority.  Upon 
his  retreat,  Douglas,  earl  of  Angus,  became  master  of  the  king  s  person, 
and  governed  the  kingdom  in  his  name.  Many  efforts  were  made  to 
deprive  him  of  his  usurped  authority.  But  the  numerous  vassals  and 
friends  of  his  family  adhered  to  him,  because  he  divided  with  them  the 
power  and  emoluments  of  his  office  ;  the  people  reverenced  and  loved  the 
name  of  Douglas  ;  he  exercised,  without  the  title  of  regent,  a  fuller  and 
more  absolute  authority  than  any  who  had  enjoyed  that  dignity  ;  and 
the  ancient  but  dangerous  pre-eminence  of  the  Douglases  seemed  to  be 
restored. 

To  these,  and  to  many  other  causes,  omitted  or  unobserved  by  us,  did 
the  Scottish  nobility  owe  that  exorbitant  and  uncommon  power,  of  which 
instances  occur  so  frequently  in  our  history.  Nothing,  however,  demon- 
strates so  fully  the  extent  of  their  power  as  the  length  of  its  duration. 
Many  years  alter  the  declension  of  the  feudal  system  in  the  other  king- 
doms of  Europe,  and  when  the  arms  or  policy  of  Princes  had,  every 
where,  shaken  or  laid  it  in  ruins,  the  foundations  of  that  ancient  fabric 
remained,  in  a  great  measure,  firm  and  untouched  in  Scotland. 

The  powers  which  the  feudal  institutions  vested  in  the  nobles  soon 
became  intolerable  to  all  the  princes  of  Europe,  who  longed  to  possess 
something  more  than  a  nominal  and  precarious  authority.  Their  impa- 
tience to  obtain  this  precipitated  Henry  III.  of  England,  Edward  II.  and 
some  other  weak  princes,  into  rash  and  premature  attempts  against  the 
privileges  of  the  barons,  in  which  they  were  disappointed  or  perished. 
Princes  of  greater  abilities  were  content  to  mitigate  evils  which  they 
could  not  cure  ;  they  sought  occupation  for  the  turbulent  spirit  of  their 
nobles  in  frequent  wars ;  and  allowed  their  fiery  courage  to  evaporate  in 
foreign  expeditions  which,  if  they  brought  no  other  advantage,  secured  at 
least  domestic  tranquillity.  But  time  and  accidents  ripened  the  feudal 
governments  for  destruction.  Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  beginning  of  the  sixteenth,  all  the  princes  of  Europe  attacked,  as  it 
by  concert,  the  power  of  their  nobles.  Men  of  genius  then  undertook 
with  success  what  their  unskilful  predecessors  had  attempted  in  vain. 
Louis  XI.  of  France,  the  most  profound  and  the  most  adventurous  genius 
of  that  age  began,  and  in  a  single  reign  almost  completed  the  scheme  of 
their  destruction.  The  sure  but  concealed  policy  of  Henry  VII.  of  Eng- 
land, produced  the  same  effect.  The  means,  indeed,  employed  by  these 
monarchs  were  very  different.  The  blow  which  Louis  struck  was  sudden 
and  fatal.  The  artifices  of  Henry  resembled  those  slow  poisons  which 
waste  the  constitution  but  become  not  mortal  till  some  distant  period. 
Nor  did  they  produce  consequences  less  opposite.  Louis  boldly  added  to 
the  crown  whatever  he  wrested  from  the  nobles.  Henry  undermined  his 
barons  by  encouraging  them  to  sell  their  lands,  which  enriched  the  com- 
mons, and  gave  them  a  weight  in  the  legislature  unknown  to  their  prede- 
cessors. But  while  these  great  revolutions  were  carrying  on  in  two  king- 
doms with  which  Scotland  was  intimately  connected,  little  alteration  hap- 
pened there  ;  our  kings  could  neither  extend  their  own  prerogative  nor 
enable  the  commons  to  encroach  upon  the  aristocracy ;  the  nobles  not  only 
retained  most  of  their  ancient  privileges  and  possessions,  but  continued  to 
make  new  acquisitions. 

This  was  not  owing  to  the  inattention  of  our  princes,  or  to  their  want 
of  ambition.  They  were  abundantly  sensible  of  the  exorbitant  power  ol 
the  nobility,  and  extremely  solicitous  to  humble  that  order.  They  did 
not,  however,  possess  means  sufficient  for  accomplishing  this  end.     The 


tS  THE   HISTORY  TBook  1. 

resources  of  our  monarchs  were  few,  and  the  progress  which  they  made 
was  of  course  inconsiderable.  But  as  the  number  of  their  followers,  and 
♦be  extent  of  their  jurisdiction,  were  the  two  chief  circumstances  which 
rendered  the  nobles  formidable  ;  in  order  to  counterbalance  the  one,  and 
to  restrain  the  other,  all  our  kings  had  recourse  to  nearly  the  same  ex 
pedients. 

I.  Among  nobles  of  a  fierce  courage  and  of  unpolished  manners,  sur- 
rounded with  vassals  bold  and  licentious,  whom  they  were  bound  oy 
interest  and  honour  to  protect,  the  causes  of  discord  were  many  and 
unavoidable.     As  the  contending  parties  could  seldom  agree  in  acknow 

I  edging  the  authority  of  any  common  superior  or  judge,  and  their  impa 
tient  spirit  would  seldom  wait  the  slow  decisions  of  justice,  their  quarrels 
were  usually  terminated  by  the  sword.  The  offended  baron  assembled 
his  vassals,  and  wasted  the  lands  or  shed  the  blood  of  his  enemies.  To 
forgive  an  injury  was  mean;  to  forbear  revenge  infamous  or  cowardly.* 
Hence  quarrels  were  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and,  under  the  name 
of  deadly  feuds,  subsisted  for  many  generations  with  unmitigated  rancour. 
It  was  the  interest  of  the  crown  to  foment  rather  than  to  extinguish  these 
quarrels  ;  and  by  scattering  or  cherishing  the  seeds  of  discord  among  the 
nobles,  that  union,  which  would  have  rendered  the  aristocracy  invincible, 
and  which  must  at  once  have  annihilated  the  prerogative,  was  effectually 
prevented.  To  the  same  cause  our  kings  were  indebted  for  the  success 
with  which  they  sometimes  attacked  the  most  powerful  chieftains.  They 
employed  private  revenge  to  aid  tue  impotence  of  public  laws,  and  arming 
against  the  person  who  had  incurred  their  displeasure  those  rival  families 
which  wished  his  fall,  they  rewarded  their  service  by  sharing  among  them 
the  spoils  of  the  vanquished.  But  this  expedient,  though  it  served  to 
humble  individuals,  did  not  weaken  the  body  of  the  nobility.  Those 
who  were  now  the  instruments  of  their  prince's  vengeance  became,  in  a 
short  time,  the  objects  of  his  fear.  Having  acquired  power  and  wealth 
by  serving  the  crown,  they,  in  their  turn,  set  up  for  independence :  and 
though  there  might  be  a  fluctuation  of  power  and  of  property  ;  though  old 
families  fell,  and  new  ones  rose  upon  their  ruins  ;  the  rights  of  the  aristo- 
cracy remained  entire,  and  its  vigour  unbroken. 

II.  As  the  administration  of  justice  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  ties 
between  a  king  and  his  subjects,  all  our  monarchs  were  at  the  utmost 
pains  to  circumscribe  the  jurisdiction  of  the  barons,  and  to  extend  that  ot 
the  crown.  The  external  forms  of  subordination  natural  to  the  feudal 
system  favoured  this  attempt.  An  appeal  lay  from  the  judges  and  courts 
of  the  barons  to  those  of  the  king.  The  right,  however,  of  judging  in 
the  first  instance  belonged  to  the  nobles,  and  they  easily  found  means  to 
defeat  the  effects  of  appeals,  as  well  as  of  many  other  feudal  regulations. 
The  royal  jurisdiction  was  almost  confined  widiin  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
king's  demesnes,  beyond  which  his  judges  claimed  indeed  much  authority, 
but  possessed  next  to  none.  Our  kings  were  sensible  of  these  limitations, 
and  bore  them  with  impatience.  But  it  was  impossible  to  overturn  in  a 
momen*  what  was  so  deeply  rooted  ;  or  to  strip  the  nobles  at  once  oi 
privileges  which  they  had  held  so  long,  and  which  were  wrought  almost 

*  The  spirit  of  revenge  was  encouraged,  not  only  by  the  manners,  but,  what  Is  more  remarkable, 
by  the  laws  of  those  ages.  If  any  person  thought  the  prosecution  of  an  injury  offered  to  his  famil) 
too  troublesome  or  too  dangerous,  the  Salique  laws  permitted  him  publicly  todesist  from  demanding 
vengeance ;  but  the  same  laws,  in  order  to  punish  his  cowardice  and  want  of  affection  to  his  family 
deprived  him  of  the  right  of  succession.  Henault's  Abrege  Chronol.  p  81  Among  the  Anglo 
Saxons  we  find  a  singular  institution  distinguished  by  the  name  of  sodalitium ;  a  voluntary  '«so 
ciation,  the  object  whereof  was  the  personal  security  of  those  who  joined  in  it,  and  whirr  tilt 
feebleness  of  government  at  that  time  rendered  necessary.  Among  other  regulations,  which  aif 
contained  in  one  of  these  still  extant,  the  following  deserves  notice  :  "  If  any  associate  shall  eithei 
eat  or  drink  with  a  perton  who  has  killed  any  member  of  the  sodalitium,  unl  jss  in  the  presence  01 
the  king,  the  bishop,  or  the  count,  and  unless  he  can  prove  that  he  did  not  know  the  person,  let  him 
pay  a  great  fine."     Hickes,  Ditsert.  Epistolar.  apud  Thesaur.  Ling.  Septentr.  vol.  i.  p.  21 


OF  SCOTLAND  n 

into  the  frame  of  the  feudal  constitution.  To  accomplish  this,  however, 
was  an  object  of  uniform  and  anxious  attention  to  all  our  princes.  James 
I.  led  the  way  here,  as  well  as  in  other  instances,  towards  a  more  regulai 
and  perfect  police.  He  made  choice,  among  the  estates  of  parliament,  oi 
a  certain  number  of  persons,  whom  he  distinguished  by  the  names  ol 
Lords  of  Session,  and  appointed  them  to  hold  courts  for  determining  civil 
causes  three  times  in  the  year,  and  forty  days  at  a  time,  in  whatever  place 
ne  pleased  to  name.  Their  jurisdiction  extended  to  all  matters  which 
formerly  came  under  the  cognizance  of  the  king's  council,  and,  being  a 
committee  of  parliament,  their  decisions  were  final.  James  II.  obtained 
a  law,  annexing  all  regalities  which  should  be  forfeited  to  the  crown,  and 
declaring  the  right  of  jurisdiction  to  be  unalienable  for  the  future.  James 
III.  imposed  severe  penalties  upon  those  judges  appointed  by  the  barons. 
whose  decisions  should  be  found  on  a  review  to  be  unjust ;  and,  by  many 
other  regulations,  endeavoured  to  extend  the  authority  of  his  own  court.* 
James  IV.,  on  pretence  }f  remedying  the  inconveniences  arising  from  the 
short  terms  of  the  Court  of  Session,  appointed  other  judges  called  Lords  oj 
Daily  Council.  The  Session  was  an  ambulatory  court,  and  met  seldom  : 
the  Daily  Council  was  fixed,  and  sat  constantly  at  Edinburgh  ;  and,  though 
not  composed  of  members  of  parliament,  the  same  powers  which  the 
Lords  of  Session  enjoyed  were  vested  in  it.  At  last  James  V.  erected  a 
new  court  that  still  subsists,  and  which  he  named  the  College  of  Justice, 
the  judges  or  Senators  of  which  were  called  Lords  of  Council  and  Session. 
This  court  not  only  exercised  the  same  jurisdiction  which  formerly  be- 
longed to  the  Session  and  Daily  Council,  but  new  rights  were  added. 
Privileges  of  great  importance  were  granted  to  its  members,  its  forms 
were  prescribed,  its  terms  fixed,  and  regularity,  power,  and  splendour  con- 
ferred upon  it.t  The  persons  constituted  j  udges  in  all  these  different  courts 
had,  in  many  respects,  the  advantage  of  those  who  presided  in  the  courts 
of  the  barons ;  they  were  more  eminent  for  their  skill  in  law,  their  rules 
of  proceeding  were  more  uniform,  and  their  decisions  more  consistent. 
Such  judicatories  became  the  objects  of  confidence  and  of  veneration. 
Men  willingly  submitted  their  property  to  their  determination,  and  their 
encroachments  on  the  jurisdictions  of  the  nobles  were  popular,  and  for  that 
reason  successful.  By  devices  of  a  similar  nature,  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
nobles  in  criminal  causes  was  restrained,  and  the  authority  of  the  Court 
of  Justiciary  extended.  The  crown,  in  this  particular,  gaining  insensibly 
upon  the  nobles,  recovered  more  ample  authority ;  and  the  king,  whose 
jurisdiction  once  resembled  that  of  a  baron  rather  than  that  of  a  sovereign,} 

*  Act  26.  P.  1469.    Act  94.  P.  1493.     Act  99.  P.  1487.  f  Keith,  A  pp.  75,  &c. 

X  The  most  perfect  idea  of  the  feudal  system  of  government  may  be  attained  by  attending  to  Hie 
state  of  Germany,  and  to  the  history  of  France.  In  the  former,  the  feudal  institutions  still  subsist 
with  great  vigour ;  and  though  altogether  abolished  in  the  latter,  the  public  records  have  been  so 
carefully  preserved,  that  the  French  lawyers  and  antiquaries  have  been  enabled,  with  more  certaint) 
and  precision  than  those  of  any  other  country  in  Europe,  to  trace  its  rise,  its  progress,  and  revo 
lutions.  In  Germany  every  principality  may  be  considered  as  a  fief,  and  all  its  great  princes  as 
vassals,  holding  of  the  Emperor.  They  possess  all  the  feudal  privileges ;  their  fiefs  are  perpetual ; 
their  jurisdictions  within  their  own  territories  separate  and  extensive  ;  and  the  great  offices  of  the 
empire  are  all  hereditary,  and  annexed  to  particular  families.  At  the  same  time  the  emperor  retain? 
many  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  feudal  monarchs.  Like  them,  his  claims  and  pretensions  are  innu- 
merable, and  his  powers  small  •  his  jurisdiction  within  his  own  demesnes  or  hereditary  countriei 
is  complete ;  beyond  the  bounds  of  these  it  is  almost  nothing ;  and  so  permanent  are  feudal  prin- 
ciples, that  although  the  feudal  system  be  overturned  in  almost  every  particular  state  in  Germany, 
and  although  the  greater  part  of  its  princes  have  become  absolute,  the  original  feudal  constitution 
of  the  Empire  still  remains,  and  ideas  peculiar  to  that  form  of  government  direct  all  ite  operations, 
and  determine  the  rights  of  all  its  princes.  Our  observations,  with  regard  to  the  limited  jurisr?;c- 
tion  of  kings  under  the  feudal  governments,  are  greatly  illustrated  by  what  happened  in  France. 
The  feebleness  and  dotage  of  the  descendants  of  Charlemagne  encouraged  the  peers  to  usurp  as 
Independent  jurisdiction.  Nothing  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  crown ;  all  was  seized  by  them. 
When  Hugh  Capet  ascended  the  throne,  A.  D.  987,  he  kepi  possession  of  his  private  patrimony, 
the  Comte  of  Paris ;  and  all  the  jurisdiction  which  the  kings  his  successors  exercised  for  some  time, 
wae  within  its  territories.  There  were  only  four  towns  in  France  where  he  could  establish  Grands 
Baillis,  or  royal  judges :  all  the  other  lands,  towns,  and  bailliages,  belonged  to  the  nobles.  The 
methods  to  which  the  French  monarchs  had  recourse  for  extending  their  jurisdiction  were  exactly 


44  THE  HISTORY  [Book  I. 

came  more  and  more  to  be  considered  as  the  head  of  the  community,  and 
the  supreme  dispenser  of  justice  to  his  people.  These  acquisitioas  of  our 
kings,  novvever,  though  comparatively  great,  were  in  reality  inconsidera- 
ble;  and,  notwithstanding  all  their  efforts,  many  of  the  separate  jurisdic- 
tions possessed  by  the  nobles  remained  in  great  vigour;  and  their  final 
abolition  was  reserved  to  a  distant  and  more  happy  period. 

But  besides  these  methods  of  defending  their  prerogative  and  humbling 
the  aristocracy,  which  may  be  considered  as  common  to  all  our  princes, 
we  shall  find,  by  taking  a  view  of  their  reigns,  that  almost  every  one  of 
our  kings,  from  Robert  Bruce  to  James  V.,  had  formed  some  particular 
system  tor  depressing  the  authority  of  the  nobles,  which  was  the  object 
both  of  their  jealousy  and  terror.  This  conduct  of  our  monarchs,  if  we 
rest  satisfied  with  the  accounts  of  their  historians,  must  be  considered  as 
flowing  entirely  from  their  resentment  against  particular  noblemen  ;  and 
all  their  attempts  to  humble  them  must  be  viewed  as  the  sallies  of  private 
passion,  not  as  the  consequences  of  any  general  plan  of  policy.  But  though 
some  of  their  actions  may  be  imputed  to  those  passions,  though  the  different 
genius  of  the  men,  the  temper  of  the  times,  and  the  state  of  the  nation, 
necessarily  occasioned  great  variety  in  their  schemes;  yet,  without  being 
chargeable  with  excessive  refinement,  we  may  affirm  that  their  end  was 
uniformly  the  same  ;  and  that  the  project  of  reducing  the  power  of  the 
aristocracy,  sometimes  avowed  and  pursued  with  vigour,  sometimes  con 
cealed  or  seemingly  suspended,  was  never  altogether  abandoned. 

No  prince  was  ever  more  indebted  to  his  nobles  than  Robert  Bruce 
Their  valour  conquered  the  kingdom,  and  placed  him  on  the  throne.  His 
gratitude  and  generosity  bestowed  on  them  the  lands  of  the  vanquished. 
Property  has  seldom  undergone  greater  or  more  sudden  revolutions  than 
those  to  which  it  was  subject  at  that  time  in  Scotland.  Edward  I.  having 
forfeited  the  estates  of  most  of  the  ancient  Scottish  barons,  granted  them 
to  his  English  subjects.  These  were  expelled  by  the  Scots,  and  theii 
lands  seized  by  new  masters.  Amidst  such  rapid  changes  confusion  was 
unavoidable  ;  and  many  possessed  their  lands  by  titles  extremely  defective. 
During  one  of  those  truces  between  the  two  nations,  occasioned  rather  by 
their  being  weary  of  war  than  desirous  of  peace,  Robert  formed  a  scheme 
for  checking  the  growing  power  and  wealth  of  the  nobles.  He  summoned 
them  to  appear  and  to  show  by  what  rights  they  held  their  lands.  They 
assembled  accordingly ;  and  the  question  being  put,  they  started  up  at 
once,  and  drew  their  swords;  "By  these,"  said  they,  "we  acquired  our 
lands,  and  with  these  we  will  defend  them."  The  king,  intimidated  by 
their  boldness,  prudently  dropped  the  project.  But  so  deeply  did  they 
resent  this  attack  upon  their  order,  that,  notwithstanding  Robert's  popular 
and  splendid  virtues,  it  occasioned  a  dangerous  conspiracy  against  his  life. 

David  his  son,  at  first  an  exile  in  France,  afterward  a  prisoner  in  Eng- 
land, and  involved  in  continual  war  with  Edward  III.  had  not  leisure  to 
attend  to  the  internal  police  of  h>s  kingdom,  or  to  think  of  retrenching  the 
privileges  of  the  nobility. 

Our  historians  have  been  more  careful  to  relate  the  military  than  the 
civil  transactions  of  the  reign  of  Robert  II.  Skirmishes  and  inroads  oi 
little  consequence  they  describe  minutely  but  with  regard  to  every  thing 
that  happened  during  several  years  ot  tranquillity,  they  are  altogether 
silent. 

The  feeble  administration  of  Robert  III.  must  likewise  be  passed  oyer 
slightly.  A  prince  of  a  mean  genius,  and  of  a  frail  and  sickly  constitution, 
was  not  a  fit  person  to  enter  the  lists  with  active  and  martial  barons,  or  to 
attempt  wresting  from  them  any  of  their  rights. 

«smiiarin  ihrwe  emnicven  ovour  trnces.     aenauit  p  Aorege.  n.  617.  aw.     De  I'Lconr  ocuoti,  liv. 
u>,  ch.  20.  <stc. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  26 

The  civil  transactions  in  Scotland  are  better  known  since  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  James  I.,  and  a  complete  series  of  our  laws  supplies  the 
defects  of  our  historians.  The  English  made  some  amends  for  their  in- 
justice in  detaining  that  prince  a  prisoner,  by  their  generous  care  of  his 
education.  During  his  long  residence  in  England,  he  had  an  opportunity 
of  observing  the  feudal  system  in  a  more  advanced  state,  and  refined  Irom 
many  of  the  imperfections  which  still  adhered  to  it  in  his  own  kingdom. 
He  saw  there,  nobles  great,  but  not  independent ;  a  king  powerful,  though 
far  from  absolute  :  he  saw  a  regular  administration  of  government  ;  wise 
laws  enacted;  and  a  nation  flourishing  and  happy,  because  all  ranks  of 
men  were  accustomed  to  obey  them.  Full  of  these  ideas,  he  returned 
into  his  native  country,  which  presented  to  him  a  very  different  scene. 
The  royal  authority,  never  great,  was  now  contemptible,  by  having  been 
so  long  delegated  to  regents.  The  ancient  patrimony  and  revenues  of  the 
crown  were  almost  totally  alienated.  During  his  long  absence  the  name 
of  king  was  little  known,  and  less  regarded.  The  license  of  many  years 
had  rendered  the  nobles  independent.  Universal  anarchy  prevailed. 
The  weak  were  exposed  to  the  rapine  and  oppression  of  the  strong.  In 
every  corner  some  barbarous  chieftain  ruled  at  pleasure,  and  neither  feared 
the  king  nor  pitied  the  people.* 

James  was  too  wise  a  prince  to  employ  open  force  to  correct  such 
inveterate  evils.  Neither  the  men  nor  the  times  would  have  borne  it.  He 
applied  the  gentler  and  less  offensive  remedy  of  laws  and  statutes.  In  a 
parliament  held  immediately  after  his  return,  he  gained  the  confidence  of 
his  people  by  many  wise  laws,  tending  visibly  to  re-establish  order,  tran- 
quillity, and  justice  in  the  kingdom.  But  at  the  same  time  that  he  endea- 
voured to  secure  these  blessings  to  his  subjects,  he  discovered  his  intention 
to  recover  those  possessions  of  which  the  crown  had  been  unjustly  bereaved ; 
and  for  that  purpose  obtained  an  act  by  which  he  was  empowered  to  sum- 
mon such  as  had  obtained  crown  lands  during  the  three  last  reigns,  to  produce 
the  rights  by  which  they  held  them.T  As  this  statute  threatened  the  pro- 
perty of  the  nobles,  another  which  passed  in  a  subsequent  parliament 
aimed  a  dreadful  blow  at  their  power.  By  it  the  leagues  and  combinations 
which  we  have  already  described,  and  which  rendered  the  nobles  so 
formidable  to  the  crown,  were  declared  unlawful.];  Encouraged  by  this 
success  in  the  beginning  of  his  enterprise,  James's  next  step  was  still 
bolder  and  more  decisive.  During  the  sitting  of  parliament  he  seized,  at 
once,  his  cousin  Murdo,  duke  of  Albany,  and  his  sons ;  the  earls  of 
Douglas,  Lennox,  Angus,  March,  and  above  twenty  other  peers  and  barons 
of  prime  rank.  To  all  of  them,  however,  he  was  immediately  reconciled, 
except  to  Albany  and  his  sons,  and  Lennox.  These  were  tried  bj*  their 
peers,  and  condemned ;  for  what  crime  is  now  unknown.  Their  execution 
struck  the  whole  order  with  terror,  and  their  forfeiture  added  considerable 
possessions  to  the  crown.  He  seized,  likewise,  the  earldoms  of  Buchan 
and  Strathern,  upon  different  pretexts;  and  that  of  Mar  fell  to  him  by 
inheritance.  The  patience  and  inactivity  of  the  nobles,  while  the  king 
was  proceeding  so  rapidly  towards  aggrandizing  the  crown,  are  amazing. 
The  only  obstruction  he  met  with  was  from  a  slight  insurrection  headed 
by  the  duke  of  Albany's  youngest  son,  and  that  was  easily  suppressed. 
The  ?j  lendour  and  presence  of  a  king,  to  which  the  great  men  had  been 
long  unaccustomed,  inspired  reverence:  James  was  a  prince  of  great 
abilities,  and  conducted  his  operations  with  much  prudence.     He  was  in 

*  A  cotemporary  monkish  writer  describes  these  calamities  very  feelingly  in  his  rude  Latin  "In 
diebus  illia,  non  erat  lex  in  Scotia,  sed  quilibet  potentiorum  juniorem  oppressit ;  et  totum  regnum 
fuit  unum  latrocinium;  homicidia,  deprajdationes,  incendia,  et  caetera  maleticia  remanserunt  im 
punita;  etjustitia  relegata  extra  terminos  regni  exulavit."  Chartular.  Morav  apud  Innes  Essay, 
vol.  i   p.  272. 

t  Act  9.  P.  1424.  *  Act  30.  P.  1424. 

Vol   III 4 


26  THE  HISTORY  l&oo*  !. 

friendship  with  England,  and  closely  allied  with  the  French  king  :  ne  wa* 
adored  by  the  people,  who  enjoyed  unusual  security  and  happiness  under 
his  administration:  and  all  his  acquisitions,  however  fatal  to  the  body  oi 
the  nobles,  had  been  gained  by  attacks  upon  individuals  ;  were  obtained 
by  decisions  of  law,  and,  being  founded  on  circumstances  peculiar  to  the 
persons  who  suffered,  might  excite  murmurs  and  apprehensions,  but 
afforded  no  colourable  pretext  for  a  general  rebellion.  It  was  not  so  with 
the  next  attempt  which  the  king  made.  Encouraged  by  the  facility  with 
which  he  had  hitherto  advanced,  he  ventured  upon  a  measure  that  irritated 
the  whole  body  of  the  nobility,  and  which  the  events  show  either  to  have 
been  entered  into  with  too  much  precipitancy,  or  to  have  been  carried  on 
with  too  much  violence.  The  father  of  George  Dunbar,  earl  of  March, 
had  taken  arms  against  Robert  III.  the  king's  father ;  but  that  crime  had 
been  pardoned,  and  his  lands  restored  by  Robert  duke  of  Albany.  James, 
on  pretext  that  the  regent  had  exceeded  his  power,  and  that  it  was  the 
prerogative  of  the  king  alone  to  pardon  treason,  or  to  alienate  lands 
annexed  to  the  crown,  obtained  a  sentence  declaring  the  pardon  to  be  void, 
and  depriving  Dunbar  of  the  earldom.  Many  of  the  great  men  held  lands 
by  no  other  right  than  what  they  derived  from  grants  of  the  two  dukes  of 
Albany.  Such  a  decision,  though  they  had  reason  to  expect  it  in  conse- 
quence of  the  statute  which  the  king  had  obtained,  occasioned  a  general 
alarm.  Though  Dunbar  was  at  present  the  only  sufferer,  the  precedent 
might  be  extended,  and  their  titles  to  possessions  which  they  considered 
as  the  rewards  of  their  valour,  might  be  subjected  to  the  review  of  courts 
of  law,  whose  forms  of  proceeding  and  jurisdiction  were  in  a  martial  aee 
little  known,  and  extremely  odious.  Terror  and  discontent  spread  fast 
upon  this  discovery  of  the  king's  intentions  ;  the  common  danger  called  on 
the  whole  order  to  unite,  and  to  make  one  bold  stand  before  they  were 
stripped  successively  of  their  acquisitions,  and  reduced  to  a  state  of  poverty 
and  insignificance.  The  prevalence  of  these  sentiments  among  the  nobles 
encouraged  a  few  desperate  men,  the  friends  or  followers  of  those  who 
had  been  the  chief  sufferers  under  the  king's  administration,  to  form  a  con- 
spiracy against  his  life.  The  first  uncertain  intelligence  of  this  was  brought 
him  while  he  lay  in  his  camp  before  Roxburgh  castle.  He  durst  not  con- 
fide in  nobles,  to  whom  he  had  given  so  many  causes  of  disgust,  but  in- 
stantly dismissed  them  and  their  vassals,  and  retiring  to  a  monastery  near 
Perth,  was  soon  after  murdered  there  in  the  most  cruel  manner.  All  our 
historians  mention  with  astonishment  this  circumstance,  of  the  king's  dis- 
banding his  army  at  a  time  when  it  was  so  necessary  for  his  preservation. 
A  king,  say  they,  surrounded  with  his  barons,  is  secure  from  secret  treason, 
and  may  defy  open  rebellion.  But  those  very  barons  were  the  persons 
whom  he  chiefly  dreaded  ;  and  it  is  evident,  from  this  review  of  his  ad- 
ministration, that  he  had  greater  reason  to  apprehend  danger  than  to  expect 
defence  from  their  hands.  It  was  the  misfortune  of  James,  that  his  maxims 
and  manners  were  too  refined  for  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Happy!  had 
he  reigned  in  a  kingdom  more  civilized  ;  his  love  of  peace,  of  justice,  and 
of  elegance,  would  have  rendered  his  schemes  successful  ;  and,  instead  of 
perishing  because  he  had  attempted  too  much,  a  grateful  people  would 
have  applauded  and  seconded  his  efforts  to  reform  and  improve  them. 

Crichton,  the  most  able  man  of  those  who  had  the  direction  of  affairs 
during  the  minority  of  James  II.,  had  been  the  minister  of  James  I.,  and 
well  acquainted  with  his  resolution  of  humbling  the  nobility.  He  did  not 
relinquish  the  design,  and  he  endeavoured  to  inspire  his  pupil  with  tht 
same  sentiments.  But  what  James  had  attempted  to  effect  slowly  and  by 
.egal  means,  his  son  and  Crichton  pursued  with  the  impetuosity  natural  \ 
Scotsmen,  and  with  the  fierceness  peculiar  to  that  age.  William,  the  sixtn 
earl  of  Douglas,  was  the  first  victim  to  their  barbarous  policy.  That  youn^, 
nobleman  (as  we  have  already  observed),  contemning  the  authority  of  ar 


OF   SCOTLAND.  «7 

infant  prince,  almost  openly  renounced  his  allegiance,  and  aspired  to  inde 
pendence.  Crichton,  too  hitch  spirited  to  bear  such  an  insult,  but  too  weak 
to  curb  or  bring  to  justice  so  powerful  an  offender,  decoyed  him  by  many 
promises  to  an  interview  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and,  notwithstanding 
these,  murdered  both  him  and  his  brother.  Crichton,  however,  gained  little 
by  this  act  of  treachery,  which  rendered  him  universally  odious.  William, 
the  eighth  earl  of  Douglas,  was  no  less  powerful,  and  no  less  formidable  to 
the  crown.  By  forming  the  league  which  we  already  mentioned  with  the 
earl  of  Crawford  and  other  barons,  he  had  united  against  his  sovereign 
almost  one  half  of  his  kingdom.  But  his  credulity  led  him  into  the  same 
snare  which  had  been  fatal  to  the  former  earl.  Relying  on  the  king's 
promises,  who  had  now  attained  to  the  years  of  manhood,  and  having 
obtained  a  safe  conduct  under  the  great  seal,  he  ventured  to  meet  him  in 
Stirling  Castle.  James  urged  him  to  dissolve  that  dangerous  confederacy 
into  which  he  had  entered  ;  the  earl  obstinately  refused.  "  If  you  will 
not,"  said  the  enraged  monarch,  drawing  his  dagger,  "  this  shall  ;"  and 
stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  An  action  so  unworthy  of  a  king  filled  the  nation 
with  astonishment  and  with  horror.  The  earl's  vassals  ran  to  arms  with 
the  utmost  fury,  and  dragging  the  safe  conduct,  which  the  king  had  granted 
and  violated,  at  a  horse's  tail,  they  marched  towards  Stirling,  burned  the 
town,  and  threatened  to  besiege  the  castle.  An  accommodation  however 
ensued  ;  on  what  terms  is  not  known.  But  the  king's  jealousy,  and  the 
new  earl's  power  and  resentment,  prevented  it  from  being  of  long  continu- 
ance. Both  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  and  met  near  Aber- 
corn.  That  of  the  earl,  composed  chiefly  of  borderers,  was  far  superior  to 
the  king's  both  in  number  and  in  valour ;  and  a  single  battle  must,  in  all  pro- 
bability, have  decided  whether  the  house  of  Stuart  or  of  Douglas  was 
henceforth  to  possess  the  throne  of  Scotland.  But  while  his  troops  impa- 
tiently expected  the  signal  to  engage,  the  earl  ordered  them  to  retire  tc 
their  camp ;  and  sir  James  Hamilton  of  Cadyow,  the  person  in  whom  he 
placed  the  greatest  confidence,  convinced  of  his  want  of  genius  to  improve 
an  opportunity,  or  of  his  want  of  courage  to  seize  a  crown,  deserted  him 
that  very  night.  This  example  was  followed  by  many ;  and  the  earl, 
despised  or  forsaken  by  all,  was  soon  driven  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  obliged 
to  depend  for  his  subsistence  on  the  friendship  of  the  king  of  England. 
The  ruin  of  this  great  family,  which  had  so  long  rivalled  and  overawed  the 
crown,  and  the  terror  with  which  such  an  example  of  unsuccessful  ambition 
filled  the  nobles,  secured  the  king,  for  some  time,  from  opposition  ;  and  the 
royal  authority  remained  uncontrolled  and  almost  absolute.  James  did  not 
suffer  this  favourable  interval  to  pass  unimproved  ;  he  procured  the  consent 
of  parliament  to  laws  more  advantageous  to  the  prerogative,  and  more  sub- 
versive of  the  privileges  of  the  aristocracy,  than  were  ever  obtained  by  any 
former  or  subsequent  monarch  of  Scotland. 

By  one  of  these,  not  only  all  the  vast  possessions  of  the  earl  of  Douglas 
were  annexed  to  the  crown,  but  all  prior  and  future  alienations  of  crown 
lands  were  declared  to  be  void ;  and  the  king  was  empowered  to  seize 
them  at  pleasure,  without  any  process  or  form  of  law,  and  oblige  the  pos- 
sessors to  refund  whatever  they  had  received  from  them.*  A  dreadful 
instrument  of  oppression  in  the  hands  of  a  prince  ! 

Another  law  prohibited  the  vvardenship  of  the  marches  to  be  granted 
hereditarily;  restrained,  in  several  instances,  the  jurisdiction  of  that  office  ; 
and  extended  the  authority  of  the  king's  courts.! 

By  a  third,  it  was  enacted  that  no  regality,  or  exclusive  right  of  adminis- 
tering justice  within  a  man's  own  lands,  should  be  granted  in  time  to  come, 
without  the  consent  ofparliament  ;J  a  condition  which  implied  almost  an 
express  prohibition.     Those  nobles  who  already  possessed  that  great  pri- 

•  Act  41.  P.  1455.        t  ll»id.  Act.  42.         X  Act  43.  P.  1455 


28  THE   HISTORY  rBooK  i 

/ilege  would  naturally  be  solicitous  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  common, 
by  being  bestowed  on  many.  Those  who  had  not  themselves  attained  it 
would  envy  others  the  acquisition  of  such  a  flattering  distinction,  and  both 
would  concur  in  rejecting  the  claims  of  new  pretenders. 

By  a  fourth  act,  all  new  grants  of  hereditary  offices  were  prohibited,  and 
those  obtained  since  the  death  of  the  last  king  were  revoked.* 

Each  of  these  statutes  undermined  some  of  the  great  pillars  on  which  the 
power  of  the  aristocracy  rested.  During  the  remainder  of  his  reign  this 
prince  pursued  the  plan  which  he  had  begun  with  the  utmost  vigour;  and 
had  not  a  sudden  death,  occasioned  by  the  splinter  of  a  cannon  which  burst 
near  him  at  the  siege  of  Roxburgh,  prevented  his  progress,  he  wanted  neither 
genius  nor  courage  to  perfect  it  ;  and  Scotland  might,  in  all  probability, 
have  been  the  first  kingdom  in  Europe  which  would  have  seen  the  subver- 
sion of  the  feudal  system. 

James  III.  discovered  no  less  eagerness  than  his  father  or  grandfather  to 
humble  the  nobility ;  but,  far  inferior  to  either  of  them  in  abilities  and 
address,  he  adopted  a  plan  extremely  impolitic,  and  his  reign  was  dis- 
astrous, as  well  as  his  end  tragical,  tinder  the  feudal  governments,  the 
nobles  were  not  only  the  king's  ministers,  and  possessed  of  all  the  great 
offices  of  power  or  of  trust ;  they  were  likewise  his  companions  and  favour- 
ites, and  hardly  any  but  they  approached  his  person  or  were  entitled  to  his 
regard.  But  James,  who  both  feared  and  hated  his  nobles,  kept  them  at 
an  unusual  distance,  and  bestowed  every  mark  of  confidence  and  affection 
upon  a  few  mean  persons,  of  professions  so  dishonourable  as  ought  to  have 
rendered  them  unworthy  of  his  presence.  Shut  up  with  these  in  his  castle 
of  Stirling,  he  seldom  appeared  in  public,  and  amused  himself  m  architec- 
ture, music,  and  other  arts,  which  were  then  little  esteemed.  The  nobles 
beheld  the  power  and  favour  of  these  minions  with  indignation.  Even  the 
sanguinary  measures  of  his  father  provoked  them  less  than  his  neglect. 
Individuals  alone  suffered  by  the  former;  by  the  latter,  every  man  thought 
himself  injured  because  all  were  contemned.  Their  discontent  was  much 
heightened  by  the  king's  recalling  ail  rights  to  crown  lands,  hereditary 
offices,  regalities,  and  every  other  concession  which  was  detrimental  to  his 
prerogative,  and  which  had  been  extorted  during  his  minority.  Combinations 
among  themselves,  secret  intrigues  with  England,  and  all  the  usual  pre- 
paratives for  civil  war,  were  the  effects  of  their  resentment.  Alexander 
duke  of  Albany,  and  John  earl  of  Mar,  the  king's  brothers,  two  young  men  of 
turbulentand  ambitiousspirits,and  incensed  against  James,  who  treated  them 
with  the  same  coldness  as  he  did  the  other  great  men,  entered  deeply  into 
all  their  cabals.  The  king  detected  their  designs  before  they  were  ripe 
for  execution,  and,  seizing  his  two  brothers,  committed  the  duke  of  Albany 
to  Edinburgh  Castle.  The  earl  of  Mar,  having  remonstrated  with  too  much 
boldness  against  the  king's  conduct,  was  murdered,  if  we  may  believe  our 
historians,  by  his  command.  Albany,  apprehensive  of  the  same  fate,  made 
his  escape  out  of  the  castle  and  fled  into  France.  Concern  for  the  king's 
honour,  or  indignation  at  his  measures,  were  perhaps  the  motives  which 
first  induced  him  to  join  the  malecontents.  But  James's  attachment  to 
favourites  rendering  him  every  day  more  odious  to  the  nobles,  the  prospect 
of  the  advantages  which  might  be  derived  from  their  general  disaffection, 
added  to  the  resentment  which  he  felt  on  account  of  his  brother's  death  and 
his  own  injuries,  soon  inspired  Albany  with  more  ambitious  and  criminal 
thoughts.  He  concluded  a  treaty  with  Edward  IV.  of  England,  in  which 
he  assumed  the  name  of  Alexander  king  of  Scots ;  and,  in  return  for  the 
assistance  which  was  promised  him  towards  dethroning  his  brother,  he 
bound  himself,  as  soon  as  he  was  put  in  possession  of  the  kingdom,  to  swear 
fealty  and  do  homage   o  the  English  monarch,  to  renounce  the  ancient  alii- 

•  Act  44 


OF   SCOTLAND  » 

ance  with  France,  to  contract  a  new  one  with  England,  and  to  surrender 
some  of  the  strongest  castles  and  most  valuable  count  es  in  Scotland.* 
That  aid,  which  the  duke  so  basely  purchased  at  the  price  of  his  own 
honour  and  the  independence  of  his  country,  was  punctually  granted  him, 
and  the  duke  of  Gloucester  with  a  powerful  army  conducted  him  towards 
Scotland  The  danger  ot  a  foreign  invasion  obliged  James  to  implore  the 
assistant  ol  those  nobles  whom  he  had  so  long  treated  with  contempt. 
Some  of  them  were  in  close  confederacy  with  the  duke  of  Albany,  and 
approved  of  all  his  pretensions.  Others  were  impatient  for  any  event 
which  would  restore  their  order  to  its  ancient  pre-eminence.  They  seemed, 
however,  to  enter  with  zeal  into  the  measures  of  their  sovereign  for  the 
defe  ice  of  the  kingdom  against  its  invaders,!  and  took  the  field  at  the 
head  of  a  powerful  army  of  their  followers,  but  with  a  stronger  disposition 
to  redress  their  own  grievances  than  to  annoy  the  enemy;  and  with  a  fixed 
resolution  of  punishing  those  minions  whose  insolence  they  could  no  longer 
tolerate.  This  resolution  they  executed  in  the  camp  near  Lauder,  with  a 
military  despatch  and  rigour.  Having  previously  concerted  their  plan,  the 
earls  of  Angus,  Huntly,  Lennox,  followed  by  almost  all  the  barons  of  chief 
note  in  the  army,  forcibly  entered  the  apartment  of  their  sovereign,  seized 
all  his  favourites  except  one  Ramsay,  whom  they  could  not  tear  from  the 
king,  in  whose  arms  he  took  shelter,  and,  without  any  form  of  trial,  hanged 
them  instantly  over  a  bridge.  Among  the  most  remarkable  of  those  who 
had  engrossed  the  king's  affection,  were  Cochran,  a  mason  ;  Hommil,  a 
tailor ;  Leonard,  a  smith  ;  Rogers,  a  musician ;  and  Torsifan,  a  fencing 
master.  So  despicable  a  retinue  discovers  the  capriciousness  of  James's 
character,  and  accounts  for  the  indignation  of  the  nobles  when  they  beheld 
the  favour  due  to  them  bestowed  on  such  unworthy  objects. 

James  had  no  reason  to  confide  in  an  army  so  little  under  his  comma  id, 
and,  dismissing  it,  shut  himself  up  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh.  After 
various  intrigues,  Albany's  lands  and  honours  were  at  length  restored  to 
him,  and  he  seemed  even  to  have  regained  his  brother's  tavour  by  some 
important  services.  But  their  friendship  was  not  of  long  duration.  James 
abandoned  himself  once  more  to  the  guidance  of  favourites;  and  the  fate 
of  those  who  had  suffered  at  Lauder  did  not  deter  others  from  courting 
that  dangerous  pre-eminence.  Albany,  on  pretext  that  an  attempt  had 
been  made  to  take  away  his  life  by  poison,  fled  from  court,  and,  retiring  to 
his  castle  at  Dunbar,  drew  thither  a  greater  number  of  barons  than  attended 
on  the  king  himself.  At  the  same  time  he  renewed  his  former  confederacy 
with  Edward ;  the  earl  of  Angus  openly  negotiated  that  infamous 
treaty ;  other  barons  were  ready  to  concur  with  it ;  and  if  the  sudden 
death  of  Edward  had  not  prevented  Albany's  receiving  any  aid  from  Eng- 
land, the  crown  of  Scotland  would  probably  have  been  the  reward  of  this 
unworthy  combination  with  the  enemies  of  his  country.  But,  instead  ol 
any  hopes  of  reigning  in  Scotland,  he  found,  upon  the  death  of  Edward, 
that  he  could  not  reside  there  in  safety ;  and  flying  first  to  England  and 
then  to  France,  he  seems  from  that  time  to  have  taken  no  part  in  the  affairs 
of  his  native  country.  Emboldened  by  his  retreat,  the  king  and  his  minis- 
ters multiplied  the  insults  which  they  offered  to  the  nobility.  A  standing 
guard,  a  thing  unknown  under  the  feudal  governments,  and  inconsistent 
with  the  familiarity  and  confidence  with  which  monarchs  then  lived  amidst 
then  nobles,  was  raised  for  the  king's  defence,  and  the  command  of  i^ 
given  to  Ramsay,  lately  created  earl  of  Bothweli,  the  same  person  whu 
nad  so  narrowly  escaped  when  his  companions  were  put  to  death  at  Lau 
der  As  if  this  precaution  had  not  been  sufficient,  a  proclamation  wan 
issued,  forbidding  any  person  to  appear  in  arms  within  the  precincts  of  the 
court  ;l  which,  at  a  time  when  no  man  of  rank  left  his  own  house  withou' 

•  Abercr.  Mart  Atcb.  vol.  ii.  p.  443  f  Black  Acts,  fol.  65         }  Ferreriiio,  398 


80  THE   HISTORY  [Book  I. 

a  numerous  retinue  of  armed  followers,  was,  in  effect,  debarring  the  nobles 
from  all  access  to  the  king-.  James,  at  the  same  time,  became  fonder  01 
retirement  than  ever,  and  sunk  in  indolence  or  superstition,  or  attentive 
only  to  amusements,  devolved  his  whole  authority  upon  his  favourites.  So 
onany  injuries  provoked  the  most  considerable  nobles  to  take  arms ;  and 
having  persuaded  or  obliged  the  duke  of  Rothesay,  the  king's  eldest  son, 
a  youth  of  fifteen,  to  set  himself  at  their  head,  they  openly  declared  their 
intention  of  depriving  James  of  a  crown,  of  which  he  had  discovered 
himself  to  be  so  unworthy.  Roused  by  this  danger,  the  king  quitted  his 
retirement,  took  the  field,  and  encountered  them  near  Bannock  burn  ;  but 
the  valoui  of  the  borderers,  of  whom  the  army  of  the  malecontents  was 
chiefly  composed,  soon  put  his  troops  to  flight,  and  he  himself  was  slain  in 
the  pursuit.  Suspicion,  indolence,  immoderate  attachment  to  favourites, 
and  all  the  vices  of  a  feeble  mind,  are  visible  in  his  whole  conduct ;  but 
the  character  of  a  cruel  and  unrelenting  tyrant  seems  to  be  unjustly  affixed 
lo  him  by  our  historians.  His  neglect  of  the  nobles  irritated,  but  did  not 
weaken  them  ;  and  their  discontent,  the  immoderate  ambition  of  his  two 
brothers,  and  their  unnatural  confederacies  with  England,  were  sufficient 
to  have  disturbed  a  more  vigorous  administration,  and  to  have  rendered  a 
prince  of  superior  talents  unhappy. 

The  indignation  which  many  persons  oi  lank  expressed  against  the  con- 
duct of  the  conspirators,  together  with  the  terror  of  the  sentence  of  excommu- 
nication which  the  pope  pronounced  against  them,  obliged  them  to  use  their 
victory  with  great  moderation  and  humanity.  Being  conscious  how  detest- 
able the  crime  of  imbruing  their  hands  'in  the  blood  of  their  sovereign 
appeared,  they  endeavoured  to  regain  the  good  opinion  of  their  countiy 
men,  and  to  atone  for  the  treatment  of  the  father  by  their  loyalty  and  duty 
towards  the  son.  They  placed  him  instantly  on  the  throne,  and  the  whole 
kingdom  soon  united  in  acknowledging  his  authority. 

James  IV.  was  naturally  generous  and  brave  ;  he  felt  in  a  high  degree 
all  the  passions  which  animate  a  young  and  noble  mind.  He  loved  mag- 
nificence, he  delighted  in  war,  and  was  eager  to  obtain  fame.  During  his 
reign,  the  ancient  and  hereditary  enmity  between  the  king  and  nobles 
seems  almost  entirely  to  have  ceased.  He  envied  not  their  splendour, 
because  it  contributed  to  the  ornament  of  his  court ;  nor  did  he  dread  their 
power,  which  he  considered  as  the  security  of  his  kingdom,  not  as  an  object 
of  terror  to  himself.  This  confidence  on  his  part  met  with  the  proper 
return  of  duty  and  affection  on  theirs  ;  and,  in  his  war  with  England,  he 
experienced  how  much  a  king  beloved  by  his  nobles  is  able  to  perform. 
Though  the  ardour  of  his  courage  and  the  spirit  of  chivalry,  rather  than 
the  prospect  of  any  national  advantage,  induced  him  to  declare  war  against 
England,  such  was  the  zeal  of  his  subjects  for  the  king's  glory,  that  he 
was  followed  by  as  gallant  an  army  as  ever  any  of  his  ancestors  had  led 
upon  English  ground.  But  though  James  himself  formed  no  scheme  dan- 
gerous or  detrimental  to  the  aristocracy,  his  reign  was  distinguished  by 
an  event  extremely  fatal  to  it ;  and  one  accidental  blow  humbled  it  more- 
than  all  the  premeditated  attacks  of  preceding  kings.  In  the  rash  and 
unfortunate  battle  of  Flowden  a  brave  nobility  chose  rather  to  die  than  to 
desert  their  sovereign.  Twelve  earls,  thirteen  lords,  five  eldest  sons  of 
noblemen,  and  an  incredible  number  of  barons,  fell  with  the  king.*  The 
whole  body  of  the  nobles  long  and  sensibly  felt  this  disaster;  and  if  a 
prince  of  full  age  had  then  ascended  the  throne,  their  consternation  and 
feebleness  would  have  afforded  him  advantages  which  no  former  monarch 
ever  possessed. 

But  James  V.,  who  succeeded  his  father,  was  an  infant  of  a  year  old : 
and  though  the  offios  of  regent  was  conferred  upon  his  coasin  the  duke  ot 

*  Aber.  U.  540 


OF   SCOTLAND.  31 

Albany,  a  man  of  genius  and  enterprise,  a  native  of  France,  and  accustomed 
to  a  government  where  the  power  of  the  king  was  already  great ;  though 
he  made  many  bold  attempts  to  extend  the  royal  authority;  though  he  put 
to  death  lo.d  Home,  and  banished  the  earl  of  Angus,  the  two  noblemen  o/ 
greatest  ii.fluence  in  the  kingdom,  the  aristocracy  lost  no  ground  under  his 
administration.  A  stranger  to  the  manners,  the  laws,  and  the  language  ot 
the  people  whom  he  was  called  to  rule,  he  acted,  on  some  occasions,  rather 
like  a  viceroy  of  the  French  king  than  the  governor  of  Scotland ;  but  the 
nobles  asserted  their  own  privileges,  and  contended  for  the  interest  ol 
their  country  with  a  boldness  which  convinced  him  of  their  independence, 
and  of  the  impotence  of  his  own  authority.  After  several  unsuccessful 
struggles,  he  voluntarily  retired  to  France;  and  the  king  being  then  in  his 
thirteenth  year,  the  nobles  agreed  that  he  should  assume  the  government, 
and  that  eight  persons  should  be  appointed  to  attend  him  by  turns,  and  to 
advise  and  assist  him  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs.  The  earl  01 
Angus,  who  was  one  of  that  number,  did  not  long  remain  satisfied  with 
such  divided  power.  He  gained  some  of  his  colleagues,  removed  others, 
and  intimidated  the  rest.  When  the  term  of  his  attendance  expired,  he 
still  retained  authority,  to  which  all  were  obliged  to  submit,  because  none 
of  them  were  in  a  condition  to  dispute  it.  The  affection  of  the  young 
king  was  the  only  thing  wanting  to  fix  and  perpetuate  his  power.  But  an 
active  and  high-spirited  prince  submitted  with  great  impatience  to  the 
restraint  in  which  he  was  kept.  It  ill  suited  his  years  or  his  disposition  to 
be  confined  as  a  prisoner  within  his  own  palace  ;  to  be  treated  with  no 
respect,  and  to  be  deprived  of  all  power.  He  could  not  on  some  occasions 
conceal  his  resentment  and  indignation.  Angus  foresaw  that  he  had  much 
to  dread  from  these  ;  and  as  he  could  not  gain  the  king's  heart,  he  resolved 
to  make  sure  of  his  person.  James  was  continually  surrounded  by  the 
earl's  spies  and  confidants  ;  many  eyes  watched  all  his  motions,  and  ob- 
served every  step  he  took.  But  the  king's  eagerness  to  obtain  liberty 
eluded  all  their  vigilance.  He  escaped  from  Falkland,  and  fled  to  th* 
castle  of  Stirling,  the  residence  of  the  queen  his  mother,  and  the  only 
place  of  strength  in  the  kingdom  which  was  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Doug 
lases.  The  nobles,  of  whom  some  were  influenced  by  their  hatred  to 
Angus,  and  others  by  their  respect  for  the  king,  crowded  to  Stirling,  and 
his  court  was  soon  filled  with  persons  of  the  greatest  distinction.  The 
earl,  though  astonished  at  this  unexpected  revolution,  resolved  at  first  to 
make  one  bold  push  for  recovering  his  authority,  by  marching  to  Stirling 
at  the  head  of  his  followers  ;  but  he  wanted  either  courage  or  strength  to 
execute  this  resolution.  In  a  parliament  held  soon  after,  he  and  his  adhe- 
rents were  attainted,  and,  after  escaping  from  many  dangers,  and  enduring 
much  misery,  he  was  at  length  obliged  to  fly  into  England  for  refuge. 

James  had  now  not  only  the  name,  but,  though  extremely  young,  the 
full  authority  of  a  king.  He  was  inferior  to  no  prince  of  that  age  in 
gracefulness  of  person,  or  in  vigour  of  mind.  His  understanding  was 
good,  and  his  heart  warm  ;  the  former  capable  of  great  improvement,  and 
the  latter  susceptible  of  the  best  impressions.  But,  according  to  the  usual 
fate  of  princes  who  are  called  to  the  throne  in  their  infancy,  his  education 
had  been  neglected.  His  private  preceptors  were  more  ready  to  flatter 
than  to  instruct  him.  It  was  the  interest  of  those  who  governed  the  king- 
dom to  prevent  him  from  knowing  too  much.  The  earl  of  Angus,  in  order 
to  divert  him  from  business,  gave  him  an  early  taste  for  such  pleasures  as 
afterwards  occupied  and  engrossed  him  more  than  became  a  king.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  discover  in  James  all  the  features  of  a  great  but  uncultivated 
spirit.  On  the  one  hand,  violent  passions,  implacable  resentment,  an 
immoderate  desire  of  power,  and  the  utmost  rage  at  disappointment.  Or 
the  other,  love  to  his  people,  zeal  for  the  punishment  of  private  oppress- 


%  THE  HISTORY  TBook  I. 

i.rs,  confidence  in   his  favourites,  and  the  most  engaging  openness  and 
;  liability  of  behaviour. 

What  he  himself  had  suffered  fro::  .he  exorbitant  power  of  the  nobles 
ed  him  early  to  imitate  his  predecessors  in  their  attempts  to  humble  them 
The  plan  he  formed  for  that  purpose  was  more  profound,  more  systematic, 
«nd  pursued  with  greater  constancy  and  steadiness,  than  that  of  any  of  his 
ancestors:  and  the  influence  of  the  events  in  his  reign  upon  those  of  the 
subsequent  period  renders  it  necessary  to  explain  his  conduct  at  greater 
length,  and  to  enter  into  a  more  minute  det;*il  of  his  actions.  He  had 
penetration  enough  to  discover  those  defects  in  the  schemes  adopted  by 
former  kings,  which  occasioned  their  miscarriage.  The  examples  ol 
James  I.  had  taught  him  that  wise  laws  operate  slowly  on  a  rude  people, 
\nd  that  the  fierce  spirit  of  the  feudal  nobles  was  not  to  be  subdued  by 
mese  alone.  The  effects  of  the  violent  measures  of  James  II.  convinced 
nim  that  the  oppression  of  one  great  family  is  apt  either  to  excite  the  sus- 
picion and  resentment  of  the  other  nobles,  or  to  enrich  with  its  spoils  some 
tew  family,  which  would  soon  adopt  the  same  senMments,  and  become 
equally  formidable  to  the  crown.  He  saw,  from  the  fatal  end  of  James  III., 
Jhat  neglect  was  still  more  intolerable  to  the  nobles  than  oppression,  and 
that  the  ministry  of  new  men  and  favourites  was  both  dishonourable  and 
dangerous  to  a  prince.  At  the  same  time,  he  felt  that  the  authority  of  the 
crown  was  not  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  power  of  the  aristocracy, 
and  that  without  some  new  accession  of  strength  he  could  expect  no  better 
success  in  the  struggle  than  his  ancestors.  In  this  extremity  he  applied 
nimself  to  the  clergy,  hoping  that  they  would  both  relish  his  plan,  and 
concur,  with  all  their  influence,  in  enabling  him  to  put  it  in  execution. 
Under  the  feudal  government,  the  church,  being  reckoned  a  third  estate, 
had  its  representatives  in  parliament ;  the  number  of  these  was  consider- 
able, and  they  possessed  great  influence  in  that  assembly.  The  super- 
stition of  former  kings,  and  the  zeal  of  many  ages  of  ignorance,  had 
bestowed  on  ecclesiastics  a  great  proportion  of  the  national  wealth ;  and 
the  authority  which  they  acquired  by  the  reverence  of  the  people  was 
superior  even  to  that  which  they  derived  from  their  riches.  This  power- 
ful body,  however,  depended  entirely  on  the  crown.  The  popes,  not- 
withstanding their  attention,  to  extend  their  usurpations,  had  neglected 
Scotland  as  a  distant  and  poor  kingdom,  and  permitted  its  kings  to  exercise 
powers  which  they  disputed  with  more  considerable  princes.  The  Scot- 
tish monarchs  had  the  sole  right  of  nomination  to  vacant  bishoprics  and 
abbeys  ;*  and  James  naturally  concluded,  that  men  who  expected  prefer 
ment  from  his  favour  would  be  willing  to  merit  it  by  promoting  his 
designs.  Happily  for  him,  the  nobles  had  not  yet  recovered  the  blow 
which  fell  on  their  order  at  Flowden  ;  and  if  we  may  judge  either  from 
their  conduct  or  from  the  character  given  of  them  by  Sir  Ralph  Sadler, 
the  English  envoy  in  Scotland,  they  were  men  of  little  genius,  of  no  expe- 
rience in  business,  and  incapable  of  acting  either  with  unanimity  or  with 
vigour.  Many  of  the  c'.ergy,  on  the  other  hand,  were  distinguished  by 
their  great  abilities,  and  no  less  by  their  ambition.  Various  causes  of 
disgust  subsisted  between  them  and  the  martial  nobles,  who  were  apt  to 
view  the  pacific  character  of  ecclesiastics  with  some  degree  of  contempt, 
and  who  envied  their  power  and  wealth.  By  acting  in  concert  with  the 
king,  they  not  only  would  gratify  him,  but  avenge  themselves,  and  hoped 
to  aggrandize  their  own  order  by  depressing  those  who  were  their  sole 
rivals.  Secure  of  so  powerful  a  concurrence,  James  ventured  to  proceed 
with  greater  boldness.  In  the  first  heat  of  resentment  he  had  driven  the 
•*arl  of  Angus  out  of  the  kingdom ;  and,  sensible  that  a  person  so  far  supe- 
•ior  to  the  other  nobles  in  abilities,  might  create  many  obstacles  whjcb 

•  Epirt.  Reg.  Scot.  i.  197,  &c    Act  125.  P.  1540. 


OF   SCOTLAND. 

/*i\d  retard  or  render  ineffectual  all  his  schemes,  he  solemnly  swon  I  I 
je  would  never  permit  him  to  return  into  Scotland;  and,  notwtthstandi.'i  \ 
the  repeated  solicitations  of  the  king-  of  England,  he  adhered  to  Irs  \ 
with  unrelenting  obstinacy.  He  then  proceeded  to  repair  the  fortification* 
of  Edinburgh,  Stirling,  and  other  castles,  and  to  till  his  magazin  s  with 
arms  and  ammunition.  Raving  taken  these  precautions  by  way  ol 
defence,  he  began  to  treat  the  nobility  with  the  utmosi  coldness  and 
reserve.  Those  offices  which  they  were  apt  from  long  possession  to  con 
sider  as  appropriated  to  their  order,  were  now  bestowed  on  ecclesi.istics, 
who  alone  possessed  the  king's  ear,  and,  together  with  a  few  gentlemen  of 
inferior  rank  to  whom  he  had  communicated  his  schemes,  were  intrusted 
with  the  management  of  all  public  affairs.  These  ministers  were  chosen 
tvith  judgment ;  and  cardinal  Beatoun,  who  soon  became  the  most  emi- 
nent among  them,  was  a  man  of  superior  genius.  These  served  the  king 
tvith  fidelity ;  they  carried  on  his  measures  with  vigour,  with  reputation, 
wd  with  success.  James  no  longer  concealed  his  distrust  of  the  nobles, 
ind  suffered  no  opportunity  of  mortifying  them  to  escape.  Slight  offences 
vvere  aggravated  into  real  crimes,  and  punished  with  severity.  Every 
accusation  against  persons  of  rank  was  henrd  with  pleasure,  every  appear- 
ance of  guilt  was  examined  with  rigour,  and  every  trial  proved  fatal  to 
those  who  were  accused :  the  banishing  Hepburn,  earl  of  Bothwell,  foi 
reasons  extremely  frivolous,  beheading  the  eldest  son  of  lord  Forbes  with- 
out sufficient  evidence  of  his  guilt,  and  the  condemning  lady  Glamis,  a 
sister  of  the  earl  of  Angus,  to  be  burned  for  the  crime  of  witchcraft,  ol 
which,  even  that  credulous  age  believed  her  innocent,  are  monuments  both 
of  the  king's  hatred  of  the  nobility,  of  the  severity  of  his  government,  and 
of  the  stretches  he  made  towards  absolute  power.  By  these  acts  ol 
authority  he  tried  the  spirit  of  the  nobles,  and  how  much  they  were  will- 
ing to  bear.  Their  patience  increased  his  contempt  for  them,  and  added 
to  the  ardour  and  boldness  with  which  he  pursued  his  plan.  Meanwhile 
they  observed  the  tendency  of  his  schemes  with  concern  and  with  resent- 
ment; but  the  king's  sagacity,  the  vigilance  of  his  ministers,  and  the  want 
of  a  proper  leader,  made  it  dangerous  to  concert  any  measures  for  their 
defence,  and  impossible  to  act  with  becoming  vigour.  Ja^ies  and  his 
counsellors,  by  a  false  step  which  they  took,  presented  to  them,  at  length, 
an  advantage  which  they  did  not  fail  to  improve. 

Motives,  which  are  well  known,  had  prompted  Henry  VIII.  to  disclaim 
the  pope's  authority,  and  to  seize  the  revenues  of  the  regular  clergy.  His 
system  of  reformation  satisfied  none  of  his  subjects.  Some  were  enraged 
because  he  had  proceeded  so  far,  others  murmured  because  he  proceeded 
no  farther.  By  his  imperious  temper,  and  alternate  persecutions  of  the 
zealots  for  popery  and  the  converts  to  the  protestant  opinions,  he  was 
equally  formidable  to  both.  Henry  was  afraid  that  this  general  dissatis- 
faction of  his  people  might  encourage  his  enemies  on  the  continent  to 
invade  his  kingdom.  He  knew  that  both  the  pope  and  the  emperor 
courted  the  friendship  of  the  king  of  Scots,  and  endeavoured  to  engage 
him  \r  an  alliance  against  England.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  disappoint 
the  effects  of  their  negotiations,  by  entering  into  a  closer  union  with  his 
nephew.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  he  transmitted  to  James  an  elabo- 
rate memorial,  presenting  the  numerous  encroachments  of  the  See  of 
Rome  upon  the  rights  of  sovereigns  ;*  and  that  he  might  induce  him  moie 
certainly  to  adopt  the  same  measures  for  abolishing  papal  usurpation, 
which  had  proved  so  efficacious  in  England,  he  sent  ambassadors  into 
Scotland,  to  propose  a  personal  interview  with  him  at  York.  It  wa» 
plainly  James's  interest  to  accept  this  invitation;  the  assistance  qf  so 
powerful  an  ally,  the  high  honours  which  were  promised  him,  and  the 

*  Strype,  Eccles.  Mem.  1   Api»  155 

Vol.  Ill  —5 


34  THE   HISTORY  [Book  l. 

liberal  subsidies  he  might  have  obtained,  would  have  added  no  little  dig; 
mty  to  his  domestic  government,  and  must  have  greatly  facilitated  the 
execution  of  his  favourite  plan.  On  the  other  hand,  a  war  with  England 
which  he  had  reason  to  apprehend  if  he  rejected  Henry's  offers  of  friendship, 
was  inconsistent  with  all  his  views.  This  v/ould  bring  him  to  depend  on 
his  barons  ;  an  army  could  not  be  raised  without  their  assistance  :  to  call 
nobles  incensed  against  their  prince  into  the  field  was  to  unite  his  enemies, 
to  make  them  sensible  of  their  own  strength,  and  to  afford  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  revenging  their  wrongs.  James,  who  was  not  ignorant  that  all 
these  consequences  might  follow  a  breach  with  England,  listened  at  first 
to  Henry's  proposal,  and  consented  to  the  interview  at  York.  But  the 
clergy  dreaded  a  union  which  must  have  been  established  on  the  ruins  of 
the  church.  Henry  had  taken  great  pains  to  infuse  into  his  nephew  his 
own  sentiments  concerning  religion,  and  had  frequently  solicited  him,  by 
ambassadors,  to  renounce  the  usurped  dominion  of  the  pope,  which  was 
no  less  dishonourable  to  princes  than  grievous  to  their  subjects.  The 
clergy  had  hitherto,  with  great  address,  diverted  the  king  from  regarding 
these  solicitations.  But  in  an  amicable  conference  Henry  expected,  and 
they  feared,  that  James  would  yield  to  his  entreaties,  or  be  convinced  by 
his  arguments.  They  knew  that  the  revenues  of  the  church  were  an 
alluring  object  to  a  prince  who  wanted  money,  and  who  loved  it ;  that  the 
pride  and  ambition  of  ecclesiastics  raised  the  indignation  of  the  nobles  : 
that  their  indecent  lives  gave  offence  to  the  people;  that  the  protest; 
opinions  were  spreading  fast  throughout  the  nation ;  and  that  a  universal 
defection  from  the  established  church  would  be  the  consequence  of  giving 
the  smallest  degree  of  encouragement  to  these  principles.  For  these  rea- 
sons they  employed  all  their  credit  with  the  king,  and  had  recourse  to 
every  artifice  and  insinuation,  in  order  to  divert  him  from  a  journey  which 
must  have  been  so  fatal  to  their  interest.  They  endeavoured  to  inspire 
him  with  fear,  by  magnifying  the  danger  to  which  he  would  expose  his 
person  by  venturing  so  far  into  England  without  any  security  but  the  word 
of  a  prince,  who,  having  violated  every  thing  venerable  and  sacred  in  reli- 
gion, was  no  longer  to  be  trusted ;  and  by  way  of  compensation  for  ttie 
sums  which  he  might  have  received  from  Henry,  they  offered  an  annual 
donative  of  fifty  thousand  crowns  ;  they  promised  to  contribute  liberally 
towards  carrying  on  a  war  with  England,  and  flattered  him  with  the  pros- 
pect of  immense  riches,  arising  from  the  forfeiture  of  persons  who  were  to 
be  tried  and  condemned  as  heretics.  Influenced  by  these  considerations, 
James  broke  his  agreement  with  Henry,  who,  in  expectation  of  meeting 
him,  had  already  come  to  York  :  and  that  haughty  and  impatient  monarch 
resented  the  affront,  by  declaring  war  against  Scotland.  His  army  was 
soon  ready  to  invade  the  kingdom.  James  was  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  the  nobles  for  the  defence  of  his  dominions.  At  his  command  they 
assembled  their  followers,  bu.  with  the  same  dispositions  which  had  ani 
mated  their  ancestors  in  the  reign  of  James  III.,  and  with  a  full  resolution 
of  imitating  their  example  by  punishing  those  to  whom  they  imputed  the 
grievances  of  which  they  had  reason  to  complain  ;  and  if  the  kind's  minis- 
ters had  not  been  men  of  abilities,  superior  to  those  of  James  III.,  and  of 
considerable  interest  even  with  their  enemies,  who  could  not  agree  among 
themselves  what  victims  to  sacrifice,  the  camp  of  Fala  would  have  been  as 
remarkable  as  that  of  Lauder,  for  the  daring  encroachments  of  the  nobility 
on  the  prerogative  of  the  prince.  But  though  his  ministers  were  saved 
by  this  accident,  the  nobles  had  soon  another  opportunity  of  discovering 
to  the  king  their  dissatisfaction  with  his  government,  and  their  contempt 
of  his  authority.  Scarcity  of  provisions,  and  the  rigour  of  the  season, 
having  obliged  the  English  army  which  had  invaded  Scotland  to  retire, 
James  imagined  that  he  could  attack  them  with  great  advantage  in  their 
retreat :  bit  the   principal  barons,  with  an  obstinacy  and  disdain  which 


OF    SCOTLAND.  Si 

greatly  aggrava.  ed  their  disobedience,  refused  lo  advance  a  step  beyond 
the  limits  of  their  own  country.  Provoked  by  this  insult  to  himselfj  arid 
suspicious  of  a  new  conspiracy  against  his  ministers,  the  king"  instantly  dis- 
banded an  army  which  paid  so  little  regard  to  his  orders,  and  returned 
abruptly  into  the  heart  01  the  kingdom. 

An  ambitious  and  high-spirited  prince  could  not  brook  such  a  mortifying 
affront.  His  hopes  of  success  had  been  rash,  and  his  despair  upon  a  dis- 
appointment was  excessive.  He  felt  himself  engaged  in  an  unnecessary 
war  with  England,  which,  instead  of  yielding  him  the  laurels  and  triumphs 
that  he  expected,  had  begun  with  such  circumstances  as  encourage  !  the 
msolence  of  his  subjects,  and  exposed  him  to  the  scorn  of  his  enemies. 
He  saw  how  vain  and  ineffectual  all  his  projects  to  humble  the  nobles  had 
oeen ;  and  that,  though  in  times  of  peace  a  prince  may  endeavour  to 
depress  them,  they  will  rise  during  war  to  their  former  importance  and 
dignity.  Impatience,  resentment,  indignation,  filled  his  bosom  by  turns 
The  violence  of  these  passions  altered  his  temper,  and  perhaps  impaired 
his  reason.  He  became  pensive,  sullen,  and  retired.  He  seemed  through 
the  day  to  be  swallowed  up  in  profound  meditation,  and  through  the 
night  he  was  disturbed  with  those  visionary  terrors  which  make  impression 
upon  a  weak  understanding  only,  or  a  disordered  fancy.  In  order  to  revive 
the  king's  spirits,  an  inroad  on  the  western  borders  was  concerted  by  his 
ministers,  who  prevailed  upon  the  barons  in  the  neighbouring  provinces  to 
raise  as  many  troops  as  were  thought  necessary,  and  to  enter  the  enemy's 
country.  But  nothing  could  remove  the  king's  aversion  to  his  nobility, 
or  diminish  his  jealousy  of  their  power.  He  would  not  even  intrust  them 
with  the  command  of  the  forces  which  they  had  assembled ;  that  was 
reserved  for  Oliver  Sinclair  his  favourite,  who  no  sooner  appeared  to  take 
possession  of  the  dignity  conferred  upon  him,  than  rage  and  indignation 
occasioned  a  universal  mutiny  in  the  army.  Five  hundred  English,  who 
happened  to  be  drawn  up  in  sight,  attacked  the  Scots  in  this  disorder. 
Hatred  to  the  king  and  contempt  of  their  general  produced  an  effect  to 
which  there  is  no  parallel  in  history.  They  overcame  the  fear  of  death, 
and  the  love  of  liberty ;  and  ten  thousand  men  fled  before  a  number  so  far 
inferior,  without  striking  a  single  blow.  No  man  was  desirous  of  a  victory 
which  would  have  been  acceptable  to  the  king  and  to  his  favourite  ;  (ew 
endeavoured  to  save  themselves  by  flight ;  the  English  had  the  choice  ot 
what  prisoners  they  pleased  to  take  ;  and  almost  every  person  of  distinction 
who  was  engaged  in  the  expedition  remained  in  their  hands.*  This 
astonishing  event  was  a  new  proof  to  the  king  of  the  general  disaffection 
of  the  nobility,  and  a  new  discovery  of  his  own  weakness  and  want  of 
authority.  Incapable  of  bearing  these  repeated  insults,  he  found  himself 
unable  to  revenge  them.  The  deepest  melancholy  and  despair  succeeded 
to  the  furious  transports  of  rage,  which  the  first  account  of  the  rout  of  his 
army  occasioned.  All  the  violent  passions  which  are  the  enemies  of  life 
preyed  upon  his  mind,  and  wasted  and  consumed  a  youthful  and  vigorous 
constitution.  Some  authors  of  that  age  impute  his  untimely  death  to 
poison  ;  but  the  diseases  of  the  mind,  when  they  rise  to  a  height,  are  ften 
mortal ;  and  the  known  effects  of  disappointment,  anger,  and  resentment 
upon  a  sanguine  and  impetuous  temper  sufficiently  account  for  his  unhappy 
fate.  "His  death  (says  Drummond)  proveth  his  mind  to  have  been  raised 
to  a  high  strain,  and  above  mediocrity  ;  he  could  die,  but  could  not  digest 
a  disaster."  Had  James  survived  this  misfortune,  one  of  two  things  must 
have  happened :  either  the  violence  of  his  temper  would  have  engaged 
him  openly  to  attack  the  nobles,  whc  would  have  found  in  Henry  a  willing 

*  According  to  an  account  of  this  event  in  the  Hamilton  MSS.  about  thirty  were  killed,  above  a 
thousand  were  taken  prisoners ;  and  among  them  a  hundred  and  fifty  persons  of  eoudition.  Vol 
li  286.    The  small  number  of  the  English  prevented  their  taking  mow  pri»ouer». 


36  THE   HISTORY  [Book  I. 

and  powerful  protector,  and  have  derived  the  same  assistance  from  him 
which  the  malecontents,  in  the  succeeding  reign,  did  from  his  daughtet 
Elizabeth  ;  in  that  case,  a  dangerous  civil  war  must  have  been  the  certain 
consequence.  Or,  perhaps,  necessity  might  have  obliged  him  to  accept  of 
Henry's  offers,  and  be  reconciled  to  his  nobility.  In  that  event,  the  church 
would  have  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  their  union;  a  reformation,  upon  Henry  s 
plan,  would  have  been  established  by  law  ;  a  great  part  of  the  temporal- 
ities of  the  church  would  have  been  seized  ;  and  the  friendship  of  the 
king  and  barons  would  have  been  cemented  by  dividing  its  spoils. 

Such  were  the  efforts  of  our  kings  towards  reducing  the  exorbitant  power 
of  the  nobles.  If  they  were  not  attended  with  success,  we  must  not  lor 
that  reason  conclude  that  they  were  not  conducted  with  prudence.  Every 
circumstance  seems  to  have  combined  against  the  crown.  Accidental 
events  concurred  with  political  causes,  in  rendering  the  best  concerted 
measures  abortive.  The  assassination  of  one  king,  the  sudden  death  of 
another,  and  the  fatal  despair  of  a  third,  contributed,  no  less  than  its  own 
natural  strength,  to  preserve  the  aristocracy  from  ruin. 

Amidst  these  struggles,  the  influence  which  our  kings  possessed  in  their 
parliaments  is  a  circumstance  seemingly  inexplicable,  and  which  merits 
particular  attention.  As  these  assemblies  were  composed  chiefly  of  the 
nobles,  they,  we  are  apt  to  imagine,  must  have  dictated  all  their  decisions  ; 
but,  instead  of  this,  every  king  found  them  obsequious  to  his  will,  and 
obtained  such  laws  as  he  deemed  necessary  for  extending  his  authority. 
All  things  were  conducted  there  with  despatch  and  unanimity;  and  in  none 
of  our  historians  do  we  find  an  instance  of  any  opposition  formed  againsi 
the  court  in  parliament,  or  mention  of  any  difficulty  in  carrying  through 
the  measures  which  were  agreeable  to  the  king.  In  order  to  account  for 
this  singular  fact,  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  origin  and  constitution 
of  parliament. 

The  genius  of  the  feudal  government,  uniform  in  all  its  operations,  pro 
duced  the  same  effects  in  small  as  in  great  societies  ;  and  the  territory  of  a 
baron  was,  in  miniature,  the  model  of  a  kingdom.  He  possessed  the  righl 
f  jurisdiction;  but  those  who  depended  on  him  being  free  men,  and  i  of 
ilaves,  could  be  tried  by  their  peers  only ;  and,  therefore,  his  vassal.-,  v.  ere 
bound  to  attend  his  courts,  and  to  assist  both  in  passing  and  executing  his 
sentences.  When  assembled  on  these  occasions,  they  established,  by  mutri;.! 
consent,  such  regulations  as  tended  to  the  welfare  of  their  small  society ; 
and  often  granted,  voluntarily,  such  supplies  to  their  superior  as  his  neces- 
sities required.  Change  now  a  single  name  ;  in  place  of  baron  substitute 
king,  and  we  behold  a  parliament  in  its  first  rudiments,  and  observe  the  first 
exertions  of  those  powers  which  its  members  now  possess  as  judges,  as 
legislators,  and  as  dispensers  of  the  public  revenues.  Suitable  to  this 
idea,  are  the  appellations  of  the  king's  court,*  and  of  the  king's  great 
council,  by  which  parliaments  were  anciently  distinguished  ;  and  suitable 
to  this,  likewise,  were  the  constituent  members  of  which  it  was  composed. 
In  ail  the  feudal  kingdoms,  such  as  held  of  the  king  in  chief  were  bound, 
by  the  condition  of  their  tenure,  to  attend  and  to  assist  in  his  courts.  Nor 
was  this  esteemed  a  privilege,  but  a  service.!  It  was  exacted  likewise 
of  bishops,  abbots,  and  the  greater  ecclesiastics,  who,  holding  vast  posses- 
sions of  the  crown,  were  deemed  subject  to  the  same  burden.  Parliaments 
did  not  continue  long  in  this  state.  Cities  gradually  acquired  wealth,  a 
considerable  share  ofthe  public  taxes  were  levied  on  them,  the  inhabitants 
grew  into  estimation,  and,  being  enfranchised  by  the  sovereign,  a  place  in 

garliament  was  the  consequence  of  their  liberty,  and  of  their  importance, 
ut  as  it  would  have  been  absurd  to  confer  such  a  privilege,  or  to  impose 

•  Du  Cange,  voc.  Ourta.  t  Du  Cange,  voc.  Placitum,  col.  519.    Magna  Charta,  art.  (14. 

tct.Jae.L1425.aLp.fi3. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  87 

such  a  burden  on  a  whole  community,  every  borough  was  permitted  tc 
choose  one  or  two  of  its  citizens  to  appear  in  the  name  of  the  corporation  ; 
tnd  the  idea  of  representation  was  first  introduced  in  this  manner.  An 
innovation  still  more  important  naturally  followed.  The  vassals  of  the 
crown  were  originally  few  in  number,  and  extremely  powerful  ;  but  as  it 
is  impossible  to  render  property  lixed  and  permanent,  many  of  their  pos- 
sessions c?me,  gradually,  and  by  various  methods  of  alienation,  to  be  .split 
and  parcelled  out  into  different  hands.  1  lence  arose  the  distinction  between 
'Ait  greater  and  the  lesser  barons.  The  former  were  those  who  retained 
their  original  fiefs  undivided,  the  latter  were  the  new  and  less  potent  vas- 
sals of  the  crown.  Both  were  bound,  however,  to  perform  all  feudal 
services,  and,  of  consequence,  to  give  attendance  in  parliament.  To  the 
lesser  barons,  who  formed  no  inconsiderable  body,  this  was  an  intolerable 
grievance.  Barons  sometimes  denied  their  tenure,  boroughs  renounced 
their  right  of  electing,  charters  were  obtained  containing  an  exemption 
from  attendance  ;  and  the  anxiety  with  which  our  ancestors  endeavoured 
to  get  free  from  the  obligation  of  sitting  in  parliament  is  surpassed  by  that 
only  with  which  their  posterity  solicit  to  be  admitted  there.  In  order  to 
accommodate  both  parties  at  once,  to  secure  to  the  king  a  sufficient  number 
of  members  in  his  great  council,  and  to  save  his  vassals  from  an  unneces- 
sary burden,  an  easy  expedient  was  found  out.  The  obligation  to  personal 
attendance  was  continued  upon  the  greater  barons,  from  which  the  lessej 
barons  were  exempted,  on  condition  of  their  electing  in  each  county  a 
certain  number  of  representatives,  to  appear  in  their  name.  Thus  a  par- 
liament became  complete  in  all  its  members,  and  was  composed  of  lords 
spiritual  and  temporal,  of  knights  of  the  shires,  and  of  burgesses.  As 
many  causes  contributed  to  bring  government  earlier  to  perfection  in  Eng- 
land than  in  Scotland ;  as  the  rigour  of  the  feudal  institutions  abated 
sooner,  and  its  defects  were  supplied  with  greater  facility  in  the  one 
kingdom  than  in  the  other ;  England  led  the  way  in  all  these  changes, 
and  burgesses  and  knights  of  the  shire  appeared  in  the  parliaments  ol 
that  nation  before  they  were  heard  of  in  ours.  [1326.T Burgesses  were  first 
admitted  into  the  Scottish  parliaments  by  Robert  Bruce  ;*  and  in  the 
preamble  to  the  laws  of  Robert  III.,  they  are  ranked  among  the  constituent 
members  of  that  assembly.  [1427.]  The  lesser  barons  were  indebted  to 
James  I.  for  a  statute  exempting  them  from  personal  attendance,  and  per- 
mitting them  to  elect  representatives :  the  exemption  was  eagerly  laid 
hold  on ;  but  the  privilege  was  so  little  valued  that,  except  one  or  two 
instances,  it  lay  neglected  during  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  ;  and  James 
VI.  first  obliged  them  to  send  representatives  regularly  to  parliament.! 

A  Scottish  parliament,  then,  consisted  anciently  of  great  barons,  ol 
ecclesiastics,  and  a  few  representatives  of  boroughs.  Nor  were  these 
divided  as  in  England  into  two  houses,  but  composed  one  assembly,  in 
which  the  Lord  Chancellor  presided.  J  In  rude  ages,  when  the  science  ol 
government  was  extremely  imperfect  among  a  martial  people,  unacquainted 
with  the  arts  of  peace,  strangers  to  the  talents  which  make  a  figure  in 
debate,  and  despising  them,  parliaments  were  not  held  in  the  same  esti- 
mation as  at  present ;  nor  did  haughty  barons  love  those  courts  in  which 
they  appeared  with  such  evident  marks  of  inferiority.     Parliarm  nts  were 

*  Abercromby,  i.  635         t  Essays  on  Brit.  Antiq.  Ess.  II.  Dalrymp.  Hist,  of  Feud  Prop  ch.  8. 

X  In  England,  the  peers  and  commons  seem  early  to  have  met  in  separate  houses ;  and  James  I., 
wrV>  v^is  fond  of  imitating  the  English  in  all  their  customs,  had  probably  an  intention  of  introducing 
Mine  considerable  distinction  between  the  greater  and  lesser  barons  in  Scotland;  at  least  he  deter- 
mined that  their  consultations  should  not  be  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  the  same  president ; 
for  by  his  law,  A.  D.  1327,  it  is  provided,  "  that  out  of  the  commissioners  of  all  the  shires  shall  be 
chosen  a  wise  and  export  man,  called  the  common  speaker  of  the  parliament,  who  shall  propose  all 
and  sundry  needs  and  causes  pertaining  to  the  commons  in  the  parliament  or  general  count  i!."  No 
■uch  speaker,  it  would  seem,  was  ever  chosen  -  and  by  a  subsequent  law  the  Chancellor  wait  declared 
perpetual  president  ol  parliament. 


38  THE  HISTORY  [Book  1. 

oiten  hastily  assembled,  and  it  was,  probably,  in  the  king  s  power,  by  toe 
manner  in  which  he  issued  his  writs  for  that  purpose,  to  exclude  such  at 
were  averse  from  his  measures.  At  a  time  when  deeds  ot  violence  were 
common,  and  the  restraints  of  law  and  decency  were  little  regarded,  no 
man  could  venture  with  safety  to  oppose  the  king  in  his  own  court.  The 
great  barons,  or  lords  of  parliament,  were  extremely  few  ;  even  so  late  as 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  VI.,*  they  amounted  only  to  fifty- 
three.  The  ecclesiastics  equalled  them  in  number,  and  being  devoted 
implicitly  to  the  crown,  for  reasons  which  have  been  already  explained, 
rendered  all  hopes  of  victory  in  any  struggle  desperate.  Nor  were  the 
nobles  themselves  so  anxious  as  might  be  imagined,  to  prevent  acts  of  par- 
liament favourable  to  the  royal  prerogative :  conscious  of  their  own 
strength,  and  of  the  king's  inability  to  carry  these  acts  into  execution 
without  their  concurrence,  they  trusted  that  they  might  either  elude  or 
venture  to  contemn  them  ;  and  the  statute  revoking  the  king's  pioperty,  and 
annexing  alienated  jurisdictions  to  the  crown,  repeated  in  every  reign,  and 
violated  and  despised  as  often,  is  a  standing  proof  of  the  impotence  of 
laws  when  opposed  to  power.  So  many  concurring  causes  are  sufficient, 
perhaps,  to  account  for  the  ascendant  which  our  kings  acquired  in  parlia- 
ment. But,  without  having  recourse  to  any  of  these,  a  single  circumstance, 
peculiar  to  the  constitution  of  the  Scottish  parliament,  the  mentioning  oi 
which  we  have  hitherto  avoided,  will  abundantly  explain  this  fact,  seen 
ingly  so  repugnant  to  all  our  reasonings  concerning  the  weakness  of  the 
king,  and  the  power  of  the  nobles. 

As  far  back  as  our  records  enable  us  to  trace  the  constitution  oi  our 
parliaments,  we  find  a  committee  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Lords  of 
Articles.  It  was  their  business  to  prepare  and  to  digest  all  matters  which  were 
to  be  laid  before  the  parliament.  There  was  rarely  any  business  introduced 
into  parliament,  but  what  had  passed  through  the  channel  of  this  com- 
mittee ;  every  motion  for  a  new  law  was  first  made  there,  and  approved 
of  or  rejected  by  the  members  of  it ;  what  they  approved  was  formed 
into  a  bill,  and  presented  to  parliament ;  and  it  seems  probable,  that  what 
they  rejected  could  not  be  introduced  into  the  house.  This  committee 
owed  the  extraordinary  powers  vested  in  it  to  the  military  genius  of  the 
ancient  nobles :  too  impatient  to  submit  to  the  drudgery  ot  civil  business, 
too  impetuous  to  observe  the  forms  or  to  enter  into  the  details  necessary  in 
conducting  it,  they  were  glad  to  lay  that  burden  upon  a  small  number, 
while  they  themselves  had  no  other  labour  than  simply  to  give  or  to  refuse 
their  assent  to  the  bills  which  were  presented  to  them.  The  lords  of 
articles,  then,  not  only  directed  all  the  proceedings  of  parliament,  but  pos- 
sessed a  negative  before  debate.  That  committee  was  chosen  and  con- 
stituted in  such  a  manner  as  to  put  this  valuable  privilege  entirely  into  the 
king's  hands.  It  is  extremely  probable,  that  our  kings  once  had  the  sole 
right  of  nominating  the  lords  of  articles.!  They  came  afterwards  to  be 
elected  by  the  parliament,  and  consisted  of  an  equal  number  out  of  each 

*  And.  Coll.  vol.  i.  pref.  40. 

t  It  appears  from  authentic  records,  that  a  parliament  was  appointed  to  be  held  March  12,  1566, 
and  that  the  lords  of  articles  were  chosen  and  met  on  the  7th,  rive  days  before  the  assembling  of  par- 
liament. If  they  could  be  regularly  elected  so  long  before  the  meeting  of  parliament,  it  is  natural  to 
conclude  that  the  prince  alone  possessed  the  right  of  electing  them.  There  are  two  different  accounts 
of  the  manner  of  their  election  at  that  time,  one  by  Mary  herself,  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  ot 
Glasgow:  "  We,  accompanied  with  our  nobility  for  the  time,  past  to  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh, 
for  holding  of  our  parliament  on  the  7th  day  of  this  instant,  and  elected  the  lords  articulars."  If 
we  explain  these  words  according  to  the  strict  grammar,  we  must  conclude  that  the  queen  herseii 
elected  them.  It  is,  however,  more  probable  that  Mary  meant  to  say,  that  the  nobles  then  present 
with  her,  viz.  her  privy  counsellors  and  others,  elected  the  lords  of  articles.  Keith's  Hist,  of  Scot- 
'and,  p.  331.  The  other  account  is  Lord  Ruthven's,  who  expressly  affirms  that  the  queen  herself 
elected  them.  Keith's  Append.  126.  Whether  we  embrace  the  one  or  other  of  these  opinions  in  oi 
no  consequence.  If  the  privy  counsellors  and  nobles  attending  the  court  had  a  right  to  elect  the 
lords  of  articles,  it  was  equally  advantageous  for  the  crown,  as  if  the  prince  had  had  the  sole  norm 
satlon  of  tbos. 


OF  SCOTLAND  3» 

estate,  and  most  commonly  of  eight  temporal  and  eight  spiritual  lords,  of 
eiarht  representatives  of  boroughs,  and  of  the  eisdit  great  officers  of  the 
crown.  Of  this  body,  the  eight  ecclesiastics,  together  with  the  officers  oi 
the  crown,  were  entirely  at  the  king's  devotion  ;  and  it  was  scarce  possible 
that  the  choice  could  fall  on  such  temporal  lords  and  burgesses  as  would 
unite  in  opposition  to  his  measures.  Capable  either  of  influencing  their 
election,  or  of  gaining  them  when  elected,  the  king  commonly  found  the 
lords  of  articles  no  less  obsequious  t»  his  will  than  bis  own  privy  council ; 
and,  by  means  of  his  authority  with  them,  he  could  put  a  negative  upon 
his  parliament  before  debate,  as  well  as  after  it ;  and,  what  may  seem 
altogether  incredible,  the  most  limited  prince  in  Europr  actually  possessed, 
in  one  instance,  a  prerogative  which  the  most  absolute  could  never  attain.* 

To  this  account  of  the  internal  constitution  of  Scotland,  it  will  not  be 
improper  to  add  a  view  of  the  political  state  of  Europe  at  that  period, 
where  the  following  history  commences.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  that 
general  system,  of  which  every  kingdom  in  Europe  forms  a  part,  is  not 
less  requisite  towards  understanding  the  history  of  a  nation  than  ar 
acquaintance  with  its  peculiar  government  and  laws.  The  latter  may 
enable  us  to  comprehend  domestic  occurrences  and  revolutions  ;  but  with- 
out the  former,  foreign  transactions  must  be  altogether  mysterious  and 
unintelligible.  By  attending  to  this,  many  dark  passages  in  our  history 
may  be  placed  in  a  clear  lignt:  and  where  the  bulk  of  historians  have  seen 
only  the  effect,  we  may  be  able  to  discover  the  cause. 

The  subversion  of  the  feudal  government  in  France,  and  its  declension 
in  the  neighbouring  kingdoms,  occasioned  a  remarkable  alteration  in  the 
political  state  of  Europe.  Kingdoms,  which  were  inconsiderable  when 
broken,  and  parcelled  out  among  nobles,  acquired  firmness  and  strength  by 
being  united  into  a  regular  monarchy.  Kings  became  conscious  ot  their 
own  power  and  importance.  They  meditated  schemes  of  conquest,  and 
engaged  in  wars  at  a  distance.  Numerous  armies  were  raised,  and  great 
taxes  imposed  for  their  subsistence.     Considerable  bodies  of  infantry  were 

*  Having  deduced  the  history  of  the  Committee  of  Lords  of  Articles  as  low  as  the  subject  of 
this  preliminary  book  required,  it  may  be  agreeable,  perhaps,  to  some  of  my  readers,  to  know  the 
subsequent  variations  in  this  singular  institution,  and  the  political  use  which  our  kings  made  of 
these.  When  parliaments  became  more  numerous,  and  more  considerable  by  the  admission  of  the 
representatives  of  the  lesser  barons,  the  preserving  their  influence  over  the  lords  of  articles  became, 
likewise,  an  object  of  greater  importance  to  our  kings.  James  VI.,  on  pretence  that  the  lords  of 
articles  could  not  find  leisure  to  consider  the  great  multitude  of  affairs  laid  before  them,  obtained  an 
act,  appointing  four  persons  to  be  named  out  of  each  estate,  who  should  meet  twenty  days  before 
the  commencement  of  parliament,[a]  to  receive  all  supplications,  Sec.  and,  rejecting  what  they  thought 
frivolous,  should  engross  in  a  book  what  they  thought  worthy  the  attention  of  the  lords  of  articles. 
Xo  provision  is  made  in  the  act  for  the  choice  of  this  select  body ;  and  the  king  would,  of  course, 
have  claimed  that  privilege.  In  1633,  when  Charles  I.  was  beginning  to  introduce  those  innovations 
which  cave  so  much  offence  to  the  nation,  he  dreaded  the  opposition  of  his  parliament,  and,  in  order 
to  prevent  that,  an  artifice  was  made  use  of  to  secure  the  lords  of  articles  for  tne  crown.  The  tem- 
poral peers  were  appointed  to  choose  eight  bishops,  and  the  bishops  eight  peers;  these  sixteen  met 
to«eth»r,  and  elected  eight  knights  of  the  shire,  and  eight  burgesses,  and  to  these  the  crown  officers 
were  added  as  usual.  If  we  can  only  suppose  eight  persons  of  so  numerous  a  body  as  the  peers  of 
Scotland  were  become  by  that  time  attached  to  the  court,  these,  it  is  obvious,  would  be  the  men 
whom  the  bishops  would  choose,  and  of  consequence  the  wlole  lords  of  articles  were  the  tools  and 
creatures  of  the  king.  This  practice,  so  inconsistent  with  liberty,  was  abolished  during  the  civil 
war ;  and  the  statute  of  James  VI.  was  repealed  After  the  restoration,  parliaments  became  more 
servile  than  ever.  What  was  only  a  temporary  device,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  was  then  con- 
verted into  a  standing  law.  "  For  my  part,"  says  the  author  from  whom  I  have  borrowed  many  of 
these  particulars,  "  I  should  have  thought  it  less  criminal  in  our  Restoration  Parliament,  to  have 
openly  bestowed  upon  the  king  a  negative  before  debate,  than,  in  such  an  underheard  artificial  man- 
ner, to  betray  their  constituents  and  the  nation."  Essays  on  Brit.  Antiq.  55.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, from  a  letter  of  Randolph's  to  Cecil,  10  Aug.  1560,  printed  in  the  Appendix,  that  this  parlia 
ment  had  some  appearance  of  ancient  precedent  to  justify  their  unworthy  conduct.  Various  questions 
concerning  the  constituent  members  of  the  Scottish  parliament;  concerning  the  era  at  which  the 
representatives  of  boroughs  were  introduced  into  that  assembly ;  and  concerning  the  origin  and 
power  of  the  committee  of  lords  of  articles,  occur,  and  have  been  agitated  with  great  warmth. 
Since  the  first  publication  of  this  work,  all  these  disputed  points  have  been  considered  with  calm 
ness  and  accuracy  in  Mr.  Wight's  Inquiry  into  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Parliament,  &c.  4to  edit 
».  17,  &c 

f«l  Act  2-22.  P.  1594 


«0  THE    HISTORY  [Book  I. 

kept  in  constant  pay ;  that  service  grew  to  be  honourable ;  and  cavalry,  in 
which  the  strength  of  European  armies  had  hitherto  consisted,  though 
proper  enough  for  the  short  and  voluntary  excursions  of  barons  wno  served 
at  their  own  expense,  were  found  to  be  unfit  either  for  making  or  defending 
any  important  conquest. 

It  was  in  Italy  that  the  powerful  monarchs  of  France  and  Spain  and 
Germany  first  appeared  to  make  a  trial  of  their  new  strength.  The 
division  of  that  country  into  many  small  states,  the  luxury  of  the  people, 
and  their  effeminate  aversion  to  arms  invited  their  more  martial  neighbours 
to  an  easy  prey.  The  Italians,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  mock  battles 
only,  and  to  decide  their  interior  quarrels  by  innocent  and  bloodless  victo- 
ries, were  astonished,  when  the  French  invaded  their  country,  at  the  sight 
of  real  war ;  and,  as  they  could  not  resist  the  torrent,  they  suffered  it  to 
take  its  course,  and  to  spend  its  rage.  Intrigue  and  policy  supplied  the 
want  of  strength.  Necessity  and  self-preservation  led  that  ingenious  peo- 
ple to  the  great  secret  of  modern  politics,  hy  teaching  them  how  to  balance 
the  power  of  one  prince,  by  throwing  that  of  another  into  the  opposite 
scale.  By  this  happy  device,  the  liberty  of  Italy  was  long  preserved. 
The  scales  were  poised  by  very  skilful  hands  ;  the  smallest  variations  were 
attended  to,  and  no  prince  was  allowed  to  retain  any  superiority  that  could 
be  dangerous. 

A  system  of  conduct,  pursued  with  so  much  success  in  Italy,  was  not 
long  confined  to  that  country  of  political  refinement.  The  maxim  of  pre- 
serving a  balance  of  power  is  founded  so  much  upon  obvious  reasoning, 
and  the  situation  of  Europe  rendered  it  so  necessary,  that  it  soon  became 
a  matter  of  chief  attention  to  all  wise  politicians.  Every  step  any  prince 
took  was  observed  by  all  his  neighbours.  Ambassadors,  a  kind  of  honoura- 
ble spies,  authorized  by  the  mutual  jealousy  of  kings,  resided  almost  con- 
stantly at  every  different  court,  and  had  it  in  charge  to  watch  all  its  motions. 
Dangers  were  foreseen  at  a  greater  distance,  and  prevented  with  more 
ease.  Confederacies  were  formed  to  humble  any  power  which  rose  above 
its  due  proportion.  Revenge  or  self-defence  were  no  longer  the  only 
causes  of  hostility,  it  became  common  to  take  arms  out  of  policy ;  and  war 
both  in  its  commencement  and  in  its  operations,  was  more  an  exercise  ol 
the  judgment  than  of  the  passions  of  men.  Almost  every  war  in  Europe 
became  general,  and  the  most  inconsiderable  states  acquired  importance, 
because  they  could  add  weight  to  either  scale. 

Francis  I.,  who  mounted  the  throne  of  France  in  the  year  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifteen,  and  Charles  V.,  who  obtained  the  Imperial  crown 
in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  nineteen,  divided  between  them 
the  strength  and  affections  of  all  Europe.  Their  perpetual  enmity  was  not 
owing  solely  either  to  personal  jealousy,  or  to  the  caprice  of  private  pas- 
sion, but  was  founded  so  much  in  nature  and  true  policy  that  it  subsisted 
between  their  posterity  for  several  ages.  Charles  succeeded  to  all  the 
dominions  of  the  house  of  Austria.  No  family  had  ever  gained  so  much  by 
wise  and  fortunate  marriages.  By  acquisitions  of  this  kind,  the  Austrian 
princes  rose,  in  a  short  time,  from  obscure  counts  of  Hapsbourg,  to  be 
archdukes  of  Austria,  and  kin^s  of  Bohemia,  and  were  in  possession  of  the 
Imperial  dignity  by  a  sort  of  hereditary  right.  Besides  these  territories 
in  Germany,  Charles  was  heir  to  the  crown  of  Spain,  and  to  all  the  domi 
nions  which  belonged  to  the  house  of  Burgundy.  The  Burgundian  pro- 
vinces engrossed,  at  that  time,  the  riches  and  commerce  of  one  half  o! 
Europe  ;  and  he  drew  from  them,  on  many  occasions,  those  immense  sums, 
which  no  people  without  trade  and  liberty  are  able  to  contribute.  Spain 
furnished  him  a  gallant  and  hardy  infantry,  to  whose  discipline  he  was 
indebted  for  all  his  conquests.  At  the  same  time,  by  the  discovery  of  the 
new  world,  a  vein  of  wealth  was  opened  to  him,  which  all  the  extrava 
ganoe  of  ambition  could  not  exhaust.     These  advantages  rendered  Charles 


OF   SCOTLAND.  41 

the  first  prince  in  Europe  •  but  he  wished  to  be  more,  and  openly  aspirea 
to  universal  monarchy.  His  genius  was  of  that  kind  which  ripens  slowly, 
and  lies  long  concealed;  but  it  grew  up,  without  observation,  to  an  unex- 
pected height  and  vigour.  He  possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the 
characteristic  virtues  of  all  the  different  races  of  princes  to  whom  he  was 
allied.  In  forming  his  schemes,  he  discovered  all  the  subtlety  and  pene- 
tration of  Ferdinand  his  grandfather ;  he  pursued  them  with  that  obstinate 
and  inflexible  perseverance  which  has  ever  been  peculiar  to  the  Austrian 
blood;  and  in  executing  them  he  could  employ  the  magnanimity  and  bold- 
ness of  his  Burgundian  ancestors.  His  abilities  were  equal  to  his  power; 
and  neither  of  them  would  have  been  inferior  to  his  designs,  had  not  Pro- 
vidence, in  pity  to  mankind,  and  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  worst 
of  all  evils,  universal  monarchy,  raised  up  Francis  I.  to  defend  the  liberty 
of  Europe.  His  dominions  were  less  extensive,  but  more  united  than  the 
emperors.  His  subjects  were  numerous,  active,  and  warlike,  lovers  of 
glory,  and  lovers  of  their  king.  To  Charles,  power  was  the  only  object  ot 
desire,  and  he  pursued  it  with  an  unwearied  and  joyless  industry.  F  rancis 
could  mingle  pleasure  and  elegance  with  his  ambition;  and,  though  he 
neglected  some  advantages,  which  a  more  phlegmatic  or  more  frugal  prince 
would  have  improved,  an  active  and  intrepid  courage  supplied  all  his 
defects,  and  checked  or  defeated  many  of  the  emperor's  designs. 

The  rest  of  Europe  observed  all  the  motions  of  these  mighty  rivals  with 
a  jealous  attention.  On  the  one  side,  the  Italians  saw  the  danger  which 
threatened  Christendom,  and,  in  order  to  avert  it,  had  recourse  to  the  expe- 
dient which  they  had  often  employed  with  success.  They  endeavoured 
to  divide  the  power  of  the  two  contending  monarchs  into  equal  scales,  and, 
by  the  union  of  several  small  states,  to  counterpoise  him  whose  powei 
became  too  great.  But  what  they  concerted  with  much  wisdom,  they 
were  able  to  execute  with  little  vigour;  and  intrigue  and  refinement  were 
feeble  fences  against  the  encroachments  of  military  power. 

On  the  other  side,  Henry  VIII.  of  England  held  the  balance  with  less 
delicacy,  but  with  a  stronger  hand.  He  was  the  third  prince  of  the  age 
in  dignity  and  in  power;  and  the  advantageous  situation  of  his  dominions, 
his  domestic  tranquillity,  his  immense  wealth  and  absolute  authority  ren- 
dered him  the  natural  guardian  of  the  liberty  of  Europe.  Each  of  the 
rivals  courted  him  with  emulation;  he  knew  it  to  be  his  interest  to  keep 
the  balance  even,  and  to  restrain  both  by  not  joining  entirely  with  either 
of  them.  But  he  was  seldom  able  to  reduce  his  ideas  to  practice ;  he  was 
governed  by  caprice  more  than  by  principle;  and  the  passions  of  the  man 
were  an  overmatch  for  the  maxims  of  the  king.  Vanity  and  resentment 
were  the  great  springs  of  all  his  undertakings,  and  his  neighbours  easily 
found  the  way,  by  touching  these,  to  force  him  upon  many  rash  and  incon- 
sistent enterprises.  His  reign  was  a  perpetual  series  ol  blunders  in 
[)o  itics;  and  while  he  esteemed  himself  the  wisest  prince  in  Europe,  he 
was  a  constant  dupe  to  those  who  found  it  necessary,  and  could  submit  to 
Hatter  him. 

In  this  situation  of  Europe,  Scotland,  which  had  hitherto  wasted  her 
strength  in  the  quarrels  between  France  and  England,  emerged  from  her 
<^'scurity,  took  her  station  in  the  system,  and  began  to  have  some  influence 
upon  the  fate  of  distant  nations.  Her  assistance  was  frequently  of  conse- 
quence to  the  contending  parties,  and  the  balance  '.vas  often  so  nicely 
adjusted  that  it  was  in  her  power  to  make  it  lean  to  either  side.  The  part 
assigned  her,  at  this  juncture,  was  to  divert  Henry  from  carrying  his  arms 
into  the  continent.  That  prince  h  iving  routed  the  French  at  Guinegat  and 
invested  Terouenne,  Francis  attempted  to  divide  his  forces,  by  engaging 
James  IV.  in  that  unhappy  expedit:on  which  ended  with  his  life.  For  the 
same  reason  Francis  encouraged  and  assisted  the  duke  of  Albany  to  ruin 
the  families  of  Angus  and  Home,  which  were  in  the  interest  of  England, 

Vol.  III.— 6 


42  THE   HISTORY  [Book  1. 

ind  kvoul  willingly  have  persuaded  the  Scots  to  revenge  the  death  of  theii 
king,  and  to  enter  into  a  new  war  with  that  kingdom  Henry  and  Francis 
having  united  not  long  after  against  the  emperor,  it  was  the  interest  of  both 
kings  that  the  Scots  should  continue  inactive ;  and  a  lopg  tranquillity  was 
the  effect  of  their  union.  Charles  endeavoured  to  break  this,  and  to 
embarrass  Henry  by  another  inroad  of  the  Scots.  For  this  end  he  made 
great  advances  to  James  V.,  flattering  the  vanity  of  the  young  monarch  by 
electing  him  a  Knight  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  by  oflering  him  a  match 
in  the  Imperial  family;  while,  in  return  for  these  empty  honours,  he 
demanded  for  him  to  renounce  his  alliance  with  France,  and  to  declare 
war  against  England.  But  James,  who  had  much  to  lose,  and  who  could 
gain  little  by  closing  with  the  emperor's  proposals,  rejected  them  with 
decency,  and  keeping  firm  to  his  ancient  allies,  left  Henry  at  full  liberty  to 
act  upon  the  continent  with  his  whole  strength. 

Henry  himself  began  his  reign  by  imitating  the  example  of  his  ancestors 
with  regard  to  Scotland.  He  held  its  power  in  such  extreme  contempt 
that  he  was  at  no  pains  to  gain  its  friendship  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he 
irritated  the  whole  nation,  by  reviving  the  antiquated  pretensions  of  the 
crown  of  England  to  the  sovereignty  over  Scotland.  But  his  own 
experience,  and  the  examples  of  his  enemies,  gave  him  a  higher  idea 
of  its  importance.  It  was  impossible  to  defend  an  open  and  extensive 
frontier  against  the  incursions  of  an  active  and  martial  people.  During 
any  war  on  the  continent,  this  obliged  him  to  divide  the  strength  of  his 
kingdom.  It  was  necessary  to  maintain  a  kind  of  army  of  observation  in 
the  north  of  England ;  and,  after  all  precautions,  the  Scottish  borderers, 
who  were  superior  to  all  mankind  in  the  practice  of  irregular  war,  often 
made  successful  inroads,  and  spread  terror  and  desolation  over  many 
counties.  He  fell,  at  last,  upon  the  true  secret  of  policy,  with  respect  to 
Scotland,  which  his  predecessors  had  too  little  penetration  to  discover,  or 
too  much  pride  to  employ.  The  situation  of  the  country,  and  the  bravery 
of  the  people,  made  the  conquest  of  Scotland  impossible  ;  but  the  national 
poverty,  and  the  violence  of  taction,  rendered  it  an  easy  matter  to  divide 
and  to  govern  it.  He  abandoned,  therefore,  the  former  design,  and  resolved 
to  employ  his  utmost  address  in  executing  the  latter.  It  had  not  yet 
become  honourable  for  one  prince  to  receive  pay  from  another,  under  the 
more  decent  name  of  a  subsidy.  But,  in  all  ages,  the  same  arguments 
have  been  good  in  courts,  and  of  weight  with  ministers,  factious  leaders, 
and  favourites.  What  were  the  arguments  by  which  Henry  brought  over 
so  many  to  his  interest  during  the  minority  of  James  V.  we  know  by  the 
original  warrant  still  extant,*  for  remitting  considerable  sums  into  Scotland. 
By  a  proper  distribution  of  these,  many  persons  of  note  were  gained  tc 
his  party,  and  a  faction,  which  he'd  secret  correspondence  with  England, 
and  received  all  its  directions  from  thence,  appears  henceforward  in  our 
domestic  contests.  In  the  sequel  of  the  history,  we  shall  find  Henry 
labouring  to  extend  his  influence  in  Scotland.  His  successors  adopted  the 
same  plan,  and  improved  upon  it.  The  affairs  of  the  two  kingdoms 
became  interwoven,  and  their  interests  were  often  the  same.  Elizabeth 
divided  her  attention  almost  equally  between  them  ;  and  the  authority 
which  she  inherited  in  the  one  was  not  greater  than  that  which  she  acquired 
n  the  other 

•  Burn.  Hist.  Ref.  vol  i-  p.  7 


OF  SCOTLAND  43 


BOOK   II. 

1542.]  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  the  daughter  of  James  V.  and  Mary  ol 
Guise,  was  born  [Dec.  8]  a  few  days  before  the  death  of  her  father. 
The  situation  in  which  he  left  the  kingdom  alarmed  all  ranks  of  men 
w  ith  the  prospect  of  a  turbulent  and  disastrous  reign.  A  war  against 
England  had  been  undertaken  without  necessity,  and  carried  on  without 
success.  Many  persons  of  the  first  rank  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
English,  in  the  unfortunate  rout  near  the  frith  of  Solway,  and  were  still 
prisoners  at  London.  Among  the  rest  of  the  nobles  there  was  little  union 
either  in  their  views  or  in  their  affections  ;  and  the  religious  disputes,  occa- 
sioned by  the  opinions  of  the  Reformers,  growing  every  day  more  violent, 
added  to  the  rage  of  those  factions  which  are  natural  to  a  form  of  govern- 
ment nearly  aristocratical. 

The  government  of  a  queen  was  unknown  in  Scotland,  and  did  not 
imprint  much  reverence  in  the  minds  of  a  martial  people.  The  govern- 
ment of  an  infant  queen  was  still  more  destitute  of  real  authority;  and  the 
prospect  of  a  long  and  feeble  minority  invited  to  faction  by  the  hope  oi 
impunity.  James  had  not  even  provided  the  common  remedy  against  the 
disorders  of  a  minority,  by  committing  to  proper  persons  the  care  of  his 
daughter's  education,  and  the  administration  of  affairs  in  her  name 
Though  he  saw  the  clouds  gathering,  and  foretold  that  they  would  quickly 
burst  into  a  storm,  he  was  so  little  able  to  disperse  them,  or  to  defend  his 
daughter  and  kingdom  against  the  imminent  calamities,  that,  in  mere 
despair,  he  abandoned  them  both  to  the  meicy  of  fortune,  and  left  open 
to  every  pretender  the  office  of  regent,  which  he  could  not  fix  to  his  own 
satisfaction. 

Cardinal  Beatoun,  who  had  for  many  years  been  considered  as  prime 
minister,  was  the  first  that  claimed  that  high  dignity ;  and,  in  support  of 
his  pretensions,  he  produced  a  testament,*  which  he  himself  had  forged  in 
the  name  of  the  late  king  ;  and,  without  any  other  right,  instantly  assumed 
the  title  of  regent.  He  hoped  by  the  assistance  of  the  clergy,  the  coun 
tenance  of  France,  the  connivance  of  the  queen  dowager,  and  the  support 
of  the  whole  popish  faction,  to  hold  by  force  what  he  had  seized  on  by 
fraud.  But  Beatoun  had  enjoyed  power  too  long  to  be  a  favourite  of  the 
nation.  Those  among  the  nobles  who  wished  for  a  reformation  in  religion 
dreaded  his  severity,  and  others  considered  the  elevation  of  a  churchman 
to  the  highest  office  in  the  kingdom  as  a  depression  of  themselves.  At 
their  instigation,  James  Hamilton  earl  of  Arran,  and  next  heir  to  the  queen, 
roused  himself  from  his  inactivity,  and  was  prevailed  on  to  aspire  to  that 
station  to  which  proximity  of  blood  gave  him  a  natural  title.  The  nobles, 
who  were  assembled  for  that  purpose,  unanimously  conferred  on  him  the 
office  of  regent  ;  and  the  public  voice  applauded  their  choice.! 

No  two  men  ever  differed  more  widely  in  disposition  and  character  than 
the  earl  o;  Arran  and  cardinal  Beatoun.  The  cardinal  was  by  nature  ot 
immoderate  ambition  :  by  long  experience  he  had  acquired  address  and 
refinement ;  and  insolence  grew  upon  him  from  continual  success.  His 
high  station  in  the  church  placed  him  in  the  way  of  great  civil  employments ; 
his  abilities  were  equal  to  the  greatest  of  these  :  nor  did  he  reckon  any  oi 
them  to  be  above  his  merit.  As  his  own  emirence  was  founded  upon  the 
power  of  the  church  of  Rome,  he  was  a  zealous  defender  of  that  superstition, 
and  for  the  same  reason  an  avowed  enemy  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformer* 

*  Saddler'*  Lett.  161     Haynes,  State  Papers,  486.  t  Epist.  Reg.  Scot  vol.  ii.  p.  306 


«4  THE  HISTORY  [BookII. 

Political  motives  alone  determined  him  to  support  the  one  or  to  oppose  the 
other.  His  early  application  to  public  business  kept  him  unacquainted 
with  the  learning  and  controversies  of  the  age  ;  he  gave  judgment,  how- 
ever, upon  all  points  in  dispute,  with  a  precipitancy,  violence,  and  rigour, 
which  contemporary  historians  mention  with  indignation. 

The  character  of  the  earl  of  Arran  was,  in  almost  every  thing,  the  reverse 
of  Beatoun's.  He  was  neither  infected  with  ambition  nor  inclined  to 
cruelty:  the  love  of  ease  extinguished  the  former,  the  gentleness  of  his 
temper  preserved  him  from  the  latter.  Timidity  and  irresolution  were 
his  predominant  failings ;  the  one  occasioned  by  his  natural  constitution, 
and  the  other  arising  from  a  consciousness  that  his  abilities  were  not  equal 
to  his  station.  With  these  dispositions  he  might  have  enjoyed  and  adorned 
private  life;  but  his  public  conduct  was  without  courage,  or  dignity,  or 
consistence ;  the  perpetual  slave  of  his  own  fears,  and,  by  consequence, 
the  perpetual  tool  of  those  who  found  their  advantage  in  practising  upon 
them.  But,  as  no  other  person  could  be  set  in  opposition  to  the  car- 
dinal, with  any  probability  of  success,  the  nation  declared  in  his  favour 
with  such  general  consent  that  the  artifices  of  his  rival  could  not  withstand 
its  united  strength. 

The  earl  of  Arran  had  scarce  taken  possession  of  his  new  dignity,  when 
a  negotiation  was  opened  with  England,  which  gave  birth  to  events  of 
the  most  fatal  consequence  to  himself  and  to  the  kingdom.  After  the  death 
of  James,  Henry  VIII.  was  no  longer  afraid  of  any  interruption  from 
Scotland  to  his  designs  against  France  ;  and  immediately  conceived  hopes 
of  rendering  this  security  perpetual,  by  the  marriage  of  Edward  his  only 
son  with  the  young  queen  ol  Scots.  He  communicated  his  intentions  to 
the  prisoners  taken  at  Solway,  and  prevailed  on  them  to  favour  it,  by  the 
promise  of  liberty,  as  the  reward  of  their  success.  In  the  mean  time  he 
permitted  thern  to  return  into  Scotland,  that,  by  their  presence  in  the  par- 
liament which  the  regent  had  called,  they  might  be  the  better  able  to  per 
suade  their  countrymen  to  fall  in  with  his  proposals.  A  cause  intrusted  to 
such  able  and  zealous  advocates,  could  not  well  miss  of  coming  to  a  happy 
issue.  All  those  who  feared  the  cardinal,  or  who  desired  a  change  in  reli- 
gion, were  fond  of  an  alliance  which  afforded  protection  to  the  doctrine 
which  they  had  embraced,  as  well  as  to  their  own  persons,  against  the 
rage  of  that  powerful  and  haughty  prelate. 

But  Henry's  rough  and  impatient  temper  was  incapable  of  improving 
this  favourable  conjuncture.  Address  and  delicacy  in  managing  the  fears, 
and  follies,  and  interests  of  men  were  arts  with  which  he  was  utterly  unac- 
quainted. The  designs  he  had  formed  upon  Scotland  were  obvious  froir 
the  marriage  which  he  had  proposed,  and  he  had  not  dexterity  enough  to 
disguise  or  to  conceal  them.  Instead  of  yielding  to  the  fear  or  jealousy  of 
the  Scots,  what  time  and  accident  would  soon  have  enabled  him  to  recover, 
he  at  once  alarmed  and  irritated  the  whole  nation,  by  demanding  that  the 
queen's  person  should  be  immediately  committed  to  his  custody,  and  that 
the  government  of  the  kingdom  should  be  put  into  his  hands  during  her 
minority. 

Henry  could  not  have  prescribed  more  ignominious  conditions  to  a  con- 
quered people,  and  it  is  no  wonder  they  were  rejected,  with  indignation, 
by  men  who  scorned  to  purchase  an  alliance  with  England  at  the  price  of 
their  own  liberty.  [1543.]  The  parliament  of  Scotland,  however,  influ- 
enced by  the  nobles  who  returned  from  England  ;  desirous  of  peace  with 
that  kingdom  ;  and  delivered,  by  the  regent's  confining  the  cardinal  as  a 
prisoner,  from  an  opposition  to  which  he  might  have  given  rise  ;  consented 
to  a  treaty  of  marriage  and  of  union,  but  upon  terms  somewhat  more 
equal  [March  12].  After  some  dark  and  unsuccessful  intrigues,  by  which 
Dis  ambassador  endeavoured  to  carry  off  the  young  queen  and  cardinal 
Beatoun   into  England,  H^ury  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  own  proposals 


OF   SCO  FLAN  D.  46 

and  to  accept  ot  theirs.  On  his  side  he  consented  that  the  queen  should 
con'inue  to  reside  in  Scotland,  and  himself  remain  excluded  from  any 
share  in  the  government  of  the  kingdom.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Scots 
agreed  to  send  their  sovereign  into  England  as  soon  as  she  attained  the  lull 
age  of  ten  years,  and  instantly  to  deliver  six  persons  of  the  first  rami  to 
be  kept  as  hostages  by  Henry  till  the  queer  s  arrival  at  his  court. 

The  treaty  was  still  so  manifestly  of  advantage  to  England,  that  the 
regent  lost  much  of  the  public  confidence  by  consenting  to  it.  The  cardi- 
nal, who  had  now  recovered  liberty,  watched  for  such  an  opportunity  ol 
regaining  credit,  and  he  did  not  fail  to  cultivate  and  improve  this  to  the 
utmost. "  He  complained  loudly  that  the  regent  had  betrayed  the  kingdom 
to  its  most  inveterate  enemies,  and  sacrificed  its  honour  to  his  own  ambi- 
tion. He  foretold  the  extinction  of  the  true  Catholic  religion,  under  the 
tyranny  of  an  excommunicated  heretic  ;  but,  above  all,  he  lamented  to 
see  an  ancient  kingdom  consenting  to  its  own  servitude,  descending  into 
the  ignominious  station  of  a  dependent  province  ;  and,  in  one  hour,  the 
weakness  or  treachery  of  a  single  man  surrendering  every  thing  for  which 
the  Scottish  nation  had  struggled  and  fought  during  so  many  ages.  These 
-emonstrances  of  the  cardinal  were  not  without  effect.  They  were 
iddressed  to  prejudices  and  passions  which  are  deeply  rooted  in  the 
.uman  heart.  The  same  hatred  to  the  ancient  enemies  of  their  country, 
he  same  jealousy  of  national  honour,  and  pride  of  independence,  which, 

the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  went  near  to  prevent  the  Scots 
from  consenting  to  a  union  with  England,  upon  terms  of  great  advantage, 
did,  at  that  time,  induce  the  whole  nation  to  declare  against  the  alliance 
which  had  been  concluded.  In  the  one  period,  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  peace  between  the  two  nations,  the  habit  of  being  subjected  to  the 
same  king,  and  governed  by  the  same  maxims,  had  considerably  abated 
old  animosities,  and  prepared  both  people  for  incorporating.  In  the  other, 
injuries  were  still  fresh,  the  wounds  on  both  sides  were  open,  and,  in  the 
warmth  of  resentment,  it  was  natural  to  seek  revenge,  and  to  be  averse 
from  reconcilement.  At  the  union  in  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seven,  the  wisdom  of  parliament  despised  the  groundless  murmurs  occa- 
sioned by  antiquated  prejudices  ;  but  in  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
forty-three,  the  complaints  of  the  nation  were  better  founded,  and  urged 
with  a  zeal  and  unanimity,  which  it  is  neither  just  nor  safe  to  disregard. 
A  rash  measure  of  the  English  monarch  added  greatly  to  the  violence  ol 
this  national  animosity.  The  Scots,  relying  on  the  treaty  of  marriage  and 
jnion,  fitted  out  several  ships  for  France,  with  which  their  trade  had  been 
interrupted  for  some  time.  These  were  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to 
take  refuge  in  different  ports  of  England ;  and  Henry,  under  pretext  that 
they  were  carrying  provisions  to  a  kingdom  witn  which  he  was  at  war, 
ordered  them  to  be  seized  and  condemned  as  lawful  prizes.*  The  Scots, 
astonished  at  this  proceeding  of  a  prince  whose  interest  it  was  manifestly 
.it  that  juncture  to  court  and  to  sooth  them,  felt  it  not  only  as  an  injury 
but  as  an  insult,  and  expressed  all  the  resentment  natural  to  a  high-spirited 
people. t     Their  rage  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  the  English  ambassadoi 

*  Keith,  32.  34.     Epist.  Reg.  Scot.  ii.  App.  31J.     Hamilton  MSS.  vol.  i.  p.  389. 

t  In  the  MS.  collection  of  papers  belonging  to  the  duke  of  Hamilton,  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  desciiucj 
the  spirit  of  the  Scots  as  extremely  outrageous.  In  his  letter  from  Edinburgh,  September  1,  1543, 
he-  nays,  "  The  stay  of  the  ships  has  brought  the  people  of  this  town,  both  men  and  women,  and 
especially  the  merchants,  into  such  a  rage  and  fury,  that  the  whole  town  is  commoved  against  me, 
and  swear  great  oaths,  if  their  ships  are  not  restored,  that  they  would  have  their  amends  of  me  awl 
mine,  and  that  they  would  set  my  house  here  on  fire  over  my  head,  so  that  one  of  us  should  not 
escape  alive ;  and  also  it  hath  much  incensed  and  provoked  the  people  against  the  governor,  saying 
that  he  hath  coloured  a  peace  with  Your  Majesty  only  to  undo  them.  This  is  the  unreasonablenes* 
of  the  people  which  live  here  in  such  a  beastly  liberty  that  they  neither  regard  God  nor  governor  • 
nor  yet  justice,  or  any  good  policy,  doth  take  place  among  them  ;  assuring  Your  Highness  that,  un 
less  the  ships  be  delivered,  there  will  be  none  abiding  here  for  me  without  danger."  Vol.  i.  451 
In  his  letter  of  September  5,  he  writes  that  the  rage  of  the  people  still  continued  so  violent,  "  thai 
neither  I  nor  any  of  my  folk?  dare  go  out  of  my  doors:  ind  the  provost  of  the  town,  who  hatti 


«6  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

could  hardly  be  protected  from  it.  One  spirit  seemed  now  to  animate  al 
orders  of  men.  The  clergy  offered  to  contribute  a  great  sum  towards 
preserving  the  church  from  the  dominion  of  a  prince,  whose  system  ot 
reformation  was  so  fatal  to  their  power.  The  nobles,  after  having  morti 
ned  the  cardinal  so  lately  in  such  a  cruel  manner,  were  now  ready  to 
applaud  and  to  second  him,  as  the  defender  of  the  honour  and  liberty  o' 
his  country. 

Argyll,  Huntly,  Bothwell,  and  other  powerful  barons,  declared  openly 
against  the  alliance  with  England.  By  their  assistance,  the  cardinal  seized 
on  the  persons  of  the  young  queen  and  her  mother,  and  added  to  his  party 
the  splendour  and  authority  of  the  royal  name.*  He  received,  at  the 
same  time,  a  more  real  accession  to  his  strength,  by  the  arrival  of  Matthew 
Stewart  earl  of  Lennox,  whose  return  from  France  he  had  earnestly  soli- 
cited. This  young  nobleman  was  the  hereditary  enemy  of  the  house  ol 
Hamilton.  He  had  many  claims  upon  the  regent,  and  pretended  a  right 
to  exclude  him,  not  only  from  succeeding  to  the  crown,  but  to  deprive  him 
of  the  possession  of  his  private  fortune.  The  cardinal  flattered  his  vanity 
with  the  prospect  of  marrying  the  queen  dowager,  and  affected  to  treat 
him  with  so  much  respect  that  the  regent  became  jealous  of  him  as  a  rival 
in  power. 

This  suspicion  was  artfully  heightened  by  the  abbot  of  Paisley,  who 
returned  into  Scotland  some  time  before  the  earl  of  Lennox,  and  acted  in 
concert  with  the  cardinal.  He  was  a  natural  brother  of  the  regent,  with 
whom  he  had  great  credit;  a  warm  partisan  of  France,  and  a  zealous 
defender  of  the  established  religion.  He  took  hold  of  the  regent  by  the 
proper  handle,  and  endeavoured  to  bring  about  a  change  in  his  sentiments 
by  working  upon  his  fears.  The  desertion  of  the  nobility,  the  disaffection 
of  the  clergy,  and  the  rage  of  the  people  ;  the  resentment  of  France,  the 
power  ot  the  cardinal,  and  the  pretensions  of  Lennox,  were  all  represented 
with  aggravation,  and  with  their  most  threatening  aspect. 

Meanwhile,  the  day  appointed  for  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  with 
England,  and  the  delivery  of  the  hostages  approached,  and  thj  regent  was 
still  undetermined  in  his  own  mind.  He  acted  to  the  last  with  that  irreso- 
lution and  inconsistence  which  is  peculiar  to  weak  men  when  they  are  so 
unfortunate  as  to  have  the  chief  part  in  the  conduct  of  difficult  affairs. 
On  the  25th  of  August  he  ratified  a  treaty  with  Henry  ,|  and  proclaimed 
the  cardinal,  who  still  continued  to  oppose  it,  an  enemy  to  his  country. 
On  the  third  of  September  he  secretly  withdrew  from  Edinburgh,  met 
with  the  cardinal  at  Callendar,  renounced  the  friendship  of  England,  and 
declared  for  the  interests  of  France.J 

Henry,  in  order  to  gain  the  regent,  had  not  spared  the  most  magnificent 
promises.  He  had  offered  to  give  the  princessElizabeth  in  marriage  to  his 
eldest  son,  and  to  constitute  him  king  of  that  part  of  Scotland  which  lies 
beyond  the  river  Forth.  But  upon  finding  his  interest  in  the  kingdom  to 
be  less  considerable  than  he  had  imagined,  the  English  monarch  began  to 
treat  him  with  little  respect.  The  young  queen  was  now  in  the  custody  of  his 
enemies,  who  grew  every  day  more  numerous  and  more  popular.  They 
formed  a  separate  court  at  Stirling,  and  threatened  to  elect  another  regent. 
The  French  king  was  ready  to  afford  them  his  protection,  and  the  nation, 
out  ol  hatred  to  the  English,  would  have  united  in  their  defence.  In  this 
Situation  the  regent  ceald  not  retain  his  authority  without  a  sudden  change 
of  his  measures  ;  and  try-igh  he  endeavoured,  by  ratifying  the  treaty,  to 

mueh  ado  to  stay  them  from  assaulting  me  in  my  house,  and  keepeth  watch  therefore  nightly,  hath 
sent  to  me  sundry  times,  and  prayed  me  to  keep  myself  and  my  folks  within,  for  it  is  scant  in  his 
power  to  repress  or  resist  the  fury  of  the  people.  Thev  sav  plainly,  1  shall  never  pass  out  of  the 
town  alive,  except  they  have  their  ships  restored.  Thin  ie  the  rage  and  beastliness  of  this  nation 
which  God  keep  all  houest  men  from."     lb.  471. 

•Keith's  Hist,  of  ScoU.  30.        t  Eynier,  Fori.  -  j  S»Jl«r  T»  It*      ?  .*••.«»  MSS 

'  470,  &c. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  47 

preserve  the  appearances  of  good  faith  with  England,  he  was  obliged  to 
throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  party  which  adhered  to  France. 

Soon  after  this  sudden  revolution  in  his  political  principles,  the  regent 
changed  his  sentiments  concerning  religion.  The  spirit  of  controversy  was 
hen  new  and  warm  ;  books  of  that  kind  were  eagerly  read  by  men  of  every 
rank  ;  the  love  of  novelty,  or  the  conviction  of  truth,  had  led  the  regent  to 
express  great  esteem  for  the  writings  of  the  Reformers  ;  and  having  been 
powerfully  supported  by  those  who  had  embraced  their  opinions,  he,  in 
order  to  gratify  them,  entertained,  in  his  own  family,  two  of  the  most  noted 
preachers  of  the  Protestant  doctrine,  and,  in  his  first  parliament,  consented 
to  an  act,  by  which  the  laity  were  permitted  to  read  the  scriptures  in  a 
language  which  they  understood.*  Truth  needed  only  a  fair  hearing  to  be 
an  overmatch  for  error.  Absurdities,  which  had  long  imposed  on  the  igno- 
rance and  credulity  of  mankind,  were  detected  and  exposed  to  public  ridi- 
cule; and,  under  the  countenance  of  the  regent,  the  reformation  made  great 
advances.  The  cardinal  observed  its  progress  with  concern,  and  was  at 
the  utmost  pains  to  obstruct  it.  He  represented  to  the  regent  his  great 
imprudence  in  giving  encouragement  to  opinions  so  favourable  to  Lennox's 
pretensions ;  that  his  own  legitimacy  depended  upon  the  validity  of  a  sen- 
tence of  divorce,  founded  on  the  pope's  authority;  and  that  by  suffering  it 
to  be  called  in  question,  he  weakened  his  own  title  to  the  succession,  and 
furnished  his  rival  with  the  only  argument  by  which  it  could  be  rendered 
doubtful.f  These  insinuations  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  regent's 
timorous  spirit,  who,  at  the  prospect  of  such  imaginary  danger,  was  as 
much  startled  as  the  cardinal  could  have  wished ;  and  his  zeal  for  the  pro- 
testant  religion  was  not  long  proof  against  his  fear.  He  publicly  abjured 
the  doctrine  of  the  reformers  in  the  Franciscan  church  at  Stirling,  and 
declared  not  only  for  the  political  but  the  religious  opinions  of  his  new 
confidents. 

The  protestant  doctrine  did  not  suffer  much  by  his  apostacy.  It  had 
already  taken  so  deep  root  in  the  kingdom  that  no  discouragement  or 
severity  could  extirpate  it.  The  regent  indeed  consented  to  every  thing 
that  the  zeal  of  the  cardinal  thought  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the 
established  religion.  The  reformers  were  persecuted  with  all  the  cruelty 
which  superstition  inspires  into  a  barbarous  people.  Many  were  con- 
demned to  that  dreadful  death  which  the  church  has  appointed  for  the 
punishment  of  its  enemies  ;  but  they  suffered  with  a  spirit  so  nearly  resem 
bling  the  patience  and  fortitude  of  the  primitive  martyrs  that  more  were 
converted  than  terrified  by  such  spectacles. 

The  cardinal,  however,  was  now  in  possession  of  every  thing  his  ambi- 
tion could  desire ;  and  exercised  all  the  authority  of  a  regent,  without  the 
envy  of  the  name.  He  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  earl  of  Arran,  who, 
having  by  his  inconsistency  forfeited  the  public  esteem,  was  contemned  by 
one  half  the  nation,  and  little  trusted  by  the  other.  The  pretensions  of  the 
earl  of  Lennox  were  the  only  thing  which  remained  to  embarrass  him.  He 
had  very  successfully  made  use  of  that  nobleman  to  work  upon  the  regent's 
jealousy  and  fear  ;  but  as  he  no  longer  stood  in  need  of  such  an  instrument, 
he  was  willing  to  get  rid  of  him  with  decency.  Lennox  soon  began  to  sus- 
pect his  intention ;  promises,  flattery,  and  respect  were  the  only  returns  he 

*  Keith,  p.  36,  37. 

t  The  pretensions  of  the  earl  of  Lennox  to  the  succession  were  thus  founded.  Mary,  the  daughter 
of  James  II.,  was  married  to  James  lorr1.  Hamilton,  whom  James  III.  created  earl  of  Arran  on  that 
account.  Elizabeth,  a  daughter  of  that  marriage,  was  the  wife  of  Matthew  earl  of  Lennox,  and 
the  present  earl  was  her  grandson.  The  regent  was  likewise  the  grandson  of  the  princess  Mary 
But  his  father  having  married  Janet  Beatoun  the  regent's  mother,  after  he  had  obtained  a  divorce 
from  Elizabeth  Home  his  former  wife,  Lennox  pretended  tJiat  the  sentence  of  divorce  was  unjust 
and  that  the  regent,  being  born  while  Elizabeth  Home  was  sail  alive,  ought  to  be  considered  as 
illegitimate.    Crawl'.  Peer,  192. 


48  THEHISTORY  LBook  lt 

nad  hitherto  received  for  substantial  services  ;  but  at  last  the  cardinal's 
artifices  could  no  lonsrer  be  concealed,  and  Lennox,  instead  of  attaining 
power  and  dignity  himself,  saw  that  he  had  been  employed  only  to  pro 
cure  these  for  another.  Resentment  and  disappointed  ambition  urged  him 
to  seek  revenge  on  that  cunning  prelate,  who,  by  sacrificing  his  interest, 
had  so  ungenerously  purchased  the  earl  of  Arran's  friendship.  He  with- 
drew, for  that  reason,  from  court,  and  declared  for  the  party  at  enmity 
with  the  cardinal,  which,  with  open  arms,  received  a  convert  who  added 
k>  much  lustre  to  their  cause. 

The  two  factions  which  divided  the  kingdom  were  still  the  same,  without 
any  alterations  in  their  views  or  principles  ;  but,  by  one  of  those  strangf 
revolutions  which  were  frequent  in  that  age,  they  had  in  the  course  of  a 
few  weeks  changed  their  leaders.  The  regent  was  at  the  head  of  the  par- 
tisans of  France  and  the  defenders  of  popery,  and  Lennox  in  the  same  sta- 
tion with  the  advocates  for  the  English  alliance  and  a  reformation  in  reli- 
gion. The  one  laboured  to  pull  down  his  own  work,  which  the  other 
upheld  with  the  same  hand  that  had  hitherto  endeavoured  to  destroy  it. 

Lennox's  impatience  for  revenge  got  the  start  of  the  cardinal's  activity. 
He  surprised  both  him  and  the  regent  by  a  sudden  march  to  Edinburgh 
with  a  numerous  army;  and  might  easily  have  crushed  them  before  they 
could  prepare  for  their  defence.  But  he  was  weak  enough  to  listen  to  pro- 
posals for  an  accommodation  ;  and  the  cardinal  amused  him  so  artfully,  and 
spun  out  the  treaty  to  such  a  length,  that  the  greater  part  of  (he  earl's 
troops,  who  served,  as  is  usual  wherever  the  feudal  institutions  prevailed, 
at  their  own  expense,  deserted  him  ;  and  in  concluding  a  peace,  instead  ot 

fiving  the  law,  he  was  obliged  to  receive  it.  A  second  attempt  to  retrieve 
is  affairs  ended  yet  more  unfortunately.  One  body  of  his  troops  was  cut 
to  pieces,  and  the  rest  dispersed ;  and  with  the  poor  remains  of  a  ruined 
party,  he  must  either  have  submitted  to  the  conqueror,  or  have  fled  out  ol 
the  Kingdom,  if  the  approach  of  an  English  army  had  not  brought  him  a 
short  relief. 

Henry  was  not  of  a  temper  to  bear  tamely  the  indignrtv  with  which  hf 
had  been  treated,  both  by  the  regent  and  parliament  of  Scotland,  who,  a> 
the  time  when  they  renounced  their  alliance  with  him,  had  entered  into  a 
new  and  stricter  confederacy  with  France.  The  rigour  of  the  season 
retarded  for  some  time  the  execution  of  his  vengeance.  But,  in  the  spring 
[1544],  a  considerable  body  of  infantry,  which  was  destined  for  France, 
received  orders  to  sail  for  Scotland,  and  a  proper  number  of  cavalry  was 
appointed  to  join  it  by  land.  The  regent  and  cardinal  little  expected  such 
a  visit.  They  had  trusted  that  the  French  war  would  find  employment 
for  all  Henry's  forces,  and,  from  an  unaccountable  security,  were  wholly 
unprovided  For  the  defence  of  the  kingdom.  The  earl  of  Hertford,  i  leadei 
fatal  to  the  Scots  in  that  age,  commanded  his  army,  and  landed  it,  without 
opposition,  a  few  miles  from  Leith.  He  was  quickly  master  of  that  place 
[May  J] ;  and,  marching  directly  to  Edinburgh,  entered  it  with  the  same 
ease.  After  plundering  the  adjacent  country,  the  richest  and  most  open  ir 
Scotland,  he  set  on  fire  both  these  towns,  and,  upon  the  approach  of  some 
troops  gathered  together  by  the  regent,  put  his  booty  on  board  the  fleet, 
and  with  his  land  torces  retired  safely  to  the  English  borders;  delivering 
the  kingdom  in  a  tew  days  from  the  terror  of  an  invasion,  concerted  with 
little  policy,  carried  on  at  great  ^vpense,  and  attended  with  no  advantage 
If  Henry  aimed  at  the  conquest  of  Scotland,  he  gained  nothing  by  this 
expedition  ;  if  the  marriage  he  had  proposed  was  still  in  his  view,  he  los* 
a  great  deal.  Such  a  rough  courtship,  r>s  the  earl  of  Huntly  humorously 
called  it,  disgusted  the  whole  nation  :  their  aversion  for  the  match  grew 
inlo  abhorrence  ;  and,  exasperated  many  indignities,  the  Scots  were 


OF    SCOTLAND.  49 

never  at  any  period  more  attached  to  France,  or  more  alienated  from 
England.* 

The  earl  of  Lennox  alone,  in  spite  of  the  regent  and  French  king,  con- 
tinued a  correspondence  with  England,  which  ruined  his  own  interest, 
without  promoting  Henry's. t  Many  of  his  own  vassals,  preferring  their 
duty  to  their  country  before  their  affection  to  him,  refused  to  concur  in 
any  design  to  favour  the  public  enemy.  After  a  few  feeble  and  unsuc- 
cessful attempts  to  disturb  the  regent's  administration,  he  was  obliged  tc 
fly  for  safety  to  the  court  of  England,  where  Henry  rewarded  service? 
which  he  had  the  inclination  but  not  the  power  to  perform,  by  giving  him 
in  marriage  his  niece  the  Lady  Margaret  Douglas.  This  unhappy  exile, 
however,  was  destined  to  be  the  father  of  a  race  of  kings.  He  saw  his 
son  lord  Darnly  mount  the  throne  of  Scotland,  to  the  perpetual  exclusion 
of  that  rival  who  now  triumphed  in  his  ruin.  From  that  time  his  posterity 
have  held  the  sceptre  in  two  kingdoms,  by  one  of  which  he  was  cast  out 
as  a  criminal,  and  by  the  other  received  as  a  fugitive. 

Meanwhile  hostilities  were  continued  by  both  nations,  but  with  little 
rigour  on  either  side.  The  historians  of  that  age  relate  minutely  the  cir- 
cumstances of  several  skirmishes  and  inroads,  which,  as  they  did  not 
produce  any  considerable  effect,  at  this  distance  of  time  deserve  no 
remembrance.^     At  last  an  end  was  put  to  this  languid  and  inactive  war, 

*  The  violence  of  national  hatred  between  the  English  and  Scots  in  the  sixteenth  century  was 
such  as  can  hardly  be  conceived  by  iheir  posterity.  A  proof  of  the  fierce  resentment  of  the  Scow 
18  contained  in  the  note  on  page  45.  The  instructions  of  the  Privy  Council  of  England  to  the 
earl  of  Hertford,  who  commanded  the  fleet  and  army  which  invaded  Scotland,  A.  D.  1544,  are  dic- 
tated by  national  animosity  no  less  excessive.  I  found  them  in  the  collection  of  papers  belonging  to 
the  duke  of  Hamilton,  and  they  merit  publication,  as  they  exhibit  a  striking  picture  of  the  spirit  of 
that  period. 

The  Lords  of  the  Council  to  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  Lieutenant  in  Scotland,  April  10,  1544 

The  instruction  begins  with  observing,  that  the  king  had  originally  intended  to  fortify  Leith  and 
keep  possession  of  it;  but,  after  mature  deliberation,  he  had  finally  determined  not  to  make  any 
settlement  in  Scotland  at  present,  and  therefore  he  isdirec'.ed  not  to  make  any  fortification  at  Leith, 
or  any  other  place : 

"  But  only  for  that  journey  to  put  all  to  fire  and  sword,  burn  Edinburgh  town,  so  used  and  de- 
faced, that  when  you  have  gotten  what  you  can  of  it,  it  may  remain  for  ever  a  perpetual  memory 
of  the  vengeance  of  God  lightened  upon  it,  for  their  falsehood  and  disloyalty.  Do  what  you  can 
out  of  hand,  and  without  long  tarrying  to  beat  down  or  overthrow  the  castle;  sack  all  the  houses 
and  as  many  towns  and  villages  about  Edinburgh  as  ye  may  conveniently.  Sack  Leith,  and  sub- 
vert it,  and  all  the  rest,  putting  man,  woman,  and  child  to  fire  and  sword,  without  exception,  when 
iny  resistance  shall  be  made  against  you  ;  and  this  done,  pass  over  to  the  Fifeland,  and  extend  like 
extremities  and  destruction  to  all  towns  and  villages  vvhereunto  you  may  reach  conveniently;  not 
forgetting,  among  all  the  rest,  so  to  spoil  and  turn  upside  down  the  cardinal's  town  of  St.  Andrew's 
as  the  upper  sort  may  be  the  nether,  and  not  one  stoke  stand  upon  another  sparing  no  creature  alive 
within  the  same,  specially  such  as  either  in  friendship  or  blood  be  allied  unto  the  cardinal ;  and  if  ye 
3ee  any  likelihood  to  win  the  castle,  give  some  stout  essay  to  the  same,  if  it  be  your  fortune  to  get 
it,  raze  and  destroy  it  piecemeal;  and  after  this  sort,  spending  one  month  there,  spoiling  and  de 
stroying  as  aforesaid,  with  the  wise  foresight  that  His  Majesty  doubteth  not  ye  will  use  that  yout 
enemies  take  no  advantage  of  you,  and  that  you  enterprise  nothing  but  what  you  shall  see  may  be 
easily  achieved,  His  Majesty  thinketh  verily,  and  so  all  we,  ye  shall  find  this  journey  succeedetli 
this  way  most  to  His  Majesty's  honour,"  &x. 

These  barbarous  orders  seem  to  have  been  executed  with  a  rigorous  and  unfeeling  exactness,  as 
appears  from  a  series  of  letters  from  lord  Hertford,  in  the  same  collection,  giving  a  full  account  of 
all  his  operations  in  Scotland.  They  contain  several  curious  particulars,  not  mentioned  by  the 
writersof  that  age,  and  with  which  both  the  historians  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh  were  unacquainted: 
>ut  they  are  of  too  great  length  to  be  inserted  here. 

t  Rymer,  xv.  p.  22. 

t  Though  this  war  was  distinguished  by  no  important  or  decisive  action,  it  was,  however,  ex- 
reniely  ruinous  to  individuals.  There  still  remain  two  original  papers,  which  give  us  some  idea  of 
he  miseries  to  which  some  of  the  most  fertile  counties  in  the  kingdom  were  exposed  by  the  sudden 
and  destructive  incursions  of  the  borderers.  The  first  seems  to  be  the  report  made  to  Henry  by  the 
English  warden*  of  the  marches  for  the  year  1544,  and  contains  their  exploits  from  the  2d  of  July 
to  the  17th  of  November.  The  account  it  gives  of  the  different  inroads,  or  forraya  as  they  are 
called,  is  very  minute;  and  in  conclusion,  the  sum  total  of  mischief  they  did  is  thus  computed : 
Towns,  towers,  stedes,  barnekyns,  parish  churches,  bastel-houses,  east  down  or  burnt  192;  Scots 
slain,  403;  prisoners  taken,  81fi;  uolt,  i.  e.  horned  caitle  taken,  10,386;  sheep,  12,4^).,  nags  anr1 
geldings,  1296;  goats,  200-  bolls  of  corn,  850;  insight  gear,  i.  e.  household  furniture,  net  reckoned. 

Haynes's  Slate  Papers,  43. 

The  other  contains  an  account  of  an  inroad  hy  the  earl  of  Hertford,  between  the  8th  and  23d  of 
September,  1545:  the  narrative  is  more  general,  but  it  appears  that  he  had  burnt,  razed,  and  destroy- 
ed, in  the  counties  of  Berwick  and  Roxburgh  only,  monasteries  ami  friar-houaet,  7 ;  castles,  I 

Vol.  Ill  —7 


50  THE  HISTORY  [Book  II. 

by  a  peace,  in  which  England,  France,  and  Scotland  were  comprehended. 
Henry  laboured  to  exclude  the  Scots  from  the  benefit  of  this  treaty,  and 
to  reserve  them  for  that  vengeance  which  his  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the 
continent  had  hitherto  delayed.  But  although  a  peace  with  England  was 
of  the  last  consequence  to  Francis  I.,  whom  the  Emperor  was  preparing 
to  attack  with  all  his  forces,  he  was  too  generous  to  abandon  allies  who 
nad  served  him  with  fidelity,  and  he  chose  rather  to  purchase  Henry's 
friendship  with  disadvantage  to  himself  than  to  leave  them  exposed  to 
danger.  By  yielding  some  things  to  the  interest,  and  more  to  the  vanity 
of  that  haughty  prince  ;  by  submission,  flattery,  and  address,  he  at  length 
prevailed  to  have  the  Scots  i.icluded  in  the  peace  agreed  upon. 

An  event  which  happened  a  short  time  before  the  conclusion  of  this 
peace  rendered  it  more  acceptable  to  the  whole  nation.  Cardinal  Beatoun 
had  not  used  his  power  with  moderation  equal  to  the  prudence  by  which 
he  attained  it.  Notwithstanding  his  great  abilities,  he  had  too  many  of  the 
passions  and  prejudices  of  an  angry  leader  of  a  faction  to  govern  a  divided 
people  with  temper.  His  resentment  against  one  party  of  the  nobility, 
his  insolence  towards  the  rest,  his  severity  to  the  reformers,  and,  above  all, 
the  barbarous  and  illegal  execution  of  the  famous  George  Wishart,  a  man 
of  honourable  birth  and  of  primitive  sanctity,  wore  out  the  patience  of  a 
fierce  age  ;  and  nothing  but  a  bold  hand  was  wanting  to  gratify  the  public 
wish  by  his  destruction.  Private  revenge,  inflamed  and  sanctified  by  a 
false  zeal  for  religion,  quickly  supplied  this  want.  Norman  Lesly,  the 
eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Rothes,  had  been  treated  by  the  cardinal  with 
injustice  and  contempt.  It  was  not  the  temper  of  the  man,  or  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  quietly  to  digest  an  affront.  As  the  profession  of  his  adversary 
screened  him  from  the  effects  of  what  is  called  an  honourable  resentment, 
he  resolved  to  take  that  satisfaction  which  he  could  not  demand.  This 
resolution  deserves  as  much  censure  as  the  singular  courage  and  conduct 
with  which  he  put  it  in  execution  excite  wonder.  The  cardinal  at  that 
:ime  resided  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's,  which  he  had  fortified  at  great 
expense,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  the  age,  had  rendered  it  impregnable.  His 
retinue  was  numerous,  the  town  at  his  devotion,  and  the  neighbouring 
country  full  of  his  dependents.  In  this  situation,  sixteen  persons  under- 
took to  surprise  his  castie,  and  to  assassinate  himself;  and  their  success 
was  equal  to  the  boldness  of  the  attempt.  [May  20,  1546.]  Early  in  the 
morning  they  seized  on  the  gate  of  the  castle,  which  was  set  open  to  the 
workmen  who  were  employed  in  finishing  the  fortifications ;  and  having 
placed  sentries  at  the  door  of  the  cardinal's  apartment,  they  awakened 
his  numerous  domestics  one  by  one  ;  and  turning  them  out  of  the  castle, 
they  without  noise  or  tumult,  or  violence  to  any  other  person,  delivered 
their  country,  though  by  a  most  unjustifiable  action,  from  an  ambitious  man, 
whose  pride  was  insupportable  to  the  nobles,  as  his  cruelty  and  cunning 
were  great  checks  to  the  reformation. 

His  death  was  fatal  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  to  the  French  interest 
in  Scotland.  The  same  zeal  for  both  continued  among  a  great  party  in 
the  nation,  but,  when  deprived  of  the  genius  and  authority  of  so  skilful  a 
leader,  operated  with  less  effect.  Nothing  can  equal  the  consternation 
which  a  blow  so  unexpected  occasioned  among  such  as  were  attached  to 
him  ;  while  the  regent  secretly  enjoyed  an  event  which  removed  out  oi 
his  way  a  rival,  who  had  not  only  eclipsed  his  greatness  but  almost  extin- 
guished his  power.  Decency,  however,  the  honour  of  the  church,  the 
mportunity  of  the  queen  dowager  and  her  adherents,  his  engagements  with 
France,  and,  above  all  these,  the  desire  of  recovering  his  eldest  son,  whom 

and  piles,  16;  market  towns,  5;  villages,  243 ;  milns,  13 ;  hospitals,  3 ;  all  these  were  cast  down  or 
burnt.  Haynes,  52.  As  the  Scots  were  no  less  skilful  in  the  practice  of  irregular  war,  we  may 
conclude  that  the  damage  which  they  did  in  England  was  not  inconsiderable;  and  ♦hat  their  raid* 
were  no  less  wasteful  than  the  /arrays  of  the  English. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  61 

the  cardinal  had  detained  tor  some  lime  al  St.  Andrew's  in  pledge  o!  his 
fidelity,  and  who,  together  with  the  castle,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
conspirators,  induced  him  to  take  arms  in  order  to  revenge  the  death  of  a 
man  whom  he  hated. 

fie  threatened  vengeance,  hut  was  unahle  to  execute  it.  One  part  oi 
military  science,  the  art  of  attacking  fortified  places,  was  then  imperfectly 
understood  in  Scotland.  The  weapons,  the  discipline,  and  impetuosity  of 
the  Scots,  rendered  their  armies  as  unlit  for  sieges  as  they  were  active  in 
the  field.  A  hundred  and  fifty  men,  which  was  the  greatest  number  the 
conspirators  ever  assembled,  resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  regent  for  five 
months,*  in  a  place  which  a  single  battalion,  with  a  few  battering  cannon, 
would  now  reduce  in  a  few  hours.  This  tedious  siege  was  concluded  by 
a  truce.  The  regent  undertook  to  procure  for  the  conspirators  an  absolution 
from  the  pope,  and  a  pardon  in  parliament ;  and  upon  obtaining  these, 
they  engaged  to  surrender  the  castle,  and  to  set  his  son  at  liberty. 

It  is  probable,  that  neither  of  them  was  sincere  in  this  treaty.  On  both 
sides  they  sought  only  to  amuse,  and  to  gain  time.  The  regent  had  applied 
to  France  for  assistance,  and  expected  soon  to  have  the  conspirators  at 
mercy.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Lesly  and  his  associates  were  not  at  first 
incited  by  Henry  to  murder  the  cardinal,  they  were  in  the  sequel  power- 
ful !y  supported  by  him.  Notwithstanding  the  silence  of  contemporary 
historians,  there  are  violent  presumptions  of  the  former  ;  of  the  latter 
there  is  undoubted  certainty. t  During  the  siege,  the  conspirators  had 
received  from  England  supplies  both  of  money  and  provisions;  and  as 
Henry  was  preparing  to  renew  his  proposals  concerning  the  marriage  and 
tlii  union  he  had  projected,  and  to  second  his  negotiations  with  a  numerous 
army,  they  hoped,  by  concurring  with  him,  to  be  in  a  situation  in  which 
they  would  no  longer  need  a  pardon,  but  might  claim  a  reward.^ 

*  Epist.  Reg.  Scot.  2.  379.  t  Keith,  60. 

{  In  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  I  expressed  my  suspicion  of  a  correspondence  between  the 
murderers  of  cardinal  Beatoun  and  Henry  VIII.,  prior  to  their  committing  that  crime.  In  the 
papers  of  duke  Hamilton  is  contained  i he  clearest  evidence  of  this,  which  I  publish  not  only  to 
establish  that  fact,  but  as  an  additional  confirmation  of  the  remarks  which  1  made  upon  the  fre 
queucy  of  assassination  in  that  age,  and  the  slight  opinion  which  men  entertained  concerning  it 

The  Earl  of  Hertford  to  the  King's  Majesty,  Newcastle,  Jlpril  17, 1544. 

Pleaseth  Your  Highness  to  understand,  that  this  day  arrived  with  ine  the  earl  of  Hertford,  a  Scot 
tishmaii  called  Wishart,  and  brought  me  a  letter  from  the  lord  of  Brinstone  [i.  e.  Crichton  laird  of 
I'runslau]  which  I  send  Your  Highness  herewith,  and,  according  to  his  request,  have  taken  order 
for  the  repair  of  the  said  Wishart  to  Your  Majesty  by  post,  both  for  the  delivery  of  such  letters  as 
lie  hat  1)  to  Your  Majesty  from  the  said  Brinstone,  and  also  for  the  declaration  of  his  credence,  which 
as  I  perceive  by  him,  consisted)  in  two  points,  one  thai  the  lord  of  Grange,  late  treasurer  of  Scotland 
the  master  of  Rothes,  the  earl  of  Rothes' eldest  son,  and  John  Charteris,  would  attempt  either  to 
apprehend  or  slay  the  cardinal,  at  some  time  when  he  shall  pass  through  the  Fifeland,  as  he  doth 
sundry  times  in  Ins  way  to  St.  Andrew's,  and  in  case  they  can  so  apprehend  him  will  deliver  him 
unto  Your  Majesty,  which  attemplale,  he  saith,  they  would  enterprise,  if  they  knew  Your  Majesty's 
pleasure  therein,  and  what  supportation  and  maintenance  Your  Majesty  would  minister  unto  them 
afti  r  the  execution  of  the  same,  in  case  they  should  be  pursued  by  any  of  their  enemies;  the  other 
is,  thai  in  case  Your  Majesty  would  grant  unto  them  a  convenient  entertainment  to  keep  I0U0  or 
1500  men  in  wages  for  a  month  or  two,  they  journeying  with  the  power  of  the  earl  Marshal,  the 
said  Mr  of  Rothes,  the  lairn  of  ('alder,  and  the  other  the  lord  friends,  will  take  upon 

them,  at  such  time  as  your  Majesty's  army  shall  be  in  Scotland,  to  destroy  the  abbey  and  town  of 
Arbroath,  being  tile  cardinal's,  and  all  the  other  bishops'  houses  and  countries  on  that  side  of  the 
water  thereabout,  and  to  apprehend  all  those  which  they  say  be  the  principal  inipugnators  of  amity 
between  England  and  Scotland  ;  for  which  they  should  have  a  good  opportunity,  as  they  say,  when 
the  power  of  the  said  bishops  and  abbots  shall  resort  towards  Edinburgh  to  resist  Your  Majesty's 
army.  And  for  the  execution  of  these  things,  the  said  Wishart  saith,  that  the  earl  Marshal  afore- 
named and  others  will  capitulate  with  Your  Majesty  in  writing  under  their  hands  and  seals,  afore 
they  shall  desire  any  supply  or  aid  of  money  at  Your  Majesty's  hands.  This  is  the  effect  of  his 
credence,  with  sundry  other  advertisements  of  the  great  division  that  is  at  this  present  within  the 
realm  of  Scotland,  which  we  doubt  not  he  will  declare  unto  Your  Majesty  atgood  length.  Hamilton 
MSS.  vol.  iii   p.  38. 

J\T.  B.  This  is  the  letter  of  which  Dr.  Mackenzie,  vol.  iii.  p.  18.  and  bishop  Keith,  Hist.  p.  44, 
published  a  fragment.  It  does  not  authorize  us  to  conclude  that  Mr.  George  Wishart,  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Martyr,  was  the  person  who  resorted  to  the  earl  of  Hertford  It  was  more  pro 
bablv  John  Wishart  of  Pitarrow,  the  chief  of  that  name,  a  man  of  abilities,  zealously  attached  to 
the  reformed  doctrine,  and  deeply  engaged  in  all  the  intrigues  and  operations  of  that  busy  period. 
Keith  96.  117.  119.  315. 


I 


5S  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

Jan.  28,  1547.]  The  death  of  Henry  blasted  all  these  hopes.  It  hap- 
pened in  the  beginning  of  next  year,  after  a  reign  of  greater  splendour  than 
truo  glory;  bustling,  rather  than  active  5  oppressive  in  domestic  govern- 
ment, and  in  foreign  politics  wild  and  irregular.  But  the  vices  of  this 
irince  were  more  beneficial  to  mankind  than  die  virtues  of  others, 
rlis  rapaciousness,  his  profusion,  and  even  his  tyranny,  by  depressing  the 
ancient  nobility,  and  by  adding  new  property  and  power  to  the  commons, 
laid  or  strengthened  the  foundations  of  the  English  liberty.  His  other 
passions  contributed  no  less  towards  the  downfal  of  popery,  and  the  esta- 
blishment of  religious  freedom  in  the  nation.  His  resentment  led  him  to 
abolish  the  power,  and  his  covetousness  to  seize  the  wealth,  of  the  church  ; 
and  by  withdrawing  tliese  supports,  made  it  easy,  in  the  following  reign, 
to  overturn  the  whole  fabric  of  superstition. 

Francis  I.  did  not  long  survive  a  prince  who  had  been  alternately  his 
rival  and  his  friend  ;  but  his  successor  Henry  11.  was  not  neglectful  of  the 
French  interest  in  Scotland.  He  sent  a  considerable  body  of  men,  under 
the  command  ot  Leon  Strozzi,  to  the  regent's  assistance.  By  their  long 
experience  in  the  Italian  and  German  wars,  the  French  haa  become  as 
dexterous  in  Uie  conduct  of  sieges  as  the  Scots  were  ignorant ;  and  as  the 
boldness  and  despair  of  the  conspirators  could  not  defend  them  against 
the  superior  art  of  these  new  assailants,  they,  after  a  short  resistance,  sur- 
rendered to  Strozzi,  who  engaged,  in  the  name  of  the  king  his  master,  for 
the  security  of  their  lives  :  and,  as  his  prisoners,  transported  them  into 
France.  The  castle  itself,  the  monument  of  Beatoun's  power  and  vanity, 
was  demolished,  in  obedience  to  the  canon  law,  which,  with  admirable 
policy,  denounces  its  anathemas  even  against  the  houses  in  which  the 
sacred  blood  of  a  cardinal  Happens  to  be  shed,  and  ordains  them  to  be 
laid  in  ruins.* 

The  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrew's  was  bestowed  by  the  regent  upon  his 
natural  brother  John  Hamilton,  abbot  of  Paisley. 

The  delay  of  a  few  weeks  would  have  saved  the  conspirators.  Those 
ministers  of  Henry  A  111.  who  had  the  chief  direction  of  affairs  during  the 
minority  of  his  son  Edward  V  I.,  conducted  themselves  with  regard  to  Scot- 
land, by  the  maxims  of  then  late  master,  and  resolved  to  frighten  the  Scots 
into  a  treaty  which  they  had  not  abilities  or  address  to  bring  about  by  any 
other  method. 

But  before  we  proceed  to  relate  the  events  which  their  invasion  of 
Scotland  occasioned,  we  shall  stop  to  take  notice  of  a  circumstance  unob- 
served by  contemporary  historians,  but  extremely  remarkable  for  the 
discovery  it  makes  of  the  sentiments  and  spirit  which  then  prevailed 
among  the  Scots.  The  conspirators  against  cardinal  Beatoun  found  the 
regent's  eldest  son  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's  ;  and  as  they  needed  the 
protection  of  the  English,  it  was  to  be  feared  that  they  might  endeavour  to 
purchase  it,  by  delivering  to  them  this  important  prize.  The  presumptive 
heir  to  the  crown  in  the  hands  of  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  kingdom 
was  a  dreadful  prospect.  In  order  to  avoid  it,  the  parliament  fell  upon  a 
very  extraordinary  expedient.  By  an  act  made  on  purpose,  they  excluded 
'*  the  regent's  eldest  son  from  all  right  of  succession,  public  or  private,  so 
long  as  lie  should  be  detained  a  prisoner,  and  substituted  in  his  place  his 
other  brothers,  according  to  their  senion'.v.  and  in  failure  of  them,  those 
who  were  next  heirs  to  the  regent. "t  Succession  by  an  hereditary  right 
is  an  idea  so  obvious  and  so  popular  that  a  nation  seldom  ventures  to  make 
a  breach  in  it,  but  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity.  Such  a  necessity  did  the 
parliament  discover  in  the  present  situation.  I  latred  tv,  England,  founded 
on  the  memory  of  past  hostilities,  and  heightened  by  the  smart  of  recent 
injuries,  was  the  national  passion.     This  dictated  that  uncommon  statute. 

•  Bum.  Hist.  Ref.  1.  338  r  Bpisl.  Reg.  Scoi.  i.  350. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  63 

oy  which  the  order  of  lineal  succession  was  so  remarkably  broken.  The 
modern  theories,  which  represent  this  right  as  divine  and  unalienable,  and 
that  ought  not  to  be  violated  upon  any  consideration  whatsoever,  seem  to 
have  been  fhen  altogether  unknown. 

In  the  beginning  of  September,  the  earl  of  Hertford,  now  duke  ot 
Somerset,  and  protector  of  England,  entered  Scotland  at  the  head  of 
eighteen  thousand  men  ;  and,  at  die  same  time,  a  fleet  of  sixty  ships 
appeared  on  the  coast  to  second  his  land  forces.  The  Scots  had  for  some 
time  observed  this  storm  gathering,  and  were  prepared  for  it.  Their  army 
was  almost  double  to  that  of  the  enemy,  and  posted  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage on  a  rising  ground  above  Musselburgh,  not  far  from  the  banks  of  the 
river  Eske.  Both  these  circumstances  alarmed  the  duke  of  Someiset,  who 
caw  his  danger,  and  would  willingly  have  extricated  himself  out  of  it,  by  a 
new  overture  of  peace,  on  conditions  extremely  reasonable.  But  this 
moderation  being  imputed  to  fear,  his  proposals  were  rejected  with  the 
scorn  which  the  confidence  of  success  inspires  ;  and  if  the  conduct  of  the 
regent,  who  commanded  the  Scottish  army,  had  been,  in  any  degree, 
equal  to  his  confidence,  the  destruction  of  the  English  must  have  been 
inevitable.  They  were  in  a  situation  precisely  similar  to  that  of  their 
countrymen  under  Oliver  Cromwell  in  the  following  centuiy.  The  Scots 
had  chosen  their  ground  so  well  that  it  was  impossible  to  force  them  to 
give  battle  ;  a  few  days  had  exhausted  the  forage  and  provision  of  a 
narrow  country ;  the  fleet  could  only  furnish  a  scanty  and  precarious  sub- 
sistence :  a  retreat,  therefore,  was  necessary :  but  disgrace,  and  perhaps 
ruin,  were  the  consequences  of  retreating. 

On  both  these  occasions,  the  national  heat  and  impetuosity  of  the  Scots 
saved  the  English,  and  precipitated  their  own  country  into  the  utmost 
danger.  The  undisciplined  courage  of  the  private  men  became  impatient 
at  the  sight  of  an  enemy.  The  general  was  afraid  of  nothing,  but  that 
the  English  might  escape  from  him  by  flight;  and  [Sept.  10],  leaving  his 
strong  camp,  he  attacked  the  duke  of  Somerset  near  Pinkey,  with  no 
better  success  than  his  rashness  deserved.  The  protector  had  drawn  up 
his  troops  on  a  gentle  eminence,  and  had  now  the  advantage  of  ground  on 
his  side.  The  Scottish  army  consisted  almost  entirely  of  infantry,  whose 
chief  weapon  was  a  long  spear,  and  for  that  reason  their  files  were  very 
deep,  and  their  ranks  close.  They  advanced  towards  the  enemy  in  three 
great  bodies,  and,  as  they  passed  the  river,  were  considerably  exposed  to  the 
nre  of  the  English  fleet,  which  lay  in  the  bay  of  Musselburgh,  and  had  drawr 
near  the  shore.  Th#  English  cavalry,  flushed  with  an  advantage  which  they 
had  gained  in  a  skirmish  some  days  before,  began  the  attack  with  more 
impetuosity  than  good  conduct.  A  body  so  firm  and  compact  as  the  Scots 
easily  resisted  the  impression  of  cavalry,  broke  them,  and  drove  them  ofl 
of  the  field.  The  English  infantry,  however,  advanced  ;  and  the  Scots 
were  at  once  exposed  to  a  flight  of  arrows,  to  a  fire  in  flank  from  four 
hundred  foreign  fusiieers,  who  served  the  enemy,  and  to  their  cannon, 
which  were  planted  behind  the  infantry  on  the  highest  part  of  the  eminence. 
The  depth  and  closeness  of  their  order  making  it  impossible  for  the  Scots 
to  stand  long  in  this  situation,  the  earl  of  Angus,  who  commanded  the  van- 
guard, endeavoured  to  change  his  ground,  and  to  retire  towards  the  main 
body.  But  his  friends,  unhappily,  mistook  his  motion  for  a  flight,  and  fell 
into  confusion.  At  that  very  instant  the  broken  cavalry,  having  rallied, 
returned  to  the  charge  ;  the  foot  pursued  the  advantage  they  had  gained ; 
the  prospect  of  victory  redoubled  the  ardour  of  both  :  and,  in  a  moment, 
the  rout  of  the  Scottish  army  became  universal  and  irretrievable.  The 
encounter  in  the  field  was  not  long  or  bloody ;  but,  in  the  pursuit,  the 
English  discovered  all  the  rage  ai  I  fierceness  which  national  ant.pathy, 
Kindled  by  long  emulation  and  inflamed  by  reciprocal  injuries,  is  apt  to 
•nspire.     The  pursuit  was  continued  for  five  hours,  and  to  a  great  distance 


54  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

Al!  the  three  roads  Ly  which  the  Scots  fled  were  strewed  with  spears,  and 
swords,  and  targets,  and  covered  with  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  Above  ten 
thousand  men  tell  on  this  day,  one  of  the  most  fatal  Scotland  had  ever 
seen.  A  few  were  taken  prisoners,  and  among  these  some  persons  of 
distinction.  The  protector  had  it  now  in  his  power  to  become  master  of 
a  kingdom,  out  of  which,  not  many  hours  before,  he  was  almost  obliged 
to  retire  with  infamy.* 

But  this  victory,  however  great,  was  of  no  real  utility,  for  want  of  skil 
or  of  leisure  to  improve  it.  Every  new  injury  rendered  the  Scots  more  averse 
from  a  union  with  England  ;  and  the  protector  neglected  the  only  measure 
which  would  have  made  it  necessary  for  them  to  have  given  their  consent 
to  it.  He  amused  himself  in  wasting  the  open  country,  and  in  taking  or 
building  several  petty  castles  ;  whereas,  by  fortifying  a  few  places  which 
were  accessible  by  sea,  he  would  have  laid  die  kingdom  open  to  the 
English,  and  in  a  short  time  the  Scots  must  either  have  accepted  of  his 
terms,  or  have  submitted  to  his  power.  By  such  an  improvement  of  it, 
the  victory  at  Dunbar  gave  Cromwell  the  command  of  Scotland.  The 
battle  of  Pinkey  had  no  other  effect  but  to  precipitate  the  Scots  into  new 
engagements  with  France.  The  situation  of  the  English  court  may, 
indeed,  be  pleaded  in  excuse  for  the  duke  of  Somerset's  conduct.  That 
cabal  of  his  enemies,  which  occasioned  his  tragical  end,  was  already 
formed;  and  while  he  triumphed  in  Scotland,  they  secretly  undermined 
his  power  and  credit  at  home.  Self-preservation,  therefore,  obliged  him 
to  prefer  his  safety  before  his  fame,  and  to  return  without  reaping  the  fruits 
of  his  victory.  At  this  time,  however,  the  cloud  blew  over;  the  conspi- 
racy by  which  he  fell  was  not  yet  ripe  for  execution ;  and  his  presence 
suspended  its  effects  for  some  time.  The  supreme  power  still  remaining 
in  his  hands,  he  employed  it  to  recover  the  opportunity  which  he  had  lost. 
[April,  1548.]  A  body  of  troops,  by  his  command,  seized  and  fortified 
Haddingtoun,  a  place  which,  on  account  of  its  distance  from  the  sea,  and 
from  any  English  garrison,  could  not  be  defended  without  great  expense 
and  danger. 

Meanwhile  the  French  gained  more  by  the  defeat  of  their  allies  than  the 
English  by  their  victory.  After  the  death  of  cardinal  Beatoun,  Mary  of 
Guise,  the  queen  dowager,  took  a  considerable  share  in  the  direction  of 
affairs.  She  was  warmly  attached,  by  blood  and  by  inclination,  to  the 
French  interest ;  and,  in  order  to  promote  it,  improved  with  great  dexterity 
every  event  which  occurred.  The  spirit  and  strength  of  the  Scots  were 
broken  at  Pinkey  ;  and  in  an  assembly  of  nobles  which  met  at  Stirling  to 
consult  upon  the  situation  of  the  kingdom,  all  eyes  were  turned  towards 

*  The  following  passage,  in  a  curious  and  rare  journal  of  the  protector's  expedition  into  Scotland, 
written  by  W.  Patten,  who  was  joined  in  commission  witli  Cecil,  as  judge  martial  of  the  army,  arid 
printed  in  1548,  deserves  our  notice ;  as  it  gives  a  just  idea  of  the  military  discipline  of  the  Scots  at 
that  time.  "  But  what  after  I  learned,  specially  touching  their  order,  their  armour,  and  their  man- 
in  r  as  well  of  going  to  offend,  as  of  standing  to  defend,  I  have  thought  necessary  here  to  utter. 
Ilackbutters  have  they  few  or  none,  and  appoint  their  fight  most  commonly  always  a  foot.  They 
come  to  the  field  well  furnished  all  with  jack  and  skull,  dairger  and  buckler,  and  swords  all  broad 
and  thin,  of  exceeding  good  temper,  and  universally  so  made  to  slice,  that  as  I  never  saw  none  so 
good,  so  1  think  it  hard  to  devise  the  better.  Hereto  every  man  his  pike,  and  a  great  kercher  wrapped 
twice  or  thrice  about  hie  neck,  not  for  cold,  but  for  cutting.  In  their  array  towards  joining  with 
the  enemy,  they  cling  and  thrust  so  near  in  the  fore  rank,  shoulder  and  shoulder  together,  with 
their  pikes  in  both  their  hands  straight  afore  them,  and  their  followers  in  that  order  so  hard  at  their 
backs,  laying  their  pikes  over  their  foregoers'  shoulders,  that,  if  thev  do  assail  undiscovered,  no 
force  can  well  withstand  them.  Standing  at  defence  they  thrust  shoulders  likewise  so  nigh  together, 
the  fore  ranks  well  nigh  to  kneeling,  stoop  low  before,  their  fellows  behind  holding  their  pikes  with 
both  hands,  and  therewith  in  their  left  their  bucklers,  the  one  end  of  their  pike  against  their  right 
foot,  and  the  other  against  the  enemy  breast-high  ;  their  followers  crossing  their  pike  points  with 
them  forward;  and  thus  each  with  other  so  nigh  as  space  and  place  will  suffer,  through  the  whole 
ward,  so  thick,  that  as  easily  shall  a  bare  finger  pierce  through  the  skin  of  an  angry  hedgehog,  a» 
any  encounter  the  front  of  their  pikes."  Other  curious  particulars  are  found  in  this  journal,  from 
which  Sir  John  Hayward  has  borrowed  his  account  of  this  expedition.  Life  of  Edward  VI 
S79,  &c. 

The  length  of  the  Scotch  pike  or  spear  was  appointed  by  Act  44.  p.  1471,  to  tw  six  «Ua-  1  « 
eighteen  feet  tit  laches. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  55 

France,  no  prospect  of  safety  appearing  but  in  assistance  from  that  quar- 
ter. But  Henry  II.  being  then  at  peace  with  England,  the  queen  repre- 
sented that  they  could  not  expect  him  to  take  part  in  their  quarrel,  but 
upon  views  of  personal  advantage  ;  and  that  without  extraordinary  con- 
cessions in  his  favour,  no  assistance,  in  proportion  to  their  present  exigen- 
cfes,  could  be  obtained.  The  prejudices  of  the  nation  powerfully  seconded 
these  representations  of  the  queen.  What  often  happens  to  individuals 
took  place  among  the  nobles  in  this  convention ;  they  were  swayed 
entirely  by  their  passions ;  and  in  order  to  gratify  them,  they  deserted 
their  former  principles,  and  disregarded  their  true  interest.  In  the  violence 
of  resentment,  they  forgot  that  zeal  for  the  independence  of  Scotland, 
which  had  prompted  them  to  reject  the  proposals  of  Henry  VIII.  ;  and,  by 
offering,  voluntarily,  their  young  queen  in  marriage  to  the  dauphin,  eldest 
sun  of  Henry  II.  ;  and,  which  was  still  more,  by  proposing  o  send  her 
immediately  into  France  to  be  educated  at  his  court,  they  granted,  from  a 
thirst  of  vengeance,  what  formerly  they  would  not  yield  upon  any  consi- 
deration of  their  own  safety.  To  gain  at  once  such  a  kingdom  as  Scot- 
land was  a  matter  ot  no  small  consequence  to  France.  Henry,  without 
hesitation,  accepted  the  offers  of  the  Scottish  ambassadors,  and  prepared 
for  the  vigorous  defence  of  his  new  acquisition.  Six  thousand  veteran  sol- 
diers, under  the  command  of  Monsieur  Desse,  assisted  by  some  of  the 
best  officers  who  were  formed  in  the  long  wars  of  Francis  I.,  arrived  at 
Leith.  They  served  two  campaigns  in  Scotland,  with  a  spirit  equal  to 
their  former  fame.  But  their  exploits  were  not  considerable.  The  Scots, 
soon  becoming  jealous  of  their  designs,  neglected  to  support  them  with 
proper  vigour.  The  caution  of  the  English,  in  acting  wholly  upon  the 
defensive,  prevented  the  French  from  attempting  any  enterprise  of  conse- 
quence ;  and  obliged  them  to  exhaust  their  strength  in  tedious  sieges, 
undertaken  under  many  disadvantages.  Their  efforts,  however,  were  not 
without  some  benefit  to  the  Scots,  by  compelling  the  English  to  evacuate 
Haddingtoun,  and  to  surrender  several  small  forts  which  they  possessed  in 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

But  the  effects  of  these  operations  of  his  troops  were  still  of  greater 
importance  to  the  French  king.  The  diversion  which  they  occasioned 
enabled  him  to  wrest  Boulogne  out  of  the  hands  of  the  English  ;  and  the 
influence  of  his  army  in  Scotland  obtained  the  concurrence  of  parliament 
with  the  overtures  which  had  been  made  to  him,  by  the  assembly  of 
nobles  at  Stirling,  concerning  the  queen's  marriage  with  the  dauphin,  and 
her  education  in  the  court  of  France.  In  vain  did  a  few  patriots  remon- 
strate against  such  extravagant  concessions,  by  which  Scotland  was  reduced 
to  be  a  province  of  France  ;  and  Henry,  from  an  ally,  raised  to  be  master 
of  the  kingdom  ;  by  which  the  friendship  of  France  became  more  fatal 
than  the  enmity  of  England ;  and  every  thing  was  fondly  given  up  to  the 
one,  that  had  been  bravely  defended  against  the  other.  A  point  of  so 
much  consequence  was  hastily  decided  in  a  parliament  assembled  [June  5] 
in  the  camp  before  Haddingtoun  :  the  intrigues  of  the  queen  dowager,  the 
zeal  of  the  clergy,  and  resentment  against  England,  had  prepared  a  great 
party  in  the  nation  for  such  a  step  ;  the  French  general  and  ambassador, 
by  their  liberality  and  promises,  gained  over  many  more.  The  regent 
ninijelf  was  weak  enough  to  stoop  to  the  offer  of  a  pension  from  France, 
together  with  the  title  of  duke  of  Chatelherault  in  that  kingdom.  A  con- 
siderable majority  declared  for  the  treaty,  and  the  interest  of  a  faction  was 
preferred  before  the  honour  of  the  nation. 

Having  hurried  the  Scots  into  this  rash  and  fatal  resolution,  the  source 
of  many  calamities  to  themselves  and  to  their  sovereign,  the  French 
allowed  them  no  time  for  reflection  or  repentance.  The  fleet  which  had 
brought  over  their  forces  was  still  in  Scotland,  and  without  delay  convoyed 
(he  queen  into  France.     Mary  was  then  six  years  old,  and  by  her  educa 


bfi 


THE  HISTORY 


[Book  II. 


tion  in  that  court,  one  of  the  politest  but  most  corrupted  in  Europe,  she 
acquired  every  accomplishment  that  could  add  to  her  charms  as  a  woman, 
and  contracted  many  of  those  prejudices  which  occasioned  her  misfortune? 
as  a  queen. 

From  the  time  that  Mary  was  put  into  their  hands,  it  was  the  interest 
of  the  French  to  surfer  war  in  Scotland  to  languish.  The  recovery  of  the 
Boulonnois  was  the  object  which  the  French  king  had  must  at  heart  ;  but 
a  slight  diversion  in  Britain  was  sufficient  to  divide  the  attention  and 
strength  of  the  English,  whose  domestic  factions  deprived  both  their  arms 
and  councils  of  their  accustomed  vigour.  The  government  of  England 
had  undergone  a  great  revolution.  The  duke  of  Somerset's  power  had 
been  acquired  with  too  much  violence,  and  was  exercised  with  too  little 
moderation  to  be  of  long  continuance.  Many  good  qualities,  added  to 
treat  love  of  his  country,  could  not  atone  for  his  ambition  in  usurping  the 
sole  direction  of  affairs.  Some  of  the  most  eminent  courtiers  combined 
against  him  ;  and  the  earl  of  Warwick  their  leader,  no  less  ambitious  but 
more  artful  than  Somerset,  conducted  his  measures  with  so  much  dexterity 
as  to  raise  himself  upon  the  ruins  of  his  rival.  Without  the  invidious 
name  of  protector,  he  succeeded  to  all  the  power  and  influence  of  which 
Somerset  was  deprived,  and  he  quickly  found  peace  to  be  necessary  for 
the  establishment  of  his  new  authority,  and  the  execution  of  the  vast 
designs  he  had  conceived. 

Henry  was  no  stranger  to  Warwick's  situation,  and  improved  his  know 
ledge  of  it  to  good  purpose,  in  conducting  the  negotiations  for  a  general 
peace.  He  prescribed  what  terms  he  pleased  to  the  English  minister,  who 
scrupled  at  nothing,  however  advantageous  to  that  monarch  and  his  allies. 
[March  24,  1550.]  England  consented  to  restore  Boulogne  and  its  depen- 
dencies to  France,  and  gave  up  all  pretensions  to  a  treaty  of  marriage  with 
the  queen  of  Scots,  or  to  the  conquest  of  her  country.  A  few  small  forts, 
of  which  the  English  troops  had  hitherto  kept  possession,  were  razed : 
and  peace  between  the  two  kingdoms  was  established  on  i*s  ancient 
foundation. 

Both  the  British  nations  lost  power,  as  well  as  reputation,  by  this 
unhappy  quarrel.  It  was  on  both  sides  a  war  of  emulation  and  resent- 
ment, rather  than  of  interest ;  and  was  carried  on  under  the  influence  oi 
national  animosities,  which  were  blind  to  all  advantages.  The  French, 
who  entered  into  it  with  greater  coolness,  conducted  it  with  more  skill  ; 
and  by  dexterously  availing  themselves  of  ever}7  circumstance  which 
occurred,  recovered  possession  of  an  important  territory  which  they  had 
lost,  and  added  to  their  monarchy  a  new  kingdom.  The  ambition  of  the 
English  minister  betrayed  to  them  the  former  ;  the  inconsiderate  rage  oi 
the  Scots  against  their  ancient  enemies  bestowed  on  them  the  latter  ;  their 
own  address  and  good  policy  merited  both. 

Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  the  French  forces  left 
Scotland,  as  much  to  their  own  satisfaction  as  to  that  of  the  nation,  The 
Scots  soon  found  that  the  calling  to  their  assistance  a  people  more  power- 
ful than  themselves  was  a  dangerous  expedient.  They  beheld,  with  the 
utmost  impatience,  those  who  had  come  over  to  protect  the  kingdom 
taking  upon  them  to  command  in  it ;  and  on  many  occasions  they  repented 
the  rash  invitation  which  they  had  given.  The  peculiar  genius  of  the 
French  nation  heightened  this  disgust,  and  prepared  the  Scots  to  throw  ofl 
the  yoke,  before  they  had  well  begun  to  feel  it.  The  French  were  in  that 
age,  what  they  are  in  the  present,  one  of  the  most  polished  nations  in  Eu 
rope.  But  it  is  to  be  observed,  m  all  their  expeditions  into  foreign  coun- 
tries, whether  towards  the  south  or  north,  that  their  manners  have  beer 
remarkably  incompatible  with  the  manners  of  every  other  people.  Bar 
barians  are  tenacious  of  their  own  customs,  because  they  want  knowledge 
and  taste  to  discover  the  reasonableness  and  propriety  of  customs  which 


OF    SCOTLAND  67 

differ  from  them.  Nations  which  hold  the  hrst  rank  in  politeness  are  fre- 
quently no  less  tenacious  out  of  pride.  The  Greeks  were  so  in  the  ancern 
world  ;  and  the  French  are  the  same  in  the  modern.  Full  of  themselves 
flattered  by  the  imitation  of  their  neighbours  ;  and  accustomed  to  consider 
their  own  modes  as  the  standards  of  elegance  ;  they  scorn  to  disguise,  or 
to  lay  aside,  the  distinguishing  manners  of  their  own  nation,  or  to  make 
any  allowance  for  what  may  differ  from  them  among  others.  For  this 
reason  the  behaviour  of  their  armies  has,  on  every  occasion,  been  insup- 
portable to  strangers,  and  has  always  exposed  them  to  hatred,  and  often 
to  destruction.  In  that  age  they  overran  Italy  four  several  times  by  their 
valour,  and  lost  it  as  often  by  their  insolence.  The  Scots,  naturally  an 
irascible  and  high-spirited  people,  and  who,  of  all  nations,  can  least  bear 
the  most  distant  insinuation  of  contempt,  were  not  of  a  temper  to  admit 
all  the  pretensions  of  such  assuming  guests.  The  symptoms  of  alienation 
were  soon  visible  ;  they  seconded  the  military  operations  of  the  French 
troops  with  the  utmost  coldness;  their  disgust  grew  insensibly  to  a  degree 
of  indignation  that  could  hardly  be  restrained  ;  and,  on  occasion  of  a  very 
slight  accident,  broke  out  with  fatal  violence.  A  private  French  soldier 
engaging  in  an  idle  quarrel  with  a  citizen  of  Edinburgh,  both  nations  took 
arms  with  equal  rage,  in  defence  of  their  countrymen.  The  provost  of 
Edinburgh,  his  son,  and  several  citizens  of  distinction,  were  killed  in  the 
fray;  and  the  French  were  obliged  to  avoid  the  fury  of  the  inhabitants  by 
retiring  out  of  the  city.  Notwithstanding  the  ancient  alliance  of  France 
and  Scotland,  and  the  long  intercourse  of  good  offices  between  the  two 
nations,  an  aversion  for  the  French  took  its  rise  at  this  time  among  the 
Scots,  the  effects  whereof  were  deeply  felt,  and  operated  powerfully 
through  the  subsequent  period. 

From  the  death  of  cardinal  Beatoun,  nothing  has  been  said  of  the  state 
of  religion.  While  the  war  with  England  continued,  the  clergy  had  no 
leisure  to  molest  the  protectants;  and  they  were  not  yet  considerable  enough 
to  expect  any  thing  more  than  connivance  and  impunity.  The  new  doc- 
trines were  still  in  their  infancy ;  but  during  this  short  interval  of  tranquillity 
they  acquired  strength,  and  advanced  by  large  and  firm  steps  towards  a 
full  establishment  in  the  kingdom.  The  first  preachers  against  popery  in 
Scotland,  of  whom  several  had  appeared  during  the  reign  of  James  V., 
were  more  eminent  for  zeal  and  piety  than  for  learning.  Their  acquaint- 
ance with  the  principles  of  reformation  was  partial,  and  at  second  hand  ; 
some  of  them  had  been  educated  in  England  ;  ?U  of  them  had  borrowed 
their  notions  from  the  books  published  there  ;  and  in  the  first  dawn  of  the 
new  light,  they  did  not  venture  far  before  their  leaders.  But  in  a  short 
time  the  doctrines  and  writing's  of  the  foreign  reformers  became  generally 
known  ;  the  inquisitive  genius  of  the  age  pressed  forward  in  quest  of  truth  ; 
the  discovery  of  one  error  opened  the  way  to  others  ;  the  downfal  of  one 
impostor  drew  many  after  it ;  the  whole  fabric,  which  ignorance  and  super- 
stition had  erected  in  times  of  darkness,  began  to  totter;  and  nothing  was 
wanting  to  complete  its  ruin,  but  a  daring  and  active  leader  to  direct  the 
attack.  Such  was  the  famous  John  Knox,  who,  with  better  qualifications 
of  learning,  and  more  extensive  views  than  any  of  his  predecessors  in 
Scotland,  possessed  a  natural  intrepidity  of  mind,  which  set  him  above  fear. 
He  began  his  public  ministry  at  St.  Andrew's,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  forty-seven,  with  that  success  which  always  accompanies 
a  bold  and  popular  eloquence.  Instead  of  amusing  himself  with  lopping 
the  branches,  he  struck  directly  at  the  root  of  popery,  and  attacked  both 
the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  established  church  with  a  vehemence 
peculiar  to  himself,  but  admirably  suited  to  the  temper  and  wishes  of 
the  age. 

An  adversary  so  formidable  as  Knox  would  not  have  easily  escaped  the 
rage  ot  the  clergy,  who  observed  the  tendency  and  progress  of  bis  opinions 

Vol.  III.— 8 


58  THE   HISTORY  [Book  n. 

with  the  utmost  concern.  But,  at  first,  lie  retired  for  safety  into  the  castle 
of  St  Andrew's,  and,  while  the  conspirators  kept  possession  of  it,  preached 
publicly  under  their  protection.  The  great  revolution  in  England,  which 
followed  upon  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.,  contributed  no  less  than  the  zeal 
of  Knox  towards  demolishing'  the  popish  church  in  Scotland.  Henry  had 
loosened  the  chains,  and  lightened  the  yoke  of  popery.  The  ministers  ol 
his  son  Edward  VI.  cast  them  off  altogether,  and  established  the  protestant 
religion  upon  almost  the  same  footing  whereon  it  now  stands  in  that  king- 
dom. The  influence  of  this  example  reached  Scotland,  and  the  happy 
effects  of  ecclesiastical  liberty  in  one  nation  inspired  the  other  with  an 
equal  desire  of  recovering  it.  The  reformers  had,  hitherto,  been  obliged 
to  conduct  themselves  with  the  utmost  caution,  and  seldom  ventured  to 
preach,  but  in  private  houses,  and  at  a  distance  from  court;  they  gained 
credit,  as  happens  on  the  first  publication  of  every  new  religion,  chieny 
among  persons  in  the  lower  and  middle  rank  ot  lite.  But  several  noble- 
men, ot  the  greatest  distinction,  having,  about  this  time,  openly  espoused 
their  principles,  they  were  no  longer  under  the  necessity  of  acting  with  the 
same  reserve ;  and,  with  more  security  and  encouragement,  they  had  like- 
wise greater  success.  The  means  of  acquiring  and  spreading  "knowledge 
became  more  common,  and  the  spirit  of  innovation,  peculiar  to  that  period, 
grew  every  day  bolder  and  more  universal. 

Happily  tor  the  reformation  this  spirit  was  still  under  some  restraint. 
It  had  not  yet  attained  firmness  and  vigour  sufficient  to  overturn  a  system 
founded  on  the  deepest  policy,  and  supported  by  the  most  formidable 
power.  Under  the  present  circumstances,  any  attempt  towards  action 
must  have  been  fatal  to  the  protestant  doctrines  ;  and  it  is  no  small  proof 
of  the  authority  as  well  as  penetration  of  the  heads  of  the  party,  that  they 
were  able  to  restrain  the  zeal  of  a  fiery  and  impetuous  people,  until  that 
critical  and  mature  juncture  when  every  step  they  took  was  decisive  and 
successful. 

Meanwhile  their  cause  received  reinforcement  from  two  different  quar- 
ters whence  they  never  could  have  expected  it.  The  ambition  oi  the 
house  of  Guise,  and  the  bigotry  of  Mary  of  England,  hastened  the  subver- 
sion of  the  papal  throne  in  Scotland  ;  and,  by  a  singular  disposition  of  Pro- 
vidence, the  persons  who  opposed  the  reformation  in  every  other  part  of 
Europe  with  the  fiercest  zeal  were  made  instruments  for  advancing  it  in 
that  kingdom. 

Mary  of  Guise  possessed  the  same  bold  and  aspiring  spirit  which  dis- 
tinguished her  family.  But  in  her  it  was  softened  by  the  female  character, 
and  accompanied  with  great  temper  and  address.  Her  brothers,  in  order 
to  attain  the  high  objects  at  which  they  aimed,  ventured  upon  such  daring- 
measures  as  suited  their  great  courage.  Her  designs  upon  the  supreme 
power  were  concealed  with  the  utmost  care,  and  advanced  by  address  and 
refinements  more  natural  to  her  sex.  By  a  dexterous  application  of  those 
talents,  she  had  acquired  a  considerable  influence  on  the  councils  of  a  nation 
hitherto  unacquainted  with  the  government  of  women;  and,  without  the 
smallest  right  to  any  share  in  the  administration  of  affairs,  had  engrossed  the 
chief  direction  of  them  into  her  own  hands.  But  she  did  not  long  rest 
satisfied  with  the  enjoyment  of  this  precarious  power,  which  the  fickleness 
of  the  regent,  or  the  ambition  of  those  who  governed  him,  might  so  easily 
disturb  ;  and  she  began  to  set  on  foot  new  intrigues,  with  a  design  of  under 
mining  him,  and  of  opening  to  herself  a  way  to  succeed  him  in  that  high 
dignity.  Her  brothers  entered  warmly  into  this  scheme,  and  supported  it 
with  all  their  credit  at  the  court  of  France.  The  French  king  willingly 
concurred  in  a  measure,  by  which  he  hoped  to  bring  Scotland  entirely 
under  management,  and,  in  any  future  broil  with  Englaud,  to  turn  its  whole 
force  against  that  kingdom. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  the  desired  elevation,  the  queen  dowager  had  only 


THE    HISTORY  59 

one  ot  two  ways  to  choose ;  either  violently  to  wrest  the  power  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  regent,  or  to  obtain  it  by  his  consent.  Under  a  minority,  and 
among  a  warlike  and  factious  people,  the  former  was  a  very  uncertain  and 
dangerous  experiment.  The  latter  appeared  to  be  no  less  impracticable 
To  persuade  a  man  voluntarily  to  abdicate  the  supreme  power ;  to  descend 
to  a  level  with  those  above  whom  he  was  raised ;  and  to  be  content  with 
the  second  place  where  he  hath  hfid  a  first,  may  well  pass  for  a  wild  and 
chimerical  project.  This,  however,  the  queen  attempted  ;  and  the  pru- 
dence of  the  attempt  was  sulficiently  justified  by  its  success. 

The  regent's  inconstancy  and  irresolution,  together  with  the  calamities 
which  had  befallen  the  kingdom  under  his  administration,  raised  the  pre- 
judices both  of  the  nobles  and  of  the  people  against  him  to  a  great  height ; 
and  the  queen  secretly  fomented  these  with  much  industry.  All  who  wished 
for  a  change  met  with  a  gracious  reception  in  her  court,  and  their  spirit  01 
disaffection  was  nouri?hed  by  such  hopes  and  promises  as  in  every  age 
impose  on  the  credulity  of  the  factious.  The  favourers  of  the  reformation 
being  the  most  numerous  and  spreading  body  of  the  regent's  enemies,  she 
applied  to  them  with  a  particular  attention  ;  and  the  gentleness  of  her  dis- 
position, and  seeming-  indifference  to  the  religious  points  in  dispute,  made 
all  her  promises  of  protection  and  indulgence  pass  upon  them  tor  sincere 
Finding  so  great  a  part  of  the  nation  willing  to  fall  in  with  her  measures 
[Oct.],  the  queen  set  out  for  France,  under  pretence  of  visiting  her  daughter, 
and  took  along  with  her  those  noblemen  who  possessed  the  greatest  power 
and  credit  among  their  countrymen.  Softened  by  the  pleasures  of  an  ele- 
gant court,  flattered  by  the  civilities  of  the  French  king  and  the  caresses 
of  the  house  of  Guise,  and  influenced  by  the  seasonable  distribution  of  a 
(e\v  favours,  and  the  liberal  promise  of  many  more,  they  were  brought  to 
approve  of  all  the  queen's  pretensions. 

While  she  advanced  by  these  slow  but  sure  steps,  the  regent  either  did 
not  foresee  the  danger  which  threatened  him,  or  neglected  to  provide 
against  it.  The  first  discovery  of  the  train  which  was  laid  came  from  two 
of  his  own  confidants,  Carnegie  of  Kinnaird,  and  Panter  bishop  of  Ross, 
whom  the  queen  had  gained  over  to  her  interest,  and  then  employed  as 
the  most  proper  instruments  for  obtaining  his  consent.  The  overture  was 
made  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  French  king,  enforced  by  proper  threaten- 
ings,  in  order  to  work  upon  his  natural  timidity,  and  sweetened  by  every 
promise  that  could  reconcile  him  to  a  proposal  so  disagreeable.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  confirmation  of  his  French  title,  together  with  a  considerable 
pension,  the  parliamentary  acknowledgment  of  his  right  of  succession  to 
the  crown,  and  a  public  ratification  of  his  conduct  during  his  regency,  were 
offered  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  displeasure  of  the  French  king,  the 
power  and  popularity  of  the  queen  dowager,  the  disaffection  of  the  nobles, 
with  the  danger  of  an  after  reckoning,  were  represented  in  the  strongest 
colours. 

It  was  not  possible  to  agree  to  a  proposal  so  extraordinary  and  unex- 
pected, without  some  previous  struggle  ;  and,  had  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's  been  present  to  fortify  the  irresolute  and  passive  spirit  of  the 
regent,  he,  in  all  probability,  would  have  rejected  it  with  disdain.  Hap- 
pily for  the  queen,  the  sagacity  and  ambition  of  that  prelate  could,  at  this 
time,  be  no  obstruction  to  her  views.  He  was  lying  at  the  point  of  death, 
and  in  his  absence  the  influence  of  the  queen's  agents  on  a  flexible  temper 
counterbalanced  several  of  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human  mind,  and 
obtained  his  consent  to  a  voluntary  surrender  of  the  supreme  power. 

Dec.  1551.]  After  gaining  a  point  of  such  difficulty  with  so  much  ease, 
the  queen  returned  into  Scotland,  in  lull  expectation  of  taking  immediate 
possession  of  her  new  dignity.  But  by  this  time  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's  had  recovered  of  that  distemper  which  the  ignorance  of  the 
Scottish  physicans  had  pronounced  to  be  incurable.     This  he  owed  to  the 


60  OF  SCOTLAND. 

assistance  of  the  famous  Cardan,  one  of  those  irregular  adventurers  in  phi- 
losophy, of  whom  Italy  produced  so  many  about  this  period.  A  bold 
genius  led  him  to  some  useful  discoveries,  which  merit  the  etteem  of  a  more 
discerning  age ;  a  wild  imagination  engaged  him  in  those  chimerical  sciences 
which  drew  the  admiration  of  his  contemporaries.  As  a  pretender  to 
astrology  and  magic,  he  was  revered  and  consulted  by  all  Europe  ;  as  a 
proficient  in  natural  philosophy,  he  was  but  little  known.  The  archbishop, 
it  is  probable,  considered  him  as  a  powerful  magician,  when  he  applied  to 
him  tor  relief;  but  it  was  his  knowledge  as  a  philosopher,  which  enabled 
him  to  cure  his  disease.* 

Together  with  his  health,  the  archbishop  recovered  the  entire  govern- 
ment of  the  regent,  and  quickly  persuaded  him  to  recall  that  dishonourable 
firomise  which  he  had  been  seduced  by  the  artifices  of  the  queen  to  grant, 
lowever  great  her  surprise  and  indignation  were,  at  this  fresh  instance  of 
his  inconstancy,  she  was  obliged  to  dissemble,  that  she  might  have  leisure 
to  renew  her  intrigues  with  all  parties;  with  the  protestants,  whom  she 
favoured  and  courted  more  than  ever ;  with  the  nobles,  to  whom  she  ren- 
dered herself  agreeable  by  various  arts  ;  and  with  the  regent  himself,  in 
order  to  gain  whom  she  employed  every  argument.  But,  whatever 
impressions  her  emissaries  might  have  made  on  the  regent,  it  was  no  easy 
matter  to  overreach  or  to  intimidate  the  archbishop.  Under  his  management 
the  negotiations  were  spun  out  to  a  great  length,  and  his  brother  main- 
tained nis  station  with  that  address  and  firmness  which  its  importance  so 
well  merited.  The  universal  defection  of  the  nobility,  the  growing  power 
of  the  protestants,  who  all  adhered  to  the  queen  dowager,  the  reiterated 
solicitations  of  the  French  king,  and,  above  all,  the  interposition  of  the 
young  queen,  who  was  now  entering  the  twelfth  year  of  her  age,  and 
claimed  a  right  of  nominating  whom  she  pleased  to  be  regent,!  obliged 
him  at  last  to  resign  that  high  office,  which  he  had  held  many  years.  He 
obtained,  however,  the  same  advantageous  terms  for  himself,  which  had 
been  formerly  stipulated. 

It  was  in  the  parliament  which  met  on  the  tenth  of  April,  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty-four,  that  the  earl  of  Arran  executed  this  extraordi- 
nary resignation ;  and  at  the  same  time  Mary  of  Guise  was  raised  to  that 
dignity,  which  had  been  so  long  the  object  of  her  wishes.  Thus,  with 
their  own  approbation,  a  woman  and  a  stranger  was  advanced  to  the 
supreme  authority  over  a  fierce  and  turbulent  people,  who  seldom  sub- 
mitted, without  reluctance,  to  the  legal  and  ancient  government  of  their 
native  monarchs. 

1553.]  While  the  queen  dowager  of  Scotland  contributed  so  much 
towards  the  progress  of  the  reformation  by  the  protection  which  she 
afforded  it,  from  motives  of  ambition,  the  English  queen,  by  her  indiscreet 
zeal,  filled  the  kingdom  with  persons  active  in  promoting  the  same  cause. 
Mary  ascended  the  throne  of  England  on  the  death  of  her  brother  Edward 
.July  6],  and  soon  after  married  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  To  the  persecuting 
spirit  of  the  Romish  superstition,  and  the  fierceness  of  that  age,  she  added 
the  private  resentment  of  her  own  and  of  her  mother's  sufferings,  with 
which  she  loaded  the  reformed  religion ;  and  the  peevishness  and  severity 
of  her  natural  temper  carried  the  acrimony  of  all  these  passions  to  the 
utmost  extreme.  The  cruelty  of  her  persecution  equalled  the  deeds  of 
those  tyrants  who  have  been  the  greatest  reproach  to  human  nature.  The 
bigotry  of  her  clergy  could  scarce  keep  pace  with  the  impetuosity  of  her 
zeal.     Even  the  unrelenting  Philip  was  obliged,  on  some  occasions,  to 

*  Cardan  himself  was  more  desirous  of  being  considered  as  an  astrologer  than  a  philosopher ;  In 
his  book  De  Genituris,  we  find  a  calculation  of  the  aichtishop's  nativity,  from  which  he  pretends 
both  to  have  predicted  his  disease,  and  to  have  effected  his  cure.  He  received  from  the  archbishop 
»  reward  of  1800  crowns !  a  great  sum  in  that  age.     De  Vita  sua,  p.  33. 

t  Lesley,  de  Eeb  Gest.  Scot  ap.  Jebb.  1.  187. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  61 

mitigate  the  rigour  of  her  proceedings.  Many  among  the  most  eminent 
reformers  suffered  for  the  doctrines  which  they  had  taught ;  others  fled 
from  the  storm.  To  the  greater  part  of  these  Switzerland  and  Germany 
opened  a  secure  asylum;  and  not  a  few,  out  of  choice  or  necessity,  fled 
into  Scotland.  What  they  had  seen  and  felt  in  England  did  not  abate  the 
warmth  and  zeal  of  their  indignation  against  popery.  Their  attacks  were 
bolder  and  more  successful  than  ever ;  and  their  doctrines  made  a  rapid 
progress  among  all  ranks  of  men. 

'I  hese  doctrines,  calculated  to  rectify  the  opinions  and  to  reform  the 
mmners  of  mankind,  had  hitherto  produced  no  other  effects;  but  they 
souii  began  to  operate  wiih  greater  violence,  and  proved  the  occasion  nol 
only  of  subverting  the  established  religion,  but  of  shaking  the  throne  and 
endangering  the  kingdom.  The  causes  which  facilitated  the  introduc- 
tion of  these  new  opinions  into  Scotland,  and  which  disseminated  them  so 
fast  through  the  nation,  merit,  on  that  account,  a  particular  and  cartful 
inquiry.  The  reformation  is  one  of  the  greatest  events  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  and,  in  whatever  point  of  light  we  view  it,  it  is  instructive  and 
interesting. 

The  revival  of  learning  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  roused 
the  world  from  that  lethargy  in  which  it  had  been  sunk  for  many  ages. 
The  human  mind  felt  its  own  strength,  broke  the  fetters  of  authority  by 
which  it  had  been  so  long  restrained,  and,  venturing  to  move  in  a  larger 
sphere,  pushed  its  inquiries  into  every  subject  with  great  boldness  and 
surprising  success. 

No  sooner  did  mankind  recover  the  capacity  of  exercising  their  reason 
than  religion  was  one  of  the  first  objects  which  drew  their  attention.  Long 
before  Luther  published  his  famous  Theses,  which  shook  the  papal  throne, 
science  and  philosophy  had  laid  open  to  many  of  the  Italians  the  imposture 
and  absurdity  of  the  established  superstition.  That  subtle  and  refined 
people,  satisfied  with  enjoying  those  discoveries  in  secret,  were  little  dis- 
posed to  assume  the  dangerous  character  of  reformers,  and  concluded  the 
knowledge  of  truth  to  be  the  prerogative  of  the  wise,  while  vulgar  minds 
must  be  overawed  and  governed  by  popular  errors.  But,  animated  with 
a  more  noble  and  disinterested  zeal,  the  German  theologian  boldly  erected 
the  standard  of  truth,  and  upheld  it  with  an  unconquerable  intrepidity, 
which  merits  the  admiration  and  gratitude  of  all  succeeding  ages. 

The  occasion  of  Luther's  being  first  disgusted  with  the  tenets  of  the 
Romish  church,  and  how,  from  a  small  rupture,  the  quarrel  widened  into 
an  irreparable  breach,  is  known  to  every  one  who  has  been  the  least  con- 
versant in  history.  From  the  heart  of  Germany  his  opinions  spread,  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  all  over  Europe ;  and,  wherever  they  came,  endan- 
gered or  overturned  the  ancient  but  ill  founded  system.  The  vigilance 
and  address  of  the  court  of  Rome,  co-operating  with  the  power  and  bigotry 
of  the  Austrian  family,  suppressed  these  notions  on  their  first  appearance 
in  the  southern  kingdoms  of  Europe.  But  the  fierce  spirit  of  the  north, 
initated  by  multiplied  impositions,  could  neither  be  mollified  by  the  same 
aris  nor  subdued  by  the  same  force  ;  and,  encouraged  by  some  princes 
from  piety,  and  by  others  out  of  avarice,  it  easily  bore  down  the  feeble 
opposition  of  an  illiterate  and  immoral  clergy. 

The  superstition  of  popery  seems  to  have  grown  to  the  most  extravagant 
height  in  those  countries  which  are  situated  towards  the  different  extre- 
mities of  Europe.  The  vigour  of  imagination,  and  sensibility  of  frame, 
peculiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  southern  climates,  rendered  them  susceptible 
of  the  deepest  impressions  of  superstitious  terror  and  credulity.  Ignorance 
and  barbarity  were  no  less  favourable  to  the  progress  of  the  same  spirit 
among  the  northern  nations.  They  knew  little,  and  were  disposed  to 
believe  every  thing.     The  most  glaring  absurdities  did  not  shock  their 


6*  THE  HISTORY  [Book  tl 

gross  understandings,  and  the  most  improbable  fictions  were  received  with 
implicit  assent  and  admiration. 

Accordingly,  that  form  of  popery  which  prevailed  in  Scotland  was  of 
.he  most  bigoted  and  illiberal  kind.  Those  doctrines  which  are  most  apt 
to  shock  the  human  understanding,  and  those  legends  which  furthest 
exceed  belief,  were  proposed  to  the  people  without  any  attempt  to  pal- 
liate or  disguise  them ;  nor  did  they  ever  call  in  question  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  one,  or  the  truth  of  the  other. 

The  power  and  wealth  of  the  church  kept  pace  with  the  progress  of 
-uperstition;  for  it  is  the  nature  of  that  spirit  to  observe  no  bounds  in  its 
respect  and  liberality  towards  those  whose  character  it  esteems  sacred. 
The  Scottish  kings  early  demonstrated  how  much  they  were  under  it^ 
influence,  by  their  vast  additions  to  the  immunities  and  riches  of  the 
clergy.  The  profuse  piety  of  David  I.,  who  acquired  on  that  account  the 
name  of  Saint,  transferred  almost  the  whole  crown  lands,  which  were  at 
that  time  of  great  extent,  into  the  hands  of  ecclesiastics.  The  example  of 
that  virtuous  prince  was  imitated  by  his  successors.  The  spirit  spread 
among  all  orders  of  men,  who  daily  loaded  the  priesthood  with  new  pos- 
sessions. The  riches  of  the  church  all  over  Europe  were  exorbitant ;  but 
Scotland  was  one  of  those  countries  wherein  they  had  furthest  exceeded 
the  just  proportion.  The  Scottish  clergy  paid  one-half  of  every  tax  im- 
posed on  land  ;  and  as  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  in  that  age  they 
would  be  loaded  with  an  unequal  share  of  the  burden,  we  may  conclude 
that,  by  the  time  of  the  reformation,  little  less  than  one-half  of  the  national 
property  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  society,  which  is  always  acquiring, 
and  can  never  lose. 

The  nature,  too,  of  a  considerable  part  of  their  property  extended  the 
influence  of  the  clergy.  Many  estates  throughout  the  kingdom,  held  of 
the  church ;  church  lands  were  let  in  lease  at  an  easy  rent,  and  were  pos- 
-^■-sed  by  the  younger  sons  and  descendants  of  the  best  families.*  The 
connexion  between  superior  and  vassal,  between  landlord  and  tenant, 
created  dependencies,  and  gave  rise  to  a  union  of  great  advantage  to  the 
church ;  and,  in  estimating  the  influence  of  the  popish  ecclesiastics  over 
the  nation,  these,  as  well  as  the  real  amount  of  their  revenues,  must  be 
attended  to,  and  taken  into  the  account. 

This  extraordinary  share  in  the  national  property  was  accompanied  with 
proportionable  weight  in  the  supreme  council  of  the  kingdom.  At  a  time 
when  the  number  of  the  temporal  peers  was  extremely  small,  and  when 
the  lesser  barons  and  representatives  of  boroughs  seldom  attended  parlia- 
ments, the  ecclesiastics  formed  a  considerable  body  there.  It  appears  f:om 
the  ancient  rolls  of  parliament,  and  from  the  manner  of  choosing  the  loids 
of  articles,  that  the  proceedings  of  that  high  court  must  have  been,  in  a 
great  measure,  under  their  direction.! 

The  reverence  due  to  their  sacred  character,  which  was  often  carried 
incredibly  far,  contributed  not  a  little  towards  the  growth  of  their  power. 
The  dignity,  the  titles,  and  precedence  of  the  popish  clergy  are  remark- 
able, both  as  causes  and  effects  of  that  dominion  which  they  had  acquired 
over  the  rest  of  mankind.  They  were  regarded  by  the  credulous  laity  as 
beings  of  a  superior  species  ;  they  were  neither  subject  to  the  same  laws, 
nor  tried  by  the  same  judges.];  Every  guard  that  religion  could  supply, 
was  placed  around  their  power,  their  possessions,  and  their  persons;  and 

*  Keith,  521.  Note  (b).  t  Spots.  Hist,  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  449. 

J  How  far  this  claim  of  the  clergy  to  exemption  from  lay  jurisdiction  extended  appears  from  ■ 
remarkable  transaction  in  the  parliament  held  in  154t>.  When  that  court  was  proceeding  to  the 
forfeiture  of  the  murderers  of  cardinal  Beatoun,  and  were  about  to  include  a  priest,  who  was  one 
of  the  assassins,  in  the  general  sentence  of  condemnation,  odious  as  the  crime  was  to  ecclesiastics, 
a  delegate  appeared  in  name  of  the  clerical  courts,  and  repledged  or  claimed  exemption  of  him 
from  the  judgment  of  parliament,  as  a  spiritual  man.  This  claim  was  sustained ;  and  his  name  is 
•ot  inserted  in  the  act  of  forfeiture    Epist.  Reg.  Scot.  ii.  350.  361. 


OK    SCOTLAND.  63 

endeavours  were  used,  not  without  success,  to  represent  them  all  as  equally 
sacred. 

The  reputation  for  learning,  which,  however  inconsiderable,  was  wholly 
engrossed  by  the  clergy,  added  to  the  reverence  which  they  derived  from 
religion.  1  he  principles  of  sound  philosophy  and  of  a  just  taste  were 
altogether  unknown  ;  in  place  of  these  were  substituted  studies  i  nbarous 
and  uninstructive :  but  as  the  ecclesiastics  alone  were  conversant  in  them, 
this  procured  them  esteem  ;  and  a  very  slender  portion  of  knowledge  drew 
the  admiration  of  rude  ages,  which  knew  little.  War  was  the  soie  pro- 
fession  of  the  nobles,  and  hunting  their  chief  amusement ;  they  divided 
their  time  between  these  :  unacquainted  with  the  arts,  and  unimproved 
by  science,  they  disdained  any  employment  foreign  from  military  affairs, 
or  which  required  rather  penetration  and  address  than  bodily  vigour. 
Wherever  the  former  were  necessary  the  clergy  were  intrusted  ;  because 
they  alone  were  properly  qualified  for  the  trust.  Almost  all  the  high 
ntfices  in  civil  government  devolved,  on  this  account,  into  their  hands. 
The  lord  chancellor  was  the  first  subject  in  the  kingdom,  both  in  dignity 
and  in  power.  From  the  earliest  ages  of  the  monarchy  to  the  death  of 
cardinal  Beatoun,  fifty-four  persons  had  held  that  high  ofhce  ;  and  of  these 
forty-three  had  been  ecclesiastics.*  The  lords  of  session  were  supreme 
judges  in  all  matters  of  civil  right ;  and,  by  its  original  constitution,  the 
president  and  one  half  of  the  senators  in  this  court  were  churchmen. 

To  all  this  we  may  add,  that  the  clergy  being  separated  from  the  rest 
of  mankind  by  the  law  of  celibacy,  and  undistracted  by  those  cares,  and 
unincumbered  with  those  burdens  which  occupy  and  oppress  other  men, 
the  interest  of  their  order  became  their  only  object,  and  they  were  at  full 
leisure  to  pursue  it. 

The  nature  of  their  functions  gave  them  access  to  all  persons,  and  at  all 
seasons.  They  could  employ  all  the  motives  of  fear  and  of  hope,  of  terror 
and  of  consolation,  which  operate  most  powerfully  on  the  human  mind. 
They  haunted  the  weak  and  the  credulous  ;  they  besieged  the  beds  of  the 
sick  and  of  the  dying  ;  they  suffered  few  to  go  out  of  the  world  without 
leaving  marks  of  their  liberality  to  the  church,  and  taught  them  to  com- 
pound with  the  Almighty  for  their  sins,  by  bestowing  riches  upon  those 
who  called  themselves  his  servants. 

When  their  own  industry,  or  the  superstition  of  mankind  failed  of  pro- 
ducing this  effect,  the  ecclesiastics  had  influence  enough  to  call  in  the  aid 
of  law.  When  a  person  died  intestate,  the  disposal  of  his  effects  was 
vested  in  the  bishop  of  the  diocess,  after  paying  his  funeral  charges  and 
debts,  and  distributing  among  his  kindred  the  sums  to  which  they  were 
respectively  entitled ;  it  being  presumed  that  no  Christian  would  have 
chosen  to  leave  the  world  without  destining  some  part  of  his  substance  to 
pious  uses.f  As  men  are  apt  to  trust  to  the  continuance  of  life  with  a 
fond  confidence,  and  childishly  shun  every  thing  that  forces  them  to  think 
of  their  mortality,  many  die  without  settling  their  affairs  by  will  ;  and  the 
right  of  administration  in  that  event,  acquired  by  the  clergy,  must  have 
proved  a  considerable  source  both  of  wealth  and  of  power  to  the  church. 

At  the  same  time,  no  matrimonial  or  testamentary  cause  could  be  tried 
but  in  the  spiritual  courts,  and  by  laws  which  the  clergy  themselves  had 
framed.  The  penalty,  too,  by  which  the  decisions  of  these  courts  weie 
enforced,  added  to  their  authority.  A  sentence  of  excommunication  was 
no  less  formidable  than  a  sentence  of  outlawry.  It  was  pronounced  on 
many  occasions,  and  against  various  crimes  ;  and,  besides  excluding  those 
upon  whom  it  fell  from  Christian  privileges,  it  deprived  them  of  all  their 
rights  as  men  or  as  citizens  ;  and  the  aid  of  the  secular  power  concurred 

*  Crawf.  Office  of  State.  t  Essays  on  Brit.  AnUq.  174.    Annals  of  Scotland,  by  SJi 

David  Dalrymple  vol.  i.  Append.  No.  ii. 


64  THE   HISTORY  IBook  II. 

with  the  superstition  of  mankind,  in  rendering  the  thunders  of  the  church 
no  less  destructive  than  terrible. 

To  these  general  causes  may  be  attributed  the  immense  growth  both  of 
tue  wealth  and  power  of  the  popish  chjrch  ;  and,  without  entering  into 
any  more  minute  detail,  this  may  serve  to  discover  the  foundations  on 
which  a  structure  so  stupendous  was  erected. 

But  though  the  laity  had  contributed,  by  their  own  superstition  and 
profuseness,  to  raise  the  clergy  from  poverty  and  obscurity  to  riches  and 
eminence,  they  began,  by  degrees,  to  feel  and  to  murmur  at  their  encroach- 
ments. No  wonder  haughty  and  martial  barons  should  view  the  power 
and  possessions  of  the  church  with  envy  ;  and  regard  the  lazy  and  inactn  t 
character  of  churchmen  with  the  utmost  contempt ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  the  indecent  and  licentious  lives  of  the  clergy  gave  great  and  just 
offence  to  the  people,  and  considerably  abated  the  veneration  which  they 
were  accustomed  to  yield  to  that  order  of  men. 

Immense  wealth,  extreme  indolence,  gross  ignorance,  and,  above  all,  the 
severe  injunctions  of  celibacy,  had  concurred  to  introduce  this  corruption 
of  morals  among  many  of  the  clergy,  who,  presuming  too  much  upon  the 
submission  of  the  people,  were  at  no  pains  either  to  conceal  or  to  disguise 
their  own  vices.  According  to  the  accounts  of  the  reformers,  confirmed 
by  several  popish  writers,  the  most  open  and  scandalous  dissoluteness  ot 
manners  prevailed  among  the  Scottish  clergy.*  Cardinal  Beatoun,  with 
the  same  public  pomp  which  is  due  to  a  legitimate  child,  celebrated  the 
marriage  of  his  natural  daughter  with  the  earl  of  Crawford's  son  ;|  and,  if 
we  may  believe  Knox,  he  publicly  continued  to  the  end  of  his  days  a 
criminal  correspondence  with  her  mother,  who  was  a  woman  of  rank. 
The  other  prelates  seem  not  to  have  been  more  regular  and  exemplary  than 
their  primate.J 

Men  of  such  characters  ought,  in  reason,  to  have  been  alarmed  at  the 
first  clamours  raised  against  their  own  morals,  and  the  doctrines  of  the 
church,  by  the  protestant  preachers ;  but  the  popish  ecclesiastics,  either 
out  of  pride  or  ignorance,  neglected  the  proper  methods  for  silencing  them. 
Instead  of  reforming  their  lives,  or  disguising;  their  vices,  they  affected  to 
despise  the  censures  of  the  people.  While  the  reformers,  by  their  mor- 
tifications and  austerities,  endeavoured  to  resemble  the  first  propagators 
of  Christianity,  the  popish  clergy  were  compared  to  all  those  persons  who 
are  most  infamous  in  history  for  the  enormity  and  scandal  of  their  crimes. 

On  the  other  hand,  instead  of  mitigating  the  rigour,  or  colouring  over 
the  absurdity,  of  the  established  doctrines  ;  instead  of  attempting  to  found 
them  upon  Scripture,  or  to  reconcile  them  to  reason  ;  they  left  them  u  ithout 
any  other  support  or  recommendation  than  the  authority  of  the  church, 
and  the  decrees  of  councils.  The  fables  concerning  purgatory,  the  virtues 
of  pilgrimage,  and  the  merits  of  the  saints  were  the  topics  on  which  they 
insisted  in  their  discourses  to  the  people  ;  and  the  duty  of  preaching  being 
left  wholly  to  monks  of  the  lowest  and  most  illiterate  orders,  their  compo- 
sitions were  still  more  wretched  and  contemptible  than  the  subjects  on 
which  they  insisted.  While  the  reformers  were  attended  by  crowded 
and  admiring  audiences,  the  popish  preachers  were  either  universally 
ieserted,  or  listened  to  with  scorn. 

*  VVinzel.  ap.  Keith,  Append.  202.  205.     Lesley  de  Reb.  Gest.  Scot.  232. 

f  The  marriage  articles,  subscribed  with  his  own  hand,  in  which  he  calls  her  my  daughter,  are 
*.  ill  extant     Keith,  p.  42. 

%  A  remarkable  proof  of  the  dissolute  manners  of  the  clergy  is  found  in  the  public  records,  a 
greater  number  of  letters  of  legitimation  was  granted  during  the  first  thirty  years  after  the  re- 
formation  t!:an  during  the  whole  period  that  has  elapsed  since  that  time.  These  were  obtained  by 
the  sons  of  the  popish  clergy.  The  ecclesiastics,  who  were  allowed  to  retain  their  benefices 
alienated  them  to  their  children;  who,  when  they  acquired  wealth,  were  dtsirous  that  the  slain  of 
illegitimacy  might  no  longer  remain  upon  their  families.  In  Keith's  Catalogueof  Scottish  Bishop*, 
«ve  find  several  instances  of  such  alienations  ot"  church  lands,  by  the  popish  incumb<nLs  to  theii 
natural  children. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  65 

The  only  device  which  they  employed,  in  order  to  recover  their  declining 
reputation  or  to  confirm  the  wavering  faith  of  the  people,  was  equally 
imprudent  and  unsuccessful.  As  many  doctrines  of  their  church  had 
derived  their  credit  at  first  from  the  authority  of  false  miracles,  they  now 
endeavoured  to  call  in  these  to  then  aid.*  Bui  such  lying"  wonders,  as 
were  heheld  with  unsuspicious  admiration,  or  heard  with  implicit  faith, 
m  times  of  darkness  and  of  ignorance,  met  with  a  very  different  leception 
in  a  more  enlightened  period.  The  vigilance  of  the  relbrmers  detected 
these  impostures,  and  exposed  not  only  them,  but  the  cause  which  needed 
the  aid  of  such  artifices,  to  ridicule. 

A.s  the  popish  ecclesiastics  became  more  and  more  the  objects  ot  hatred 
md  of  contempt,  the  discourses  of  the  reformers  were  listened  to  as  so 
many  calls  to  liberty  ;  and,  besides  the  pious  indignation  which  they 
excited  against  those  corrupt  doctrines  which  had  perverted  the  nature  of 
true  Christianity  ;  besides  the  zeal  which  they  inspired  tor  the  knowledge 
of  truth,  and  the  purity  of  religion  ;  they  gave  rise  also,  among  the  Scot- 
tish nobles,  to  other  views  and  passions.  They  hoped  to  shake  off  the 
yoke  of  ecclesiastical  dominion,  which  they  had  long  felt  to  be  oppressive, 
and  which  they  now  discovered  to  be  unchristian.  They  expected  to 
recover  possession  of  the  church  revenues,  which  they  were  now  taught 
to  consider  as  alienations  made  by  their  ancestors  with  a  profusion  no  less 
undiscerning  than  unbounded.  They  flattered  themselves,  that  a  check 
would  be  given  to  the  pride  and  luxury  of  the  clergy,  who  would  be 
obliged,  henceforward,  to  confine  themselves  within  the  sphere  peculiar 
to  their  sacred  character.  An  aversion  from  the  established  church,  which 
Mowed  from  so  many  concurring  causes,  which  was  raised  by  considera- 
tions of  religion,  heightened  by  motives  of  policy,  and  instigated  by  pros- 
pects of  private  advantage,  spread  fast  through  the  nation,  and  excited  a 
spirit  that  burst  out,  at  last,  with  irresistible  violence. 

Religious  considerations  alone  were  sufficient  to  have  roused  this  spirit. 
The  points  in  controversy  with  the  church  of  Rome  were  of  so  much 
importance  to  the  happiness  of  mankind,  and  so  essential  to  Christianity, 
that  they  merited  all  the  zeal  with  which  the  reformers  contended  in 
order  to  establish  them.  But  the  reformation  having  been  represented 
as  the  effect  of  some  wild  and  enthusiastic  frenzy  in  the  human  mind,  this 
attempt  to  account  for  the  eagerness  and  zeal  with  which  our  ancestors 
embraced  and  propagated  the  protestant  doctrines,  by  taking  a  view  of 
the  political  motives  alone  which  influenced  them,  and  by  showing  how 
naturally  these  prompted  them  to  act  with  so  much  ardour,  will  not,  per- 
haps, be  deemed  an  unnecessary  digression.  We  now  return  to  the  course 
of  the  history. 

1554.]  The  queen's  elevation  to  the  office  of  regent  seems  to  have 
transported  her,  at  first,  beyond  the  known  prudence  and  moderation  of 
her  character.  She  began  her  administration  by  conferring  upon  foreigners 
several  offices  of  trust  and  of  dignity;  a  step  which,  both  from  the  inabi,:ty 
of  strangers  to  discharge  these  offices  with  propriety,  and  from  the  eiivv 
which  their  preferment  excites  among  the  natives,  is  never  attended  with 
good  consequences.  Vilmort  was  made  comptroller,  and  intrusted  with 
the  management  of  the  public  revenues  ;  Bonot  was  appointed  governoi 
of  Orkney  ;  and  Bubay  honoured  with  the  custody  of  the  great  seal,  and 
the  title  of  vice-chancellor.t  It  was  with  the  highest  indignation  that 
the  Scots  beheld  offices  of  the  greatest  eminence  and  authority  dealt  out 
among  slrangers.J  By  these  promotion^  tney  conceived  the  queen  to 
have  offered  an  insult  both  to  their  understandings  and  to  their  courage; 
to  the  former,  by  supposing  them  unfit  for  those  stations  which  their  ances- 

*  Spotswood,  69.  t  Lesley  de  Reb.  Gest.  Scot.  189. 

t  The  resentment  of  the  nation  against  the  French  rose  to  such  a  height,  that  a»  act  of  parlia- 
ment was  passed  on  purpose  to  restrain  or  moderate  it.     Par).  6.  Q.  Mary       40. 

Vol.  III.— 9 


6fi  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

tors  had  filled  with  so  much  dignity  ;  to  the  latter,  by  imagining  that  they 
were  tame  enough  not  to  complain  of  an  affront,  which,  in  no  former  age, 
would  have  been  tolerated  with  impunity. 

While  their  minds  were  in  this  disposition,  an  incident  happened  which 
inflamed  their  aversion  from  French  councils  to  the  highest  degree.  Ever 
since  the  famous  contest  between  the  houses  of  Valois  and  Plantagenet, 
the  French  had  been  accustomed  to  embarrass  the  English,  and  to  divide 
their  strength  by  the  sudden  and  formidable  incursions  of  their  allies,  the 
Scots.  But,  as  these  inroads  were  seldom  attended  with  any  real  advan- 
tage to  Scotland,  and  exposed  it  to  the  dangerous  resentment  of  a  powerful 
neighbour,  the  Scots  began  to  grow  less  tractable  than  formerly,  and 
scrupled  any  longer  to  serve  an  ambitious  ally  at  the  price  of  their  own 
quiet  and  security.  The  change,  too,  which  was  daily  introducing  in  the 
art  of  war  rendered  the  assistance  of  the  Scottish  forces  of  less  importance 
to  the  French  monarch.  For  these  reasons,  Henry  having  resolved  upon 
a  war  with  Philip  II.,  and  foreseeing  that  the  queen  of  England  would 
rake  part  in  her  husband's  quarrel,  was  extremely  solicitous  to  secure  in 
Scotland  the  assistance  of  some  troops,  which  would  be  more  at  his  com- 
mand than  an  undisciplined  army  led  by  chieftains  who  were  almost 
independent.  In  prosecution  of  this  design,  but  under  pretence  of  relieving 
the  nobles  from  the  expense  and  danger  of  defending  the  borders,  the 
queen  regent  proposed  in  parliament  [1555],  to  register  the  value  ot 
lands  throughout  the  kingdom,  to  impose  on  them  a  small  tax,  and  to 
apply  that  revenue  towards  maintaining  a  body  of  regular  troops  in  con- 
stant pay.  A  fixed  tax  upon  land,  which  the  growing  expense  of  govern- 
ment had  introduced  into  almost  every  pait  of  Europe,  was  unknown  at 
that  time,  and  seemed  altogether  inconsistent  with  the  genius  of  feudal 
policy.  Nothing  could  be  more  shocking  to  a  generous  and  brave  nobility 
than  the  intrusting  to  mercenary  hands  the  defence  of  those  territories 
which  had  been  acquired  or  preserved  by  the  blood  of  their  ancestors. 
They  received  this  proposal  with  the  utmost  dissatisfaction.  About  three 
hundred  of  the  lesser  barons  repaired  in  a  body  to  the  queen  regent,  and 
represented  their  sense  of  the  intended  innovation  with  that  manly  and 
determined  boldness  which  is  natural  to  a  free  people  in  a  martial  age. 
Alarmed  at  a  remonstrance  delivered  in  so  firm  a  tone,  and  supported  by 
such  formidable  numbers,  the  queen  prudently  abandoned  a  scheme  which 
she  found  to  be  universally  odious.  As  the  queen  herself  was  known 
perfectly  to  understand  the  circumstances  and  temper  of  the  nation,  this 
measure  was  imputed  wholly  to  the  suggestions  of  her  foreign  counsellors  ; 
and  the  Scots  were  ready  to  proceed  to  the  most  violent  extremities 
against  them. 

The  French,  instead  of  extinguishing,  added  fuel  to  the  flame.  They 
nad  now  commenced  hostilities  against  Spain,  and  Philip  had  prevailed 
on  the  queen  of  England  to  reinforce  his  army  with  a  considerable  body 
of  her  troops.  In  order  to  deprive  him  of  this  aid,  Henry  had  recourse,  as 
he  projected,  to  the  Scots  ;  and  attempted  to  excite  them  to  invade  Eng- 
land. But  as  Scotland  had  nothing  to  dread  from  a  princess  of  Mary's 
character,  who,  far  from  any  ambitious  scheme  of  disturbing  her  neigh- 
bours, was  wholly  occupied  in  endeavouring  to  reclaim  her  heretical 
subjects  ;  the  nobles,  who  were  assembled  by  the  queen  regent  at  New- 
battle,  listened  to  the  solicitations  of  the  French  monarch  with  extreme 
coldness,  and  prudently  declined  engaging  the  kingdom  in  an  enterprise 
so  dangerous  and  unnecessary.  What  she  could  not  obtain  by  pensuasion, 
the  queen  regent  brought  about  by  a  stratagem.  Notwithstanding  the 
peace  which  subsisted  between  the  two  kingdoms,  she  commanded  hei 
French  soldiers  to  rebuild  a  small  fort  near  Berwick,  which  was  appointed, 
by  the  last  treaty,  to  be  razed.  The  garrison  of  Berwick  sallied  out, 
ic        »ted  the  work,  and  ravaged  the  adjacent  country.    This  insult 


OF  SCOTLAND.  fi7 

roused  the  fiery  spirit  of  the  Scots,  and  their  promptness  to  revenge  the 
least  appearance  of  national  injury  dissipated,  in  a  moment,  the  wise  and 
pacific  resolutions  which  they  had  so  lately  formed.  War  was  determined, 
and  orders  instantly  given  for  raising  a  numerous  army.  But  before  their 
forces  could  assemble,  the  ardour  of  their  indignation  had  time  to  cool , 
and  the  English  having  discovered  no  intention  to  push  the  war  with 
vigour,  the  nobles  resumed  their  pacific  system,  and  resolved  to  stand 
altogether  upon  the  defensive.  [1556.]  They  marched  to  the  bar.KS  of 
the  Tweed,  they  prevented  the  incursions  of  the  enemy  ;  and  having  done 
what  they  thought  sufficient  for  the  safety  and  honour  of  their  country, 
the  queen  could  not  induce  them,  either  by  her  entreaties  or  her  artifices, 
to  advance  another  step. 

While  the  Scots  persisted  in  their  inactivity,  D'Oysel,  the  commander 
of  the  French  troops,  who  possessed  entirely  die  confidence  ot  the  queer 
regent,  endeavoured,  with  her  connivance,  to  engage  the  two  nations  in  hos- 
tilities. Contrary  to  the  orders  of  the  Scottish  general,  he  marched  over 
the  Tweed  with  his  own  soldiers,  and  invested  Werk  Castle,  a  garrison  oi 
the  English.  The  Scots,  instead  of  seconding  his  attempt,  were  enraged 
at  his  presumption.  The  queen's  partiality  towards  France  had  long  been 
suspected ;  but  it  was  now  visible  that  she  wantonly  sacrificed  the  peace 
and  safety  of  Scotland  to  the  interest  of  that  ambitious  and  assuming  ally. 
Under  the  feudal  governments,  it  was  in  camps  that  subjects  were  accus- 
tomed to  address  the  boldest  remonstrances  to  their  sovereigns.  While 
arms  were  in  their  hands  they  felt  their  own  strength  ;  and  at  that  time  all 
their  representations  of  grievances  carried  the  authority  of  commands.  On 
this  occasion  the  resentment  of  the  nobles  broke  out  with  such  violence, 
that  the  queen,  perceiving  all  attempts  to  engage  them  in  action  to  be  vain, 
abruptly  dismissed  her  army,  and  retired  with  the  utmost  shame  and  dis- 
gust ;  having  discovered  the  impotence  of  her  own  authority,  without  effect 
ing  any  thing  which  could  be  of  advantage  to  France.* 

It  is  observable  that  this  first  instance  of  contempt  for  the  regent's 
authority  can,  in  no  degree,  be  imputed  to  the  influence  of  the  new  opinions 
in  religion.  As  the  queen's  pretensions  to  the  regency  had  been  princi- 
pally supported  by  those  who  favoured  the  reformation,  and  as  she  still 
needed  them  for  a  counterpoise  to  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  the 
partisans  of  the  house  of  Hamilton  ;  she  continued  to  treat  them  with  great 
respect,  and  admitted  them  to  no  inconsiderable  share  in  her  favour  and 
confidence.  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  and  the  other  surviving  conspirators 
against  cardinal  Beatoun  were  about  this  time  recalled  by  her  from  banish 
ment ;  and,  through  her  connivance,  the  protestant  preachers  enjoyed  an 
interval  of  tranquillity,  which  was  of  great  advantage  to  their  cause. 
Soothed  by  these  instances  of  the  queen's  moderation  and  humanity,  the 
protestants  left  to  others  the  office  of  remonstrating  ;  and  the  leaders  of  the 
opposite  factions  set  them  the  first  example  of  disputing  the  will  ot  their 
sovereign. 

As  the  queen  regent  felt  how  limited  and  precarious  her  authority  was, 
while  it  depended  on  the  poise  of  these  contrary  factions,  she  endeavoured 
to  establish  it  on  a  broader  and  more  secure  foundation,  by  hastening  the 
conclusion  of  her  daughter's  marriage  with  the  dauphin.  Amiable  as  the 
queen  of  Scots  then  was,  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  and  considerable  as  the 
territories  were,  which  she  would  have  added  to  the  French  monarchy  * 
reasons  were  not  wanting  to  dissuade  Henry  from  completing  his  first  plan 
of  marrying  her  to  his  son.  The  constable  Montmorency  had  employed 
all  his  interest  to  defeat  an  alliance  which  reflected  so  much  lustre  on  th*1 
princes  of  Lorrain.  He  had  represented  the  impossibility  of  maintaining 
order  and  tranquillity  among  a  turbulent  people,  during  the  absence  of  theii 

*  Strype's  Memor.  iii.  Append.  274.     Lesly,  196 


68  THEHISTORY  [Book  II. 

sovereign  ;  and  for  that  reason  had  advised  Henry  to  bestow  the  young 
queen  upon  one  of  the  princes  of  the  blood,  who,  by  residing-  in  Scotland, 
might  preserve  that  kingdom  a  useful  ally  to  France,  which,  by  a  nearei 
union  to  the  crown,  would  become  a  mutinous  and  ungovernable  province.* 
But  at  this  time  the  constable  was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards , 
the  princes  of  Lonsain  were  at  the  height  of  their  power ;  and  their  influ 
ence,  seconded  by  the  charms  of  the  young  queen,  triumphed  over  the  pru- 
dent but  envious  remonstrances  of  their  rival. 

Dec.  14, 1557.]  The  French  king  accordingly  applied  to  the  parliament  ol 
Scotland,  which  appointed  eight  of  its  members!  to  represent  the  whole 
body  of  the  nation,  at  the  marriage  of  the  queen.  Among  the  persons  on 
whom  the  public  choice  conferred  this  honourable  character  were  some  ot 
the  most  avowed  and  zealous  advocates  for  the  reformation  ;  by  which 
may  be  estimated  the  degree  of  respect  and  popularity  which  that  party 
had  now  attained  in  the  kingdom.  The  instructions  of  the  parliament  to 
those  commissioner's  still  remain,|  and  do  honour  to  the  wisdom  and  integ- 
rity of  that  assembly.  At  the  same  time  that  they  manifested,  with  respect 
to  the  articles  of  marriage,  a  laudable  concern  for  the  dignity  and  interest 
of  their  sovereign,  they  employed  every  precaution  which  prudence  could 
dictate,  for  preserving  the  liberty  and  independence  of  the  nation,  and  ibr 
securing  the  succession  of  the  crown  in  the  house  of  Hamilton. 

With  regard  to  each  of  these,  the  Scots  obtained  whatever  satisfaction 
their  fear  or  jealousy  could  demand.  The  young  queen,  the  dauphin,  and 
the  king  of  France  ratified  every  article  with  the  most  solemn  oaths,  and 
confirmed  them  by  deeds  in  form  under  their  hands  and  seals.  But  on  the 
part  of  France,  all  this  was  one  continued  scene  of  studied  and  elaborate 
deceit.  Previous  to  these  public  transactions  with  the  Scottish  deputies, 
Mary  had  been  persuaded  to  subscribe  privately  three  deeds,  equally  unjust 
and  invalid  ;  by  which,  failing  the  heirs  of  her  own  body,  she  conferred  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  with  whatever  inheritance  or  succession  might  accrue 
to  it,  in  free  gift  upon  the  crown  of  France,  declaring  all  promises  to  the 
contrary,  which  the  necessity  of  her  affairs,  and  the  solicitations  of  her 
subjects,  had  extorted,  or  might  extort  from  her,  to  be  void  and  of  no 
obligation. §  As  it  gives  us  a  proper  idea  of  Ihe  character  of  the  French 
court  under  Henry  II.,  we  may  observe  that  the  king  himself,  the  keeper 
of  the  great  seals,  the  duke  of  Guise,  and  the  cardinal  of  Loirain  were  the 
persons  engaged  in  conducting  this  perfidious  and  dishonourable  project. 
The  queen  of  Scots  was  the  only  innocent  actor  in  that  scene  of  iniquity. 
Her  youth,  her  inexperience,  her  education  in  a  foreign  country,  and  her 
deference  to  the  will  of  her  uncles,  must  go  far  towards  vindicating  her, 
in  the  judgment  of  every  impartial  person,  from  any  imputation  of  blame 
on  that  account. 

This  grant,  by  which  Mary  bestowed  the  inheritance  of  her  kingdom 
upon  strangers,  was  concealed  with  the  utmost  care  from  her  subjects.. 
They  seem,  however,  not  to  have  been  unacquainted  with  the  intention  of  the 
French  to  overturn  the  settlement  of  the  successsion  in  favour  of  the  duke 
of  Chatelherault.  The  zeal  with  which  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's 
opposed  all  the  measures  of  the  queen  regent,  evidently  proceeded  from 
the  fears  and  suspicions  of  that  prudent  prelate  on  this  head.|| 

April  14,  1558J  The  marriage,  however,  was  celebrated  with  great 
pomp  ;  and  the  French,  who  had  hitherto  affected  to  draw  a  veil  over  their 
designs  upon  Scotland,  began  now  to  unfold  their  intentions  without  any 


*  Melv.  Mem.  15. 

f  Viz.  The  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  the  bishop  of  Ross,  the  bishop  of  Orkney,  the  earls  of  Rothe* 
and  Cassils,  lord  Fleming,  lord  Seton,  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  John  Rrskine  of  Dm 

t  Keith,  Append.  13.  §  Corps  Diplomat,  torn.  v.  21.    Keith,  73. 

fl  About  this  time  the  French  seem  to  have  had  some  design  of  reviving  the  earl  of  Lennox't 
pretensions  to  the  succession,  in  order  to  intimidate  and  iilarm  the  duke  of  Chatelherault.— Haym 
§15.  219     Forbes'e  Collect  vol.  i.  183. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  6* 

disguise.  In  the  treaty  of  marriage,  the  deputies  had  agreed  that  the 
dauphin  should  assume  the  name  of  king  of  Scotland.  This  they  consi- 
dered only  as  an  honorary  title  ;  but  the  French  laboured  to  annex  to  it 
some  solid  privileges  and  power.  They  insisted  that  the  dauphin's  title 
should  be  publicly  recognised  ;  that  the  crown  matrimonial  should  be  con- 
ferred upon  him  ;  and  that  all  the  rights  pertaining  to  the  husband  of  a 
queen  should  be  vested  in  his  person.  By  the  laws  of  Scotland,  a  person 
who  married  an  heiress,  kept  possession  of  her  estate  during  his  own  life, 
if  he  happened  to  survive  her  and  the  children  born  of  the  marriage.* 
This  was  called  the  courtesy  of  Scotland.  The  French  aimed  at  applying 
this  rule,  which  takes  place  in  private  inheritances,  to  the  succession  of  the 
kingdom ;  and  that  seems  to  be  implied  in  their  demand  of  the  crozi'it 
matrimonial,  a  phrase  peculiar  to  the  Scottish  historians,  and  which  they 
have  neglected  to  explain.!  As  the  French  had  reason  to  expect  difficul- 
ties in  carrying  through  this  measure,  they  began  with  sounding  the  deputies 
who  were  then  at  Paris.  The  English,  in  the  marriage  articles  between 
their  queen  and  Philip  of  Spain,  had  set  an  example  to  the  age,  of  that  prudent 
jealousy  and  reserve  with  which  a  foreigner  should  be  admitted  so  near 
the  throne.  Full  of  the  same  ideas,  the  Scottish  deputies  had,  in  their 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  dauphin,  expressed  themselves  with  remarkable 
caution.J  Their  answer  was  in  the  same  spirit,  respectful  but  firm  ;  and 
discovered  a  fixed  resolution  of  consenting  to  nothing  that  tended  to  intro- 
duce any  alteration  in  the  order  of  succession  to  the  crown. 

Four  of  the  deputies§  happening  to  die  before  they  returned  into  Scot- 
land, this  accident  was  universally  imputed  to  the  effects  of  poison,  which 
was  supposed  to  have  been  given  them  by  the  emissaries  of  the  house  ot 
Guise.  The  historians  of  all  nations  discover  an  amazing  credulity  with 
respect  to  rumours  of  this  kind,  which  are  so  well  calculated  to  please  the 
malignity  of  some  men,  and  to  gratify  the  love  of  the  marvellous  which  is 
natural  to  all,  that  in  every  age  they  have  been  swallowed  without  exami- 
nation, and  believed  contrary  to  reason.  No  wonder  the  Scots  should  easily 
give  credit  to  a  suspicion  which  received  such  strong  colours  of  proba- 
bility, both  from  their  own  resentment  and  from  the  known  character  of 
the  princes  of  Lorrain,  so  little  scrupulous  about  the  justice  of  the  ends 
which  they  pursued,  or  of  the  means  which  they  employed.  For  the 
honour  of  human  nature,  however,  it  must  be  observed,  that  as  we  can  dis 
cover  no  motive  which  could  induce  any  man  to  perpetrate  such  a  crime, 
so  there  appears  no  evidence  to  prove  that  it  was  committed.  But  the 
Scots  of  that  age,  influenced  by  national  animosities  and  prejudices,  were 
incapable  of  examining  the  circumstances  of  the  case  with  calmness,  or  of 
judging  concerning  them  with  candour.  All  parties  agreed  in  believing 
the  French  to  have  been  guilty  of  this  detestable  action  ;  and  it  is  obvious 
how  much  this  tended  to  increase  the  aversion  for  them,  which  was  grow- 
ing among  all  ranks  of  men. 

Notwithstanding  the  cold  reception  which  their  proposal  concerning  the 
crown  matrimonial  met  with  trom  the  Scottish  deputies,  the  French  ven- 
tured to  move  it  in  parliament.  The  partisans  of  the  house  of  Hamilton, 
suspicious  of  their  designs  upon  the  succession,  opposed  it  with  great  zeal 

*  Reg.  Mag.  lib.  ii.  5^. 

t  As  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  husband  of  the  queen,  by  the  grant  ol  the  crown  matrimonial,  ac 
quired  a  right  to  assume  the  title  of  king,  to  have  his  name  stamped  upon  the  current  coin,  and  to 
sign  all  public  instruments  together  with  the  queen.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  subjects  took  an 
oath  of  fidelity  to  him.  Keith,  Append.  20.  His  authority  became,  in  some  measi—*-.  co-ordinat* 
with  that  of  the  queen;  and  without  his  concurrence,  manifested  by  signing  his  name,  no  public 
deed  seems  to  have  been  considered  as  valid.  By  the  oath  of  fidelity  of  the  Scottish  commis- 
sioners to  the  dauphin,  it  is  evident  that,  in  their  opinion,  the  rights  belonging  to  the  crown  ma- 
trimonial subsisted  only  during  the  continuance  of  the  marriage.  Keith,  Append  20.  But  the 
conspirators  against  Rizio  bound  themselves  to  procure  a  grant  of  the  crown  matrimonial  to  Darnly, 
during  all  the  days  of  his  life.     Keith,  Append.  120.     Good.  i.  227. 

X  Keith,  Append.  20.  $  The  bishop  of  Orkney,  the  earl  of  Rothes,  the  eai  of  C'&Miiti 

and  lord  Fleming. 


70  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

But  a  party,  which  the  feeble  and  unsteady  conduct  of  their  leader  had 
brought  under  much  disreputation,  was  little  able  to  withstand  the  influ 
ence  of  France,  and  the  address  of  the  queen  regent,  seconded,  on  this* 
occasion,  by  all  the  numerous  adherents  of  the  reformation.  Besides,  that 
artful  princess  dressed  out  the  French  demands  in  a  less  offensive  garb,  and 
threw  in  so  many  limitations  as  seemed  to  render  them  of  small  conse- 
quence. These  either  deceived  the  Scots,  or  removed  their  scruples  ;  and 
in  compliance  to  the  c^ueen  they  passed  an  act,  conferring  the  crown 
matrimonial  on  the  dauphin;  and  with  the  ton  lest  credulity  trusted  to  the 
trail  security  of  words  and  statutes,  against  the  dangerous  encroachments 
of  power.* 

The  concurrence  of  the  protestants  with  the  queen  regent,  in  promoting 
a  measure  so  acceptable  to  France,  while  the  popish  clergy,  under  the 
influence  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  opposed  it  with  so  much 
violence,!  is  one  of  those  singular  circumstances  in  the  conduct  of  parties, 
for  which  this  period  is  so  remarkable.  It  may  be  ascribed,  in  some 
degree,  to  the  dexterous  management  of  the  queen,  but  chiefly  to  the 
moderation  of  those  who  favoured  the  reformation.  The  protestants  were 
by  this  time  almost  equal  to  the  Catholics,  both  in  power  and  in  number; 
and,  conscious  of  their  own  strength,  they  submitted  with  impatience  to 
that  tyrannical  authority  with  which  the  ancient  laws  armed  the  eccle- 
siastics against  them.  They  longed  to  be  exempted  from  this  oppressive 
jurisdiction,  and  publicly  to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  professing  those  opinions, 
and  of  exercising  that  worship,  which  so  great  a  part  of  the  nation  deemed 
to  be  founded  in  truth  and  to  be  acceptable  to  the  Deity.  This  indulgence, 
to  which  the  whole  weight  of  priestly  authority  was  opposed,  there  were 
only  two  ways  of  obtaining.  Either  violence  must  extort  it  from  the 
reluctant  hand  of  their  sovereign,  or  by  prudent  compliances  they  might 
expect  it  from  her  favour  or  her  gratitude.  The  former  is  an  expedient 
for  the  redress  of  grievances,  to  which  no  nation  has  recourse  suddenly; 
and  subjects  seldom  venture  upon  resistance,  which  is  their  last  remedy, 
but  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity.  On  this  occasion  the  reformers  wisely 
held  the  opposite  course,  and  by  their  zeal  in  forwarding  the  queen  s 
designs,  they  hoped  to  merit  her  protection.  This  disposition  the  queen 
encouraged  to  the  utmost,  and  amused  them  so  artfully  with  many  promises, 
and  some  concessions,  that,  by  their  assistance,  she  surmounted  in  parlia- 
ment the  force  of  a  national  and  laudable  jealousy,  which  would  otherwise 
have  swayed  with  the  greater  number 

Another  circumstance  contributed  somewhat  to  acquire  the  regent  such 
considerable  influence  in  this  parliament.  In  Scotland,  all  the  bishoprics, 
and  those  abbeys  which  conferred  a  title  to  a  seat  in  parliament,  were  in 
the  gift  of  the  crown.J  From  the  time  of  her  accession  to  the  regency, 
the  queen  had  kept  in  her  own  hands  almost  all  those  which  became 
vacant,  except  such  as  were,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  nation,  bestowed 
upon  foreigners.  Among  these,  her  brother  the  cardinal  of  Lorrain  had 
obtained  the  abbeys  of  Kelso  and  Melross,  two  of  the  most  wealthy 
foundations  in  the  kingdom. §  By  this  conduct  she  thinned  the  ecclesias- 
tical bench,||  which  was  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the  archbishop  of 
St.  Andrew's,  and  which,  by  its  numbers  and  authority,  usually  had  great 
weight  in  the  house,  so  as  to  render  any  opposition  it  could  give  at  that 
time  of  little  consequence. 

*  The  act  of  parliament  is  worded  with  the  utmost  care,  with  a  view  to  guard  against  any 
breach  of  the  order  of  succession.  But  the  duke,  not  relying  on  this  alone,  entered  a  solemn  pro 
testation  to  secure  his  own  right.  Keith,  76.  It  is  plain  that  he  suspected  the  French  of  having 
iome  intention  to  set  aside  his  right  of  succession  ;  and,  indeed,  if  they  had  no  design  of  that  kind, 
the  eagerness  with  which  they  urged  their  demand  was  childish. 

f  Melv.  47.  t  See  Book  I.  6  Lesly,  202. 

||  It  appears  from  the  rolls  of  this  parliament,  which  Lesly  calls  a  very  full  one,  that  only  seven 
bishops  and  sixteen  abbots  were  Dreaent. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  71 

The  earl  of  Argyll,  and  James  Stewart,  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  one  of  the 
most  powerful,  and  the  other  the  most  popular  leader  of  the  Protestants, 
were  appointed  to  carry  the  crown  and  other  ensigns  of  royalty  to  the 
dauphin.  But  from  this  they  were  diverted  by  the  part  they  were  called 
to  act  in  a  more  interesting  scene,  which  now  begins  to  open. 

Before  we  turn  towards  this,  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  on  the 
seventeenth  of  November,  one  thousand  live  hundred  and  fifty -eight,  Mary 
of  England  finished  her  short  and  inglorious  reign.  Her  sister  Elizabeth 
took  possession  of  the  throne  without  opposition  ;  and  the  protestant 
religion  was  once  more  established  by  law  in  England.  The  accession  of 
a  queen,  who,  under  very  difficult  circumstances,  had  given  strong  indica 
tions  of  those  eminent  qualities  which,  in  the  sequel,  rendered  her  reign 
so  illustrious,  attracted  the  eyes  of  all  Europe.  Among  the  Scots,  both 
parties  observed  her  first  motions  with  the  utmost  solicitude,  as  they  easily 
foresaw  that  she  would  not  remain  long  an  indifferent  spectator  of  their 
transactions. 

Under  many  discouragements  and  much  oppression,  the  reformation 
advanced  towards  a  full  establishment  in  Scotland.  All  the  low  country, 
the  most  populous,  and  at  that  time  the  most  warlike  part  of  the  kingdom, 
was  deeply  tinctured  with  the  protestant  opinions ;  and  if  the  same 
impressions  were  not  made  in  the  more  distant  counties,  it  was  owing  to 
no  want  of  the  same  dispositions  among  the  people,  but  to  the  scarcity  of 
preachers,  whose  most  indefatigable  zeal  could  not  satisfy  the  avidity  ot 
those  who  desired  their  instructions.  Among  a  people  bred  to  arms,  and 
as  prompt  as  the  Scots  to  act  with  violence  ;  and  in  an  age  when  religious 
passions  had  taken  such  strong  possession  of  the  human  mind,  and  moved 
and  agitated  it  with  so  much  violence,  the  peaceable  and  regular  demean- 
our of  so  numerous  a  party  is  astonishing.  From  the  death  of  Mr.  Patrick 
Hamilton,  the  first  who  suffered  in  Scotland  for  the  protestant  religion, 
thirty  years  had  elapsed,  and  during  so  long  a  period  no  violation  of  public 
order  or  tranquillity  had  proceeded  from  that  sect  ;*  and  though  roused 
and  irritated  by  the  most  cruel  excesses  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  they 
did  in  no  instance  transgress  those  bounds  of  duty  which  the  law  prescribes 
to  subjects.  Besides  the  prudence  of  their  own  leaders,  and  the  protection 
which  the  queen  regent,  from  political  motives,  afforded  them,  the  modera- 
tion of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  encouraged  this  pacific  disposition. 
That  prelate,  whose  private  life  contemporary  writers  tax  with  great 
irregularities,!  governed  the  church,  for  some  years,  with  a  temper  and 
prudence  of  which  there  are  few  examples  in  that  age.  But  some  time 
before  the  meeting  of  the  last  parliament,  the  archbishop  departed  from 
those  humane  maxims  by  which  he  had  hitherto  regulated  his  conduct ; 
and,  whether  in  spite  to  the  queen,  who  had  entered  into  so  close  a  union 
with  the  protestants,  or  in  compliance  with  the  importunities  of  his  clergy, 
ne  let  loose  all  the  rage  of  persecution  against  the  reformed ;  sentenced 
to  the  flames  an  aged  priest,  who  had  been  convicted  of  embracing  the 
protestant  opinions  ;  and  summoned  several  others,  suspected  of  the  same 
crime,  to  appear  before  a  synod  of  the  clergy,  which  was  soon  to  convene 
at  Edinburgh. 

Nothing  could  equal  the  honor  of  the  protestants  at  this  unexpected 
and  barbarous  execution,  but  the  zeal  with  which  they  espoused  the  defence 
of  a  cause  that  now  seemed  devoted  to  destruction.  They  had  imme- 
diate recourse  to  the  queen  regent  ;  and  as  her  success  in  the  parliament, 
which  was  then  about  to  meet,  depended  on  their  concurrence,  she  eigj 
only  sheltered  them  from  the  impending  storm,  but  permitted  them  die 
exercise  of  their  religion  with  more  freedom  than   they  had  hitherto 

*  The  rrrirder  of  cardinal  Beatoun  was  occasioned  by  private  revenge ;  and  being  contrived  and 
executed  by  sixteen  persons  only,  cannot  with  justice  be  imputed  to  the  whole  protestant  party. 
t  Knox,  Buchanan,  Keith,  308.  ' 


72  THE  HISTORY  t«ooK  11. 

enjoyed.  Unsatisfied  with  this  precarious  tenure  by  which  they  held 
their  religious  liberty,  the  protestants  laboured  to  render  their  possession 
of  it  more  secure  and  independent.  With  this  view  they  determined  to 
petition  the  parliament  for  some  legal  protection  against  the  exorbitant 
and  oppressive  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  which,  by  their 
arbitrary  method  of  proceeding,  founded  in  the  canon  law,  were  led  10 
sentences  the  most  shocking  to  humanity,  by  maxims  the  most  repugnant 
to  justice.  But  the  queen,  who  dreaded  the  effect  ot  a  debate  on  tins 
delicate  subject,  which  could  not  fail  of  exciting  high  and  dangerous  pas- 
sions, prevailed  on  the  leaders  of  the  party,  by  new  and  more  solemn 
promises  of  her  protection,  to  desist  from  any  application  to  parliament, 
where  their  numbers  and  influence  would,  in  all  probability,  have  procured 
them,  if  not  entire  redress,  at  least  some  mitigation  of  their  grievances. 

They  applied  to  another  assembly,  to  a  convocation  of  the  popish  clergy, 
but  with  the  same  ill  success  which  hath  always  attended  every  proposal 
for  reformation  addressed  to  that  order  of  men.  To  abandon  usurped 
power,  to  renounce  lucrative  error,  are  sacrifices  which  the  virtue  of  indi- 
viduals has,  on  some  occasions,  offered  to  truth  ;  but  from  any  society  of 
men  no  such  effort  can  be  expected.  The  corruptions  of  a  society  recom- 
mended by  common  utility,  and  justified  by  universal  practice,  are  viewed 
by  its  members  without  shame  or  horror  ;  and  reformation  never  proceeds 
from  themselves,  but  is  always  forced  upon  them  by  some  foreign  hand. 
Suitable  to  this  unfeeling  and  inflexible  spirit  was  the  behaviour  ot  the 
convocation  in  the  present  conjuncture.  All  the  demands  of  the  protes- 
tants were  rejected  with  contempt ;  and  the  popish  clergy,  far  from  endea 
vouring,  by  any  prudent  concessions,  to  sooth  and  to  reconcile  such  a 
numerous  body,  asserted  the  doctrines  of  their  church,  concerning  some 
of  the  most  exceptionable  articles,  with  an  ill  timed  rigour,  which  gave 
new  offence.* 

1559.]  During  the  sitting  of  the  convocation,  the  protestants  first  began 
to  suspect  some  change  in  the  regent's  disposition  towards  them.  Though 
joined  with  them  for  many  years  by  interest,  and  united,  as  they  conceived, 
by  the  strongest  ties  of  affection  and  of  gratitude,  she  discovered,  on  this 
occasion,  evident  symptoms,  not  only  of  coldness,  but  of  a  growing  disgust 
and  aversion.  In  order  to  account  for  this,  our  historians  do  little  more 
than  produce  the  trite  observations  concerning  the  influence  of  prosperity 
to  alter  the  character  and  to  corrupt  the  heart.  The  queen,  say  they, 
having  reached  the  utmost  point  to  which  her  ambition  aspired,  no  longer 
preserved  her  accustomed  moderation,  but,  with  an  insolence  usual  to  the 
fortunate,  looked  down  upon  those  by  whose  assistance  she  had  been 
enabled  to  rise  so  high.  But  it  is  neither  in  the  depravity  of  the  human 
heart  nor  in  the  ingratitude  of  the  queen's  disposition  that  we  must  search 
for  the  motives  of  her  present  conduct.  These  were  derived  from  another 
and  a  more  remote  source,  which,  in  order  to  clear  the  subsequent  trans- 
itions, we  shall  endeavour  to  open  with  some  care. 

The  ambition  of  the  princes  oi  Lorrain  had  been  no  less  successful  than 
daring ;  but  all  their  schemes  were  distinguished  by  being  vast  and 
unbounded.  Though  strangers  at  the  court  of  France,  their  eminent  qua- 
lities had  raised  them,  in  a  short  time,  to  a  height  of  power  superior  to 
that  of  all  other  subjects,  and  had  placed  them  on  a  level  even  with  the 
princes  of  the  blood  themselves.  The  church,  the  army,  the  revenue, 
were  under  their  direction.  Nothing  but  the  royal  dignity  remained 
unattained,  and  they  were  elevated  to  a  near  alliance  with  it,  by  the  mar- 
riage of  the  queen  of  Scots  to  the  dauphin.  In  order  to  gratify  their  own 
vanity,  and  to  render  their  niece  more  worthy  the  heir  of  France,  they  set 
on  foot  her  claim  to  the  crown  of  England,  which  was  founded  on  pre- 
tences not  implausible. 

•  Keith,  81 


OF   SCOTLAND.  73 

The  tragical  amours  and  marriages  of  Henry  VIll.  are  known  to  all  the 
world.  Moved  by  the  caprices  of  his  love  or  of  his  resentment,  that 
impatient  and  arbitrary  monarch  had  divorced  or  beheaded  four  of  the  six 
queens  whom  he  married.  In  order  to  gratify  him,  both  his  daughters 
had  been  declared  illegitimate  by  an  act  of  parliament;  and  yet,  with  that 
fantastic  inconsistence  which  distinguishes  his  character,  he,  in  his  last 
will,  whereby  he  was  empowered  to  settle  the  order  of  succession,  called 
both  of  them  to  the  throne  upon  the  death  of  their  brother  Edward ,  and 
at  the  same  time,  passing  by  the  posterity  of  his  eldest  sister  Margare 
queen  of  Scotland,  he  appointed  the  line  of  succession  to  continue  in  the 
descendants  of  his  younger  sister,  the  dutchess  of  Suffolk. 

In  consequence  of  this  destination,  the  validity  whereof  was  admitted  by 
the  English,  but  never  recognised  by  foreigners,  Mary  had  reigned  in  Eng- 
land without  the  least  complaint  of  neighbouring  princes.  But  the  same 
causes  which  facilitated  her  accession  to  the  throne  were  obstacles  to  the 
elevation  of  her  sister  Elizabeth,  and  rendered  her  possession  of  it  preca- 
rious and  insecure.  Rome  trembled  for  the  catholic  faith  under  a  protes 
fant  queen  of  such  eminent  abilities.  The  same  superstitious  fears  alarmed 
the  court  of  Spain.  France  beheld  with  concern  a  throne,  to  which  the 
queen  of  Scots  could  form  so  many  pretensions,  occupied  by  a  rival,  whose 
birth,  in  the  opinion  of  all  good  catholics,  excluded  her  from  any  lega1 
right  of  succession.  The  impotent  hatred  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  or  the 
slow  councils  of  Philip  11.  would  have  produced  no  sudden  or  formidable 
effect.  The  ardent  and  impetuous  ambition  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  who 
at  that  time  governed  the  court  of  France,  was  more  decisive,  and  more  to 
be  dreaded.  Instigated  by  them,  Henry,  soon  aftei  the  death  of  Mary, 
persuaded  his  daughter-in-law  and  her  husband  to  assume  the  title  of 
king  and  queen  of  England.  They  affected  to  publish  this  to  all  Europe. 
They  used  that  style  and  appellation  in  public  papers,  some  of  which  still 
remain.*  The  arms  of  England  were  engraved  on  their  coin  and  plate, 
and  borne  by  them  on  all  occasions.  No  preparations,  however,  were 
made  to  support  this  impolitic  and  premature  claim.  Elizabeth  was 
already  seated  on  her  throne  ;  she  possessed  all  the  intrepidity  of  spirit, 
and  all  the  arts  of  policy,  which  were  necessary  for  maintaining  that  sta- 
tion. England  was  growing  into  reputation  for  naval  power.  1  he  marine 
of  France  had  been  utterly  neglected  ;  and  Scotland  remained  the  only 
avenue  by  which  the  territories  of  Elizabeth  could  be  approached,  ft 
was  on  that  side,  therefore,  that  the  princes  of  Lorrain  determined  to  make 
their  attack  ;|  and,  by  using  the  name  and  pretensions  of  the  Scottish 
queen,  the}-  hoped  to  rouse  the  English  catholics,  formidable  at  that  time 
by  their  zeal  and  numbers,  and  exasperated  to  the  utmost  against  Eliza- 
beth on  account  of  the  change  which  she  had  made  in  the  national 
religion. 

It  was  in  vain  to  expect  the  assistance  of  the  Scottish  protestants  to 
dethrone  a  queen  whom  all  Europe  began  to  consider  the  most  powerful 
guardian  and  defender  of  the  reformed  faith.  To  break  the  power  and 
reputation  of  that  party  in  Scotland  became,  for  this  reason,  a  necessary 
step  towards  the  invasion  of  England.  With  this  the  princes  of  Lorrain 
resolved  to  open  their  scheme.  And  as  persecution  was  the  only  method 
for  suppressing  religious  opinions  known  in  that  age,  or  dictated  by  the 
despotic  and  sanguinary  spirit  of  the  Romish  superstition,  this,  in  its  utmost 
violence,  they  determined  to  employ.  The  earl  of  Argyll,  the  prior  of 
St.  Andrew's,  and  other  leaders  of  the  party,  were  marked  out  by  them 
for  immediate  destruction  ;|  and  they  hoped,  by  punishing  them,  to  intimi- 
date their  followers.  Instructions  for  this  purpose  were  sent  from  France 
to  the  queen  regent.     That  humane  and  sagacious  princess  condemned  a 

*  '  uders.  Oiulom.  Scot.  Nos.  68  «nef  164.        t  Forbos's  Collect.  J.  253.  269  279.  404.        t  Ib.i.  199. 
OL.  III.— 10 


74  THE    HISTORY  [Book  II. 

measure  which  was  equally  violent  and  impolitic.     By  long  residence  in 
Scotland,  she  had  become  acquainted  with  the  eager  and  impatient  temper 
of  the  nation  ;  she  well  knew  the  power,  the  number,  and  popularity  of 
hie  protestant  leaders  ;  and  had  been  a  witness  to  the  intrepid  and  uncon- 
querable  resolution  which  religious  fervour  could   inspire.     What  then 
could  be  gained  by  rousing  this  dangerous  spirit,  which  hitherto  all  the 
arts  of  policy  had  scarcely  been  able  to  restrain  ?     If  it  once  broke  loose, 
the  authority  of  a  regent  would  be  little   capable  to  subdue,  or  even  to 
moderate  its  rage.     If,  in  order  to  quell  it,  foreign  forces  were  called  in 
this  would  give  the  alarm  to  the  whole  nation,  irritated  already  at  ths 
excessive  power  which  the  French  possessed  in  the  kingdom,  and  sus 
picious  of  all  their  designs.     Amidst  the  shock  which  this  might  occasion 
far  from  hoping  to  exterminate  the  protestant  doctrine,  it  would  be  well  it 
the  whole  fabric  of  the  established  church  were  not  shaken,  and  perhaps 
overturned  from  the  foundation.     These  prudent  remonstrances  made  no 
impression  on  her  brothers ;  precipitant,  but  inflexible  in  all  their  resolu 
tions,  they  insisted  on  the  full  and  rigorous  execution  of  their  plan.    Mary, 
passionately  devoted  to  the  interest  of  France,  and  ready,  on  all  occasions, 
to  sacrifice  her  own  opinions  to  the  inclinations  of  her  brothers,  prepared 
to  execute  their  commands  with   implicit  submission  ;*  and,  contrary  to 
her  own  judgment  and  to  all  the  rules  ot  sound  policy,  she  became  the 
instrument  of  exciting  civil  commotions  in  Scotland,  the  fatal  termination  of 
which  she  foresaw  and  dreaded. 

From  the  time  of  the  queen's  competition  lor  the  regency  with  the  duke 
of  Chatelherault,  the  popish  clergy,  under  the  direction  of  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  had  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  all  her  measures.  Her 
first  step  towards  the  execution  of  her  new  scheme  was  to  regain  their 
favour.  Nor  was  this  reconcilement  a  matter  of  difficulty.  The  popish 
ecclesiastics,  separated  from  the  rest  of  mankind  by  the  law  of  celibacy, 
one  of  the  boldest  and  most  successful  efforts  of  human  policy ;  and  com- 
bined among  themselves  in  the  closest  and  most  sacred  union,  have  been 
accustomed,  in  every  age,  to  sacrifice  all  private  and  particular  passions  to 
the  dignity  and  interest  of  their  order.  Delighted  on  this  occasion  with 
the  prospect  of  triumphing  over  a  faction,  the  encroachments  of  which  they 
had  long  dreaded,  and  animated  with  the  hopes  of  re-establishing  their 
declining  grandeur  on  a  firmer  basis,  they  at  once  cancelled  the  memory  of 
past  injuries,  and  engaged  to  second  the  queen  in  all  her  attempts  to  check 
the  progress  of  the  reformation.  The  queen,  being  secure  of  their  assist- 
ance, openly  approved  of  the  decrees  of  the  convocation,  by  which  the 
principles  of  the  reformers  were  condemned ;  and  at  the  same  time  she 
issued  a  proclamation,  enjoining  all  persons  to  observe  the  approaching 
festival  of  Easter  according  to  the  Romish  ritual. 

As  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  mistake  the  queen's  intentions,  the  pro 
testants,  who  saw  the  danger  approach,  in  order  to  avert  it,  employed  the 
earl  of  Glencairn,  and  sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  London,  to  expostulate  with 
her  concerning  this  change  towards  severity,  which  their  former  services 
had  so  little  merited,  and  which  her  reiterated  promises  gave  them  no  rea- 
son to  expect.  She,  without  disguise  or  apology,  avowed  to  them  her 
resolution  of  extirpating  the  reformed  religion  out  of  the  kingdom.  And, 
upon  their  urging  her  former  engagements  with  an  uncourtly  but  honest 
boldness,  she  so  far  forgot  her  usual  moderation,  as  to  utter  a  sentiment, 
which,  however  apt  those  of  royal  condition  may  be  to  entertain  it,  pru- 
dence should  teach  them  to  conceal  as  much  as  possible.  "The  promises 
of  princes,"  says  she,"  ought  not  to  be  too  caretully  remembered,  nor  the 
performance  of  them  exacted,  unless  it  suits  their  own  conveniency." 

The  indignation  which  betrayed  the  queen  into  this  rash  expression  was 

•  MeW.  48.    Mem.  de  Caste!n§\j,  a,\   J  ebb.  yo\-  \i  4/$ 


OF  SCOTLAND.  76 

nothing  in  comparison  of  lhat  with  which  she  was  animated  upon  hearing 
that  the  public  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion  had  been  introduced  into 
.he  town  of  Perth.  At  once  she  threw  off  the  mask,  and  issued  a  mandate, 
summoning  all  the  protestant  preachers  in  the  kingdom  to  a  court  o!  justice, 
which  was  to  be  held  at  Stirling  on  the  tenth  ol  May.  The  proteslanls, 
who,  from  their  union,  began  about  this  time  to  be  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  the  Congregation,  were  alarmed,  but  not  intimidated  by  this 
danger;  and  instantly  resolved  not  to  abandon  the  men  to  whom  they  were 
indebted  for  the  most  valuable  of  all  blessings,  the  knowledge  of  truth.  At 
that  time  there  prevailed  in  Scotland,  with  respect  to  criminal  trials,  a 
custom,  introduced  at  first  by  the  institutions  of  vassalage  and  clanship, 
and  tolerated  afterwards  under  a  (eeble  government  :  persons  accused  oi 
any  crime  were  accompanied  to  the  place  of  trial  by  a  retinue  of  then 
friends  and  adherents,  assembled  for  that  purpose  from  every  quarter  of 
the  kingdom.  Authorized  by  this  ancient  practice,  the  reformed  convened 
in  great  numbers  to  attend  their  pastors  to  Stirling.  The  queen  dreaded 
their  approach  with  a  train  so  numerous,  though  unarmed  ;  and  in  order  to 
prevent  them  from  advancing,  she  empowered  John  Erskine  of  Dun,  a 
person  of  eminent  authority  with  the  party,  to  promise  in  her  name  that 
she  would  put  a  stop  to  the  intended  trial,  on  condition  the  preachers  and 
their  retinue  advanced  no  nearer  to  Stirling.  Erskine,  being  convinced 
himself  of  the  queen's  sincerity,  served  her  with  the  utmost  zeal ;  and  the 
protestants,  averse  from  proceeding  to  any  act  of  violence,  listened  with 
yveasure  to  so  pacific  a  proposition.  The  preachers,  with  a  few  leaders  of 
the  party,  remained  at  Perth  ;  the  multitude  which  had  gathered  from 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom  dispersed,  and  retired  to  their  own 
habitations. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  solemn  promise,  the  queen,  on  the  tenth  of 
May,  proceeded  to  call  to  trial  the  persons  who  had  been  summoned,  and 
upon  their  non-appearance,  the  rigour  of  justice  took  place,  and  they  were 
pronounced  outlaws.  By  this  ignoble  artifice,  so  incompatible  with  regal 
dignity,  and  so  inconsistent  with  that  integrity  which  should  prevail  in  all 
transactions  between  sovereigns  and  their  subjects,  the  queen  forfeited  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  the  whole  nation.  The  protestants,  shocked  no 
less  at  the  indecency  with  which  she  violated  the  public  faith,  than  at  the 
danger  which  threatened  themselves,  prepared  boldly  for  their  own  de- 
fence. Erskine,  enraged  at  having  been  made  the  instrument  for  deceiving 
his  party,  instantly  abandoned  Stirling,  and  repairing  to  Perth,  added  to 
the  zeal  of  his  associates,  by  his  representations  of  the  queen's  inflexible 
resolution  to  suppress  religion.* 

The  popular  rhetoric  of  Knox  powerfully  seconded  his  representations  ; 
he  having  been  carried  a  prisoner  into  France,  together  with  the  other  per- 
sons taken  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's,  soon  made  his  escape  out  of  that 
country  ;  and  residing  sometimes  in  England,  sometimes  in  Scotland,  had 
at  last  been  driven  out  ot  both  kingdoms  by  the  rage  of  the  popish  clergy, 
and  was  obliged  to  retire  to  Geneva.  Thence  he  was  called  by  the  lead- 
ers of  the  protestants  in  Scotland  ;  and,  in  compliance  with  their  solicita- 
tions, he  set  out  for  his  native  country,  where  he  arrived  a  few  days  before 
lhe  trial  appointed  at  Stirling.  He  hurried  instantly  to  Perth,  to  share 
with  his  brethren  in  the  common  danger,  or  to  assist  them  in  the  common 
cause.  While  their  minds  were  in  that  ferment  which  the  queen's  per- 
tidiousness  and  their  own  danger  occasioned,  he  mounted  the  pulpit,  and 
by  a  vehement  harangue  against  idolatry,  inflamed  the  multitude  with  the 
utmost  rage.  The  indiscretion  of  a  priest,  who,  immediately  after  Knox's 
sermon,  was  preparing  to  celebrate  mass,  and  began  to  decorate  the  altar 
for  thai  purpose,  precipitated  them  into  immediate  action.     With  tumultu 

*  Keilh,  p.  84 


76  THE   HISTORY  [Book  1! 

ary  but  irresistible  violence  they  fell  uptn  the  churches  in  that  city,  over- 
turned the  altars,  defaced  the  pictures,  broke  in  pieces  the  images ;  and 
proceeding  next  to  the  monasteries,  ihey  in  a  few  hours  laid  those  sump- 
tuous fabrics  almost  level  with  the  ground.  This  riotous  insurrection  was 
not  the  effect  of  any  concert  or  pievious  deliberation  ;  censured  by  the 
reformed  preachers,  and  publicly  condemned  by  persons  of  most  power 
and  credit  with  the  party,  it  must  be  regarded  merely  as  an  accidental 
eruption  of  popular  rage.* 

But  to  the  queen  dowager  these  proceedings  appeared  in  a  very  differ- 
ent light.  Besides  their  manifest  contempt  for  her  authority,  the  protest- 
ants  bad  violated  every  thing  in  religion  which  she  deemed  venerable  01 
holy;  and  on  both  these  accounts,  she  determined  to  inflict  the  severest 
vengeance  on  the  whole  party.  She  had  already  drawn  the  troops  in 
French  pay  to  Stirling  ;  with  these,  and  what  Scottish  forces  she  could  levy 
of  a  sudden,  she  marched  directly  to  Perth,  in  hopes  of  surprising  the  pro- 
testant  leaders  before  they  could  assemble  their  followers,  whom,  out  oi 
confidence  in  her  disingenuous  promises,  they  had  been  rashly  ind-uced  to 
dismiss.  Intelligence  of  these  preparations  and  menaces  was  soon  con- 
veyed to  Perth.  The  protestants  would  gladly  have  soothed  the  queen, 
by  addresses  both  to  herself  and  to  the  persons  of  greatest  credit  in  her 
court;  but,  finding  her  inexorable,  they  with  great  vigour  took  measures 
for  their  own  defence.  Their  adherents,  animated  with  zeal  for  religion, 
and  eager  to  expose  themselves  in  so  good  a  cause,  flocked  in  such  num- 
bers to  Perth  that  they  not  only  secured  the  town  from  danger,  but  within 
a  few  days  were  in  a  condition  to  take  the  field,  and  to  face  the  queen, 
who  advanced  with  an  army  seven  thousand  strong. 

Neither  party,  however,  was  impatient  to  engage.  The  queen  dreaded 
the  event  of  a  battle  with  men  whom  the  fervour  of  religion  raised  above 
the  sense  of  fear  or  danger.  The  protestants  I  eheld  with  regret  the  earl 
of  Argyll,  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  some  other  eminent  persons  ol 
their  party,  still  adhering  to  the  queen  ;  and,  destitute  of  their  aid  and 
counsel,  declined  hazarding  an  action,  the  ill  success  of  which  might  have 
proved  the  ruin  of  their  cause.  The  prospect  of  an  accommodation  was 
for  these  reasons  highly  acceptable  to  both  sides  :  Argyll  and  the  prior, 
who  were  the  queen  s  commissioners  for  conducting  the  negotiation,  seem 
to  have  been  sincerely  desirous  of  reconciling  the  contending  factions  ; 
and  the  earl  of  Glencairn,  arriving  unexpectedly  with  a  powerful  reinforce- 
ment to  the  congregation,  augmented  the  queen's  eagerness  for  peace.  A 
ireaty  was  accordingly  concluded,  in  which  it  was  stipulated  that  both 
armies  should  be  disbanded,  and  the  gates  of  Perth  set  open  to  the  queen  ; 
that  indemnity  should  be  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  and  to  all 
others  concerned  in  the  late  insurrection  ;  that  no  French  garrison  should 
he  left  in  Perth,  and  no  French  soldier  should  approach  within  three  miles 
of  that  place  ;  and  that  a  parliament  should  immediately  be  held,  in  order 
to  compose  whatever  difference  might  still  remain.! 

May  29.]  The  leaders  ot  the  congregation,  distrustful  of  the  queen's 
sincerity,  and  sensible  that  concessions,  flowing  not  from  inclination,  but 
extorted  by  the  necessity  of  her  affairs,  couid  not  long  remain  in  force, 
entered  into  a  new  association,  by  which  they  bound  themselves,  on  the 
first  infringement  of  the  present  treaty,  or  on  the  least  appearance  of  dan- 
ger to  their  religion,  to  reassemble  their  followers,  and  to  take  arms  in 
defence  of  what  they  deemed  the  cause  of  God  and  of  their  country  .J 

The  queen,  by  her  conduct,  demonstrated  these  precautions  to  be  the 
result  of  no  groundless  or  unnecessary  fear.  No  sooner  were  the  protest- 
ant  forces  dismissed  than  she  broke  every  artxle  in  the  treaty.  She  intro- 
duced French  troops  into  Perth,  fined  some  of  the  inhabitants,  banished 

*  Knox.  Hi*.  137, 138.  t  Keith,  89  {  Knoi,  238. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  77 

Dthers,  removed  the  magistrates  out  of  office;  and  on  bei  retiring  to  Stir 
ling,  she  left  behind  hera  garrison  of  sk  hundred  men,  with  orders  to  allow 
the  exercise  of  no  other  religion  than  the  Roman  catholic.  The  situation 
of  Perth,  a  place  at  that  time  of  some  strength,  and  a  town  among  the 
most  proper  of  any  in  the  kingdom  for  the  station  of  a  garrison,  seems  to 
have  allured  the  queen  to  this  unjustifiable  and  ill-judged  breach  of  public 
faith  ;  which  she  endeavoured  to  colour  by  alleging  that  the  body  of  men 
left  at  Perth  was  entirely  composed  of  native  Scots,  though  kept  in  pay 
by  the  king  of  France. 

The  queen's  scheme  began  gradually  to  unfold;  it  was  now  apparent 
that  not  only  the  religion  but  the  liberties  of  the  kingdom  were  threatened: 
and  that  the  French  troops  were  to  be  employed  as  instruments  for  subdu- 
ing the  Scots,  and  wreathing  the  yoke  about  their  necks.  Martial  as  the 
genius  of  the  Scots  then  was,  the  poverty  of  their  country  made  it  impos- 
sible to  keep  their  armies  long  assembled  ;  and  even  a  very  small  body  of 
regular  troops  might  have  proved  formidable  to  the  nation,  though  consist- 
ing wholly  of  soldiers.  But  what  number  of  French  forces  were  then  in 
Scotland,  at  what  times  and  under  what  pretext  they  returned,  after  having 
left  the  kingdom  in  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty,  we  cannot  with 
any  certainty  determine.  Contemporary  historians  often  select  with  little 
judgment  the  circumstances  which  they  transmit  to  posterity  ;  and  wit" 
respect  to  matters  of  the  greatest  curiosity  and  importance,  leave  succeed 
ing  ages  altogether  in  the  dark.  We  may  conjecture,  however,  from  some 
passages  in  Buchanan,  that  the  French  and  Scots  in  French  pay  amounted 
at  least  to  three  thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Monsieur  D'Oysel, 
a  creature  of  the  house  of  Guise  ;  and  they  were  soon  augmented  to  a 
much  more  formidable  number. 

The  queen,  encouraged  by  having  so  considerable  a  body  of  well  dis- 
ciplined troops  at  her  command,  and  instigated  by  the  violent  counsels  of 
D*Oysel,  had  ventured,  as  we  have  observed,  to  violate  the  treaty  of  Perth, 
and  by  that  rash  action  once  more  threw  the  nation  into  the  most  dangerous 
convulsions.  The  earl  of  Argyll  and  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  instantly 
deserted  a  court  where  faith  and  honour  seemed  to  them  to  be  no  longer 
regarded  ;  and  joined  the  leaders  of  the  congregation,  who  had  retreated 
to  the  eastern  part  of  Fife.  The  barons  from  the  neighbouring  counties 
repaired  to  them,  the  preachers  roused  the  people  to  arms,  and  wherever 
they  came,  the  same  violent  operations,  which  accident  had  occasioned  at 
Perth,  were  now  encouraged  out  of  policy.  The  enraged  multitude  was 
let  loose,  and  churches  and  monasteries,  the  monuments  of  ecclesiastic 
pride  and  luxury,  were  sacrificed  to  their  zeal. 

In  order  to  check  their  career,  the  queen,  without  losing  a  moment,  put 
her  troops  in  motion ;  but  the  zeal  of  the  congregation  got  the  start  once 
more  of  her  vigilance  and  activity.  In  that  warlike  age,  when  all  men 
wi;re  accustomed  to  arms,  and  on  the  least  prospect  of  danger  were  ready 
u>  run  to  them,  the  leaders  of  the  protestants  found  no  difficulty  to  raise  an 
inriy.  Though  they  set  out  from  St.  Andrew's  with  a  slender  train  of  a 
hundred  horse,  crowds  flocked  to  their  standards  from  every  corner  of  the 
country  through  which  they  marched  ;  and  before  they  reached  Falkland, 
a  village  only  ten  miles  distant,  they  were  able  to  meet  the  queen  with 
superior  force.* 

The  queen,  surprised  at  the  approach  of  so  formidable  a  body,  which 
was  dravyn  up  by  its  leaders  in  such  a  manner  as  added  greatly  in  appear- 
ance to  its  numbers,  had  again  recourse  to  negotiation.  She  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  preservation  of  the  protsstant  religion,  their  zeal  for  whicn 
had  at  first  roused  the  leaders  of  the  congregation  to  take  arms,  was  not 
the  only  object  they  had  now  in  view.     They  were  animated  with  the 

*  Knox.  141 


78  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

warmest  love  of  civil  liberty,  which  they  conceived  to  be  in  imminent 
danger  from  the  attempts  of  the  French  forces ;  and  those  two  passions 
mingling,  added  reciprocally  to  each  other's  strength.  Together  with 
more  enlarged  notions  in  religion,  the  reformation  filled  the  human  .rind 
with  more  liberal  and  generous  sentiments  concerning  civil  government. 
The  genius  of  popery  is  extremely  favourable  to  the  power  of  princes. 
The  implicit  submission  to  all  her  decrees,  which  is  exacted  by  the  Romish 
church,  prepares  and  breaks  the  mind  for  political  servitude  ,  and  the 
doctrines  of  the  reformers,  by  overturning  the  estaL.ished  system  of  su- 
perstition, weakened  the  firmest  foundations  of  civil  tyranny.  That  bold 
spirit  of  inquiry,  which  led  men  to  reject  theological  errors,  accompanied 
them  in  other  sciences,  and  discovered  every  where  the  same  manly  zeal 
for  truth.  A  new  study,  introduced  at  the  same  time,  added  greater  force 
to  the  spirit  of  liberty.  Men  became  more  acquainted  with  the  Greek  and 
Roman  authors,  who  described  exquisite  models  of  free  government,  far 
superior  to  the  inaccurate  and  oppressive  system  established  by  the  feudal 
law  ;  and  produced  such  illustrious  examples  of  public  virtue  as  wonder- 
fully suited  both  the  circumstances  and  spirit  of  that  age.  Many  among 
the  most  eminent  reformers  were  themselves  considerable  masters  in 
ancient  learning;  and  all  of  them  eagerly  adopted  the  maxims  and  spirit 
of  the  ancients  with  regard  to  government.*  The  most  ardent  love  of 
liberty  accompanied  the  protestant  religion  throughout  all  its  progress;  and 
wherever  it  was  embraced,  it  roused  an  independent  spirit,  which  rendered 
men  attentive  to  their  privileges  as  subjects,  and  jealous  of  the  encroach- 
ments of  their  sovereigns.  Knox  and  the  other  preachers  of  the  reforma- 
tion infused  generous  sentiments  concerning  government  into  the  minds  of 
their  hearers;  and   the  Scottish   barons,  naturally  free    and    bold,  were 

firompted  to  assert  their  rights  with  more  freedom  and  boldness  than  ever. 
nstead  of  obeying  the  queen  regent,  who  had  enjoined  them  to  lay  down 
their  arms,  they  demanded  not  only  the  redress  of  their  religious  grievances, 
but,  as  a  preliminary  toward  settling  the  nation,  and  securing  its  liberties, 
required  the  immediate  expulsion  of  the  French  troops  out  of  Scotland. 
It  was  not  in  the  queen's  power  to  make  so  important  a  concession  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  French  monarch  ;  and  as  some  time  was  requisite 
in  order  to  obtain  that,  she  hoped  during  this  interval  to  receive  such  rein- 
forcements from  France,  as  would  insure  the  accomplishment  of  that  design 
which  she  had  twice  attempted  with  unequal  strength.  [June  13.] 
Meanwhile,  she  agreed  to  a  cessation  of  arms  for  eight  days,  and  before 
the  expiration  of  these,  engaged  to  transport  the  French  troops  to  the 
south  side  of  the  Forth  ;  and  to  send  commissioners  to  St.  Andrew's,  who 
should  labour  to  bring  all  differences  to  an  accommodation.  As  she  hoped, 
by  means  of  the  French  troops,  to  overawe  the  protestants  in  the  southern 
countries,  the  former  article  in  the  treaty  was  punctually  executed;  the 
latter,  having  been  inserted  merely  to  amuse  the  congregation,  was  no 
lunger  remembered. 

By  these  reiterated  and  wanton  instances  of  perfidy,  the  queen  lost  all 
credit  with  her  adversaries;  and  no  safety  appearing  in  any  other  cause, 
they  again  took  arms  with  more  inflamed  resentment,  and  with  bolder  and 
more  extensive  views.  The  removing  of  the  French  forces  had  laid  open 
k  them  all  the  country  situated  between  Forth  and  Tay.  The  inhabitants 
ot  Perth  alone  remaining  subjected  to  the  insolence  and  actions  of  the  gar- 
rison which  the  queen  had  left  there,  implored  the  assistance  of  the  con- 

*  The  excessive  admiration  of  ancient  policy  was  the  occasion  of  Knox's  famous  book  con- 
cerning the  Govrnmrnt  of  Women,  wherein,  conformable  to  the  maxims  of  the  ancient  legislators, 
whicl  modern  experience  has  proved  to  be  ill  founded,  he  pronounces  the  elevation  of  women  tc 
the  supreme  authority  to  be  utterly  destructive  of  good  government.  His  principles,  authorities 
and  examples  were  all  drawn  from  ancient  writers.  The  same  observation  may  be  made  witk 
regard  to  Buchanan's  dialogue,  De  Jure  Hegni  apud  Scotos.  It  is  founded,  not  on  the  maxima  of 
feudal,  but  of  ancient  republican  government. 


-. 


Oh    SCOTLAND  79 

gregation  for  their  relief.  Thither  they  marched,  and  having  without 
effect  required  the  queen  to  evacuate  the  town  in  terms  of  the  formei 
treaty,  they  prepared  to  besiege  it  in  form.  The  queen  employed  tht 
earl  of  Huntly  and  lord  Erskine  to  divert  them  from  this  enterprise.  Bui 
her  wonted  artifices  were  now  of  no  avail  ;  repeated  so  often,  they  could 
deceive  no  longer ;  and,  without  listening  to  her  offers,  the  protestants 
continued  the  siege,  and  soon  obliged  the  garrison  to  capitulate. 

After  the  loss  of  Perth,  the  queen  endeavoured  to  seize  Stirling,  a  place 
of  some  strength,  and,  from  its  command  of  the  only  bridge  over  the 
Forth,  of  great  importance.  But  the  leaders  of  the  congregation,  having 
intelligence  of  her  design,  prevented  the  execution  of  it  by  a  hasty  march 
thither  with  part  of  their  forces.  The  inhabitants,  heartily  attached  to  the 
cause,  set  open  to  them  the  gates  of  their  town.  Thence  they  advanced, 
with  the  same  rapidity,  towards  Edinburgh,  which  the  queen,  on  their 
aoproach,  abandoned  with  precipitation,  and  retired  to  Dunbar. 

The  protestant  army,  wherever  it  came,  kindled  or  spread  the  ardour 
of  reformation,  and  the  utmost  excesses  of  violence  were  committed  upon 
churches  and  monasteries.  The  former  were  spoiled  of  every  decoration, 
which  was  then  esteemed  sacred  ;  the  latter  were  laid  in  ruins.  We  are 
apt,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to  condemn  the  furious  zeal  of  the  reformers, 
and  to  regret  the  overthrow  of  so  many  stately  fabrics,  the  monuments  of 
our  ancestors'  magnificence,  and  among  the  noblest  ornaments  of  the 
kingdom.  But  amidst  the  violence  of  a  reformation,  carried  on  in  oppo- 
sition to  legal  authority,  some  irregularities  were  unavoidable  ;  and  perhaps 
no  one  could  have  been  permitted  more  proper  to  allure  and  interest  the 
multitude,  or  more  fatal  to  the  grandeur  of  the  established  church.  How 
absurd  soever  and  ill  founded  the  speculative  errors  of  popery  may  be, 
some  inquiry  and  attention  are  requisite  towards  discovering  them.  The 
abuses  and  corruptions  which  had  crept  into  the  public  worship  of  that 
church  lay  more  open  to  observation,  and  by  striking  the  senses  excited 
more  universal  disgust.  Under  the  long  reign  of  heathenism,  superstition 
seemed  to  have  exhausted  its  talent  of  invention,  so  that  when  a  super- 
stitious spirit  seized  Christians,  they  were  obliged  to  imitate  the  heathens 
in  the  pomp  and  magnificence  of  their  ceremonies,  and  to  borrow  from 
them  the  ornaments  and  decorations  ot  their  temples.  To  the  pure  and 
simple  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians  there  succeeded  a  species  of 
splendid  idolatry,  nearly  resembling  those  pagan  originals  whence  it  had 
been  copied.  The  contrariety  of  such  observances  to  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity was  almost  the  first  thing,  in  the  Romish  system,  which  awakened 
the  indignation  of  the  reformers,  who,  applying  to  these  the  denunciations 
in  the  Old  Testament  against  idolatry,  imagined  that  they  could  not 
endeavour  at  suppressing  them  with  too  much  zeal.  No  task  could  be 
more  acceptable  to  the  multitude  than  to  overturn  those  seats  of  superstition ; 
they  ran  with  emulation  to  perform  it.  and  happy  was  the  man  whose 
hand  was  most  adventurous  and  successful  in  executing  a  work  deemed  so 
pious.  Nor  did  their  leaders  labour  to  restrain  this  impetuous  spirit  of 
reformation.  Irregular  and  violent  as  its  sallies  were,  they  tended  directly 
to  that  end  which  they  had  in  view ;  for,  by  demolishing  the  monasteries 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  setting  at  liberty  their  wretched  inhabitants, 
'hey  hoped  to  render  it  impossible  ever  to  rebuild  the  one,  or  to  reassemble 
the  other. 

But  amidst  these  irregular  proceedings,  a  circumstance  which  does 
honour  to  the  conduct  and  humanity  of  the  leaders  of  the  congregation 
deserves  notice.  They  so  far  restrained  the  rage  of  their  followers,  and 
were  able  so  to  temper  their  heat  and  zeal  that  few  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  were  exposed  to  any  personal  insult,  and  not  a  stable  man  suffered 
death.* 

*  Lesley,  an.  Jebb  vol.  I.  231 


bo  THE   HISTORY  [Book  11. 

At.  the  same  time  we  discover,  by  the  facility  with  which  these  great 
revolutions  were  effected,  how  violently  the  current  of  national  favour  ran 
towards  the  reformation.  No  more  than  three  hundred  men  marched  out 
of  Perth,  under  the  earl  of  Argyll  and  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  ;*  with  this 
inconsiderable  force  they  advanced.  But  wherever  they  came  the  people 
joined  them  in  a  body ;  their  army  was  seldom  less  numerous  than  five 
'housand  men  ;  the  gates  of  every  town  were  thrown  open  to  receive  them  ; 
[June  29]  and,  without  striking  a  single  blow,  they  took  possession  of  the 
capital  of  the  kingdom. 

This  rapid  and  astonishing  success  seems  to  have  encouraged  the 
reformers  to  extend  their  views,  and  to  rise  in  their  demands.  Not  satisfied 
with  their  first  claim  of  toleration  for  their  religion,  they  now  openly  aimed 
at  establishing  the  protestant  doctrine  on  the  ruins  of  popery.  For  this 
reason  they  determined  to  fix  their  residence  at  Edinburgh  ;  and,  by  their 
appointment,  Knox,  and  some  other  preachers,  taking  possession  of  the 
pulpits,  which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  affrightened  clergy,  declaimed 
against  the  errors  of  popery  with  such  fervent  zeal  as  could  not  fail  ot 
gaining  many  proselytes. 

In  the  mean  time  the  queen,  who  had  prudently  given  way  to  a  torrent 
which  she  could  not  resist,  observed  with  pleasure  that  it  now  began  to 
subside.  The  leaders  of  the  congregation  had  been  above  two  months  in 
arms,  and  by  the  expenses  of  a  campaign,  protracted  so  long  beyond  the 
usual  time  of  service  in  that  age,  had  exhausted  all  the  money  which  a 
country,  where  riches  did  not  abound,  had  been  able  to  supply.  The 
multitude,  dazzled  with  their  success,  and  concluding  the  work  to  be 
already  done,  retired  to  their  own  habitations.  A  few  only  of  the  more 
zealous  or  wealthy  barons  remained  with  their  preachers  at  Edinburgh. 
As  intelligence  is  procured  in  civil  wars  with  little  difficulty,  whatever 
was  transacted  at  Edinburgh  was  soon  known  at  Dunbar.  The  queen, 
regulating  her  own  conduct  by  the  situation  of  her  adversaries,  artfully 
amused  them  with  the  prospect  of  an  immediate  accommodation  ;  while, 
at  the  same  time,  she  by  studied  delays  spun  out  the  negotiations  for  that 
purpose  to  such  a  length  that,  in  the  end,  the  party  dwindled  to  an  incon- 
siderable number ;  and,  as  if  peace  had  been  already  re-established, 
became  careless  of  military  discipline.  The  queen,  who  watched  for  such 
an  opportunity,  advanced  unexpectedly,  by  a  sudden  march  in  the  night, 
with  all  her  forces,  and,  appearing  before  Edinburgh,  filled  that  city  with 
the  utmost  consternation.  The  protestants,  weakened  by  the  imprudent 
dispersion  of  their  followers,  durst  not  encounter  the  French  troops  in  the 
open  field  ;  and  were  even  unable  to  defend  an  ill  fortified  town  agains 
their  assaults.  Unwilling,  however,  to  abandon  the  citizens  to  the  queen's 
mercy,  they  endeavoured,  by  facing  the  enemy's  army,  to  gain  time  for 
collecting  their  own  associates.  But  the  queen,  in  spite  of  all  their  resist- 
ance, would  have  easily  forced  her  way  into  the  town,  if  the  seasonable 
conclusion  of  a  truce  had  not  procured  her  admission  without  the  effusion 
.if  blood. 

Their  dangerous  situation  easily  induced  the  leaders  of  the  congregation 
to  listen  to  any  overtures  of  peace  ;  and  as  the  queen  was  looking  daily 
for  the  arrival  of  a  strong  reinforcement  from  France,  and  expected  great 
advantages  from  a  cessation  of  arms,  she  also  agreed  to  it  upon  no  unequal 
conditions.  Together  with  a  suspension  of  hostilities,  from  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  July  to  the  tenth  of  January,  it  was  stipulated  in  this  treaty  that 
on  the  one  hand  the  protestants  should  open  the  gates  of  Edinburgh  next 
morning  to  the  queen  regent  ;  remain  in  dutiful  subjection  to  her  govern 
ment ;  abstain  from  all  future  violation  01  religious  houses  ;  and  give  no 
interruption  to  the  established  clergy,  either  in  the  discharge  of  their  time- 

*  K  r.AU  ^ 


OF   SCOTLAND.  81 

tions,  or  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  benefices.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
queen  agreed  to  give  no  molestation  to  the  preachers  or  professors  o(  the 
protestant  religion  ;  to  allow  the  citizens  ot  Edinburgh,  (luring  the  cessa 
tion  of  hostilities,  to  enjoy  the  exercise  of  religious  worship  according  to 
the  form  most  agreeable  to  the  conscience  of  each  individual  ;  and  to 
permit  the  free  and  public  profession  of  the  protestant  faith  in  every  pari 
of  the  kingdom.*  The  queen,  by  these  liberal  concessions  in  behalf  ot 
their  religion,  hoped  to  sooth  the  protestants,  and  expected,  frcm  indulging 
their  favourite  passion,  to  render  them  more  compliant  with  resprct  to 
other  articles,  particularly  the  expulsion  of  the  French  troops  out  of  Scot- 
'and.  The  anxiety  which  the  queen  expressed  for  retaining  this  body  01 
men  rendered  them  more  and  more  the  objects  of  national  jealousy  and 
aversion.  The  immediate  expulsion  of  them  was  therefore  demanded 
anew,  and  with  greater  warmth  ,  but  the  queen,  taking  advantage  of  the 
distress  of  the  adverse  party,  eluded  the  request,  and  would  consent  to 
nothing  more  than  that  a  French  garrison  should  not  be  introduced  into 
Edinburgh. 

The  desperate  state  of  their  affairs  imposed  on  the  congregation  the 
necessity  of  agreeing  to  this  article,  which,  however,  was  very  far  from 
giving  them  satisfaction.  Whatever  apprehensions  the  Scots  had  con- 
ceived, from  retaining  the  French  forces  in  the  kingdom,  were  abundantly 
justified  during  the  late  commotions.  A  small  body  of  those  troops,  main- 
tained in  constant  pay,  and  rendered  formidable  by  regular  discipline 
had  checked  the  progress  of  a  martial  people,  though  animated  with  zeal 
both  for  religion  and  liberty.  The  smallest  addition  to  their  number,  and 
a  considerable  one  was  daily  expected,  might  prove  fatal  to  the  public 
liberty,  and  Scotland  might  be  exposed  to  the  danger  of  being  reduced 
from  an  independent  kingdom,  to  the  mean  condition  of  a  province  annexed 
to  the  dominions  of  its  powerful  ally. 

In  order  to  provide  against  this  imminent  calamity,  the  Duke  of  Chatel- 
herault  and  Earl  of  Huntly,  immediately  after  concluding  the  truce, 
desired  an  interview  with  the  chiefs  of  the  congregation.  These  two 
noblemen,  the  most  potent  at  that  time  in  Scotland,  were  the  leaders  ot 
the  party  which  adhered  to  the  established  church.  They  had  followed 
the  queen  during  the  late  commotions  ;  and,  having  access  to  observe 
more  narrowly  the  dangerous  tendency  of  her  counsels,  their  abhorrence 
of  the  yoke  which  was  preparing  for  their  country  surmounted  all  olhei 
considerations,  and  determined  them  rather  to  endanger  the  religion  which 
they  professed  than  to  give  their  aid  towards  the  execution  oi  her  perni- 
cious designs.  They  proceeded  further,  and  promised  to  Argyll,  Glen- 
cairn,  and  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  who  were  appointed  to  meet  them, 
that  \i  the  queen  should,  with  her  usual  insincerity,  violate  any  article  in 
the  treaty  of  truce,  or  refuse  to  gratify  the  wishes  of  the  whole  nation,  by 
dismissing  her  French  troops,  they  would  then  instantly  join  with  their 
countrymen  in  compelling  her  to  a  measure,  which  the  public  safeiy,  and 
the  preservation  of  their  liberties  rendered  necessary.t 

July  8.]  About  this  time  died  Henry  II.  of  France  ;  just  when  he  had 
adopted  a  system,  with  regard  to  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  which  would,  in 
all  probability,  have  restored  union  and  tranquillity  to  that  kingdom.^ 
Towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  the  princes  of  Lorrain  began  visibly  to 
decline  in  favour,  and  the  constable  Montmorency,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
dutchess  of  Valentinois,  recovered  that  ascendant  over  the  spirit  of  h;p 
master,  which  his  great  experience,  and  his  faithful  though  often  unfortu 
nate  services  seemed  justly  to  merit.  That  prudent  minister  imputed  the 
insurrections  in  Scotland  wholly  to  the  duke  of  Guise  and  the  cardinal  ot 
Lorrain,  whose  violent  and  precipitant  counsels  could  not  fail  of  transport- 

*  Keith,  98.     Maitland,  Hist ,  of  Ertin.  16,  17.         t  Kno»,  154  J  Melv  40. 

Vol.  III.— 11 


8*  THE   HISTORY  [Book  II. 

ing  beyond  all  bounds  of  moderation  men  whose  minds  were  possessed 
with  that  jealousy  which  is  inseparable  from  the  love  of  civil  liberty,  01 
inflamed  with  that  ardour  which  accompanies  religious  zeal.  Montmo- 
rency, in  order  to  convince  Henry  thai  lie  did  not  load  his  rivals  with  any 
groundless  accusation,  prevailed  to  have  Melvil,*  a  Scottish  gentleman  oi 
his  retinue,  despatched  into  his  native  country,  with  instructions  to  observe 
the  motions  both  of  the  regent  and  of  her  adversaries  ;  and  the  king  agreed 
to  regulate  his  future  proceedings  in  that  kingdom  by  Melvil's  report. 

Did  history  indulge  herself  in  these  speculations,  it  would  be  amusing  tc 
inquire  what  a  different  direction  might  have  been  given  by  this  resolution 
to  the  national  spirit ;  and  to  what  a  different  issue  Melvil  s  report,  which 
would  have  set  the  conduct  of  the  malecontents  in  the  most  favourable 
light,  might  have  conducted  the  public  disorders.  Perhaps,  by  gentle 
treatment  and  artful  policy,  the  progress  of  the  reformation  might  have 
been  checked,  and  Scotland  brought  to  depend  upon  France.  Perhaps, 
by  gaining  possession  of  this  avenue,  the  French  might  have  made  their 
way  into  England  ;  and,  under  colour  of  supporting  Mary's  title  to  the 
crown,  they  might  not  only  have  defeated  all  Elizabeth's  measures  in  favour 
of  the  reformation,  but  have  re-established  the  Roman  catholic  religion, 
and  destroyed  the  liberties  of  that  kingdom.  But  into  this  boundless  held 
of  fancy  and  conjecture  the  historian  must  make  no  excursions ;  to  relate 
real  occurrences,  and  to  explain  their  real  causes  and  effects,  is  his  peculiar 
and  only  province. 

The  tragical  and  untimely  death  of  the  French  monarch  put  an  end  to 
all  moderate  and  pacific  measures  with  regard  to  Scotland.  The  duke  ot 
Guise,  and  the  cardinal  his  brother,  upon  the  accession  of  Francis  II.,  a 
prince  void  of  genius  and  without  experience,  assumed  the  chief  direction 
of  French  affairs.  Allied  so  nearly  to  the  throne,  by  the  marriage  ot 
their  niece  the  queen  of  Scots  with  the  young  king,  they  now  wanted  but 
little  of  regal  dignity,  and  nothing  of  regal  power.  This  power  did  not 
ong  remain  inactive  in  their  hands.  The  same  vast  schemes  of  ambition, 
which  they  had  planned  out  under  the  former  reign,  were  again  resumed  ; 
and  they  were  enabled,  by  possessing  such  ample  authority,  to  pursue  them 
with  more  vigour  and  greater  probability  of  success.  They  beheld,  with 
infinite  regret,  the  progress  of  the  protestant  religion  in  Scotland  ;  and,  sen- 
sible what  an  unsunnountable  obstacle  it  would  prove  to  their  designs,  they 
bent  all  their  strength  to  check  its  growth  before  it  rose  to  any  greater  height. 
For  this  purpose  they  carried  on  their  preparations  with  all  possible  expe- 
dition, and  encouraged  the  queen  their  sister  to  expect,  in  a  short  time,  the 
arrival  of  an  army  so  powerful  as  the  zeal  of  their  adversaries,  however 
desperate,  would  not  venture  to  oppose. 

Nor  were  the  lords  of  the  congregation  either  ignorant  of  those  violent 
counsels  which  prevailed  in  the  court  of  France  since  the  death  of  Henry, 
or  careless  of  providing  against  the  danger  which  threatened  them  from 
that  quarter.  The  success  of  their  cause,  as  well  as  their  personal  salety, 
depending  entirely  on  the  unanimity  and  vigour  of  their  own  resolutions, 
they  endeavoured  to  guard  against  division,  and  to  cement  together  more 
closely  by  entering  into  a  stricter  bond  of  confederacy  and  mutual  defence. 
Two  persons  concurred  in  this  new  association,  who  brought  a  great  acces- 
sion both  of  reputation  and  of  power  to  the  party.  These  were  the  duke 
ji  Chatelherault,  and  his  eldest  son  the  earl  of  Arran.  This  young  noble- 
man, having  resided  some  years  in  France,  where  he  commanded  the  Scot 
tish  guards,  had  imbibed  the  protestant  opinions  concerning  religior. 
Hurried  along  by  the  heat  of  youth  and  the  zeal  of  a  proselyte,  he  had 
uttered  sentiments  with  respect  to  the  points  in  controversy  which  did  not 
suit  the  temper  of  a  bigoted  court,  intent  at  that  juncture  on  the  extinction 

*  The  author  of  the  memoir* 


OF    SCOTLAND.  83 

ol  the  protestant  religion  ;  in  order  to  accomplish  which  the  greatest  exce^es 
of  violence  were  committed.  The  church  was  suffered  to  wreak  its 
utmost  fury  upon  all  who  were  suspected  of  heresy.  Courts  were  erected 
in  different  parts  of  France  to  take  cognizance  of  this  crime  ;  and  by  their 
sentences  several  persons  ol  distinction  were  condemned  to  the  flames. 

But,  in  order  to  inspire  more  universal  terror,  the  princes  of  Lorrain  re 
solved  to  select,  for  a  sacrifice,  some  persons  whose  fall  might  convince  all 
ranks  of  men  that  neither  splendour  of  birth  nor  eminence  in  station  could 
exempt  from  punishment  those  who  should  be  guilty  of  this  unpardonable 
transgression.  The  earl  of  Arran  was  the  person  destined  to  be  the 
jnhappy  victim.*  As  he  was  allied  to  one  throne,  and  the  presumptive 
heir  to  another ;  as  he  possessed  the  first  rank  in  his  own  country,  and 
enjoyed  an  honourable  station  in  France  ;  his  condemnation  could  not  lail 
of  making  the  desired  impression  on  the  whole  kingdom.  But  the  cardinal 
of  Lorrain  having  let  fall  some  expressions  which  raised  Arran's  suspicions 
of  the  design,  he  escaped  the  intended  blow  by  a  timely  flight.  Indigna- 
tion, zeal,  resentment,  all  prompted  him  to  seek  revenge  upon  these  per- 
secutors of  himself  and  of  the  religion  which  he  professed  ;  and  as  he  passed 
through  England,  on  his  return  to  his  native  country,  Elizabeth,  by  hopes 
and  promises,  inflamed  those  passions,  and  sent  him  back  into  Scotland 
animated  with  the  same  implacable  aversion  to  France  which  possessed  a 
great  part  of  his  countrymen.  He  quickly  communicated  these  sentiments 
to  his  father  the  duke  of  Chatelheiault,  who  was  already  extremely  dis- 
gusted with  the  measures  carrying  on  in  Scotland  ;  and  as  it  was  the  fate 
of  that  nobleman  to  be  governed  in  every  instance  by  those  about  him,  he  now 
suffered  himself  to  be  drawn  from  the  queen  regent ;  and,  having  joined  thp 
congregation,  was  considered  from  that  time  as  the  head  of  the  part}'. 

But  with  respect  to  him,  this  distinction  was  merely  nominal.  James 
Stewart,  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  was  the  person  who  moved  and  actuated 
the  whole  body  of  the  protestants,  among  whom  he  possessed  that  unbounded 
confidence  which  his  strenuous  adherence  to  their  interest  and  his  great 
abilities  so  justly  merited.  He  was  the  natural  son  of  James  V.,  by  a 
daughter  of  Lord  Erskine  ;  and  as  that  amorous  monarch  had  left  several 
others  a  burden  upon  the  crown,  they  were  all  destined  for  the  church, 
where  they  could  be  placed  in  stations  of  dignity  and  affluence.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  resolution  the  priory  of  St.  Andrew's  had  been  conferred 
upon  James  ;  but,  during  so  busy  a  period,  he  soon  became  disgusted  with 
the  indolence  and  retirement  of  a  monastic  life  ;  and  his  enterprising  genius 
called  him  lorth  to  act  a  principal  part  on  a  more  public  and  conspicuous 
theatre.  The  scene  in  which  he  appeared  required  talents  of  different 
kinds  :  military  virture  and  political  discernment  were  equally  necessary 
in  order  to  render  him  illustrious.  These  he  possessed  in  an  eminent 
degree.  To  the  most  unquestionable  personal  bravery  he  added  great  skill 
in  the  art  of  war,  and  in  every  enterprise  his  arms  was  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. His  sagacity  and  penetration  in  civil  affairs  enabled  him,  amidst  the 
reeling  and  turbulence  of  factions,  to  hold  a  prosperous  course  ;  while  his 
boldness  in  defence  of  the  reformation,  together  with  the  decency  and  even 
severity  of  his  manners,  secured  him  the  reputation  of  being  sincerely 
attached  to  religion,  without  which  it  was  impossible  in  that  age  to  gain 
ascendant  over  mankind. 

It  was  not  without  reason  that  the  queen  dreaded  the  enmity  of  a  man  so 
capable  to  obstruct  her  designs.  As  she  could  not,  with  all  her  address, 
make  the  least  impression  on  his  fidelity  to  his  associates,  she  endeavoured 
to  lessen  his  influence,  and  to  scatter  among  them  the  seeds  of  jealousy 
and  distrust,  by  insinuating  that  the  ambition  of  the  prior  aspired  beyoni 
the  condition  of  a  subject,  and  aimed  at  nothing  less  }han  the  crown  itself 

•  Thuan.  lib.  *Jtiv-  p.  4t<$.    Edit.  Fianoof, 


««  THE  HISTORY  [Book  II. 

An  accusation  so  improbable  gained  but  little  credit.  Whatever  thoughts 
of  this  kind  the  presumption  of  unexpected  success,  and  his  elevation  to 
the  highest  dignity  in  the  kingdom,  may  be  alleged  to  have  inspired  at  any 
subsequent  period,  it  is  certain  that  at  this  juncture  he  could  iorm  no  such 
vast  design.  To  dethrone  a  queen,  who  was  lineal  heir  to  an  ancient  race 
of  monarchs  ;  who  had  been  guilty  of  no  action  by  which  she  could  forteit 
the  esteem  and  affection  of  her  subjects ;  who  could  employ,  in  defence  oi 
her  rights,  the  forces  of  a  kingdom  much  more  powerful  than  her  own  ; 
and  to  substitute  in  her  place  a  person  whom  the  illegitimacy  of  his  birth, 
by  the  practice  of  all  civilized  nations,  rendered  incapable  of  any  inherit- 
ance either  public  or  private  ;  was  a  project  so  chimerical  as  the  most 
extravagant  ambition  would  hardly  entertain,  and  could  never  conceive  to 
be  practicable.  The  promise  too,  which  the  prior  made  to  Melvil,  of  re- 
siding; constantly  in  France,  on  condition  the  public  grievances  were 
redressed  ;*  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  duke  of  Chatelherault 
and  his  son,  the  presumptive  heirs  to  the  crown  ;  and  the  concurrence  of 
almosc  all  the  Scottish  nobles  in  promoting  the  measures  by  which  he  gave 
offence  to  the  French  court,  go  far  towards  his  vindication  from  those  illegal 
and  criminal  designs,  with  the  imputation  of  which  the  queen  endeavoured 
at  that  time  to  load  him. 

The  arrival  of  a  thousand  French  soldiers  compensated,  in  some  degree, 
for  the  loss  which  the  queen  sustained  by  the  defection  of  the  duke  of 
Chatelherault.  These  were  immediately  commanded  to  fortify  Leith,  in 
which  place,  on  account  of  its  commodious  harbour,  and  its  situation  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  and  in  a  plentiful  country,  the  queen  resolved 
to  fix  the  head-quarters  of  her  foreign  forces.  This  unpopular  measuie, 
by  the  manner  of  executing  it,  was  rendered  still  more  unpopular.  In 
order  to  bring  the  town  entirely  under  their  command,  the  French  turned 
out  a  great  part  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  and,  taking  possession  of  the 
houses  which  they  had  obliged  them  to  abandon,  presented  to  the  view  of 
the  Scots  two  objects  equally  irritating  and  offensive  ;  on  the  one  hand,  a 
number  of  their  countrymen  expelled  their  habitations  by  violence,  and 
wandering  without  any  certain  abode  ;  on  the  other,  a  colony  of  foreigners, 
settling  with  their  wives  and  children  in  the  heart  of  Scotland,  growing 
into  strength  by  daily  reinforcements,  and  openly  preparing  a  yoke,  to 
which,  without  some  timely  exertion  of  national  spirit,  the  whole  kingdom 
must  of  necessity  submit. 

It  was  with  deep  concern  that  the  lords  of  the  congregation  beheld  this 
bold  and  decisive  step  taken  by  the  queen  regent  ;  nor  did  they  hesitate  a 
moment,  whether  they  should  employ  their  whole  strength  in  one  generous 
effort,  to  rescue  their  religion  and  liberty  from  impending  destruction. 
But,  in  order  to  justify  their  own  conduct,  and  to  throw  the  blame  entirely 
on  their  adversaries,  they  resolved  to  preserve  the  appearances  of  decency 
and  respect  towards  their  superiors,  and  to  have  no  recourse  to  arms  with- 
out the  most  urgent  and  apparent  necessity.  [Sept.  29.]  They  joined,  with 
this  view,  in  an  address  to  the  regent,  representing,  in  the  strongest  terms, 
their  dissatisfaction  with  the  measures  she  was  pursuing,  and  beseeching 
her  to  quiet  the  fears  and  jealousies  of  the  nation  by  desisting  from  fortifying 
Leith.  The  queen,  conscious  of  her  present  advantageous  situation,  and 
elated  with  the  hopes  of  fresh  succours,  was  in  no  disposition  for  listening 
to  demands  utterly  inconsistent  with  her  views,  and  urged  with  that  bold 
importunity  which  is  so  little  acceptable  to  princes.! 

The  suggestions  of  her  French  counsellors  contributed,  without  doubt, 
to  alienate  her  still  further  from  any  scheme  of  accommodation.  As  the 
queen  was  ready  on  all  occasions  to  discover  an  extraordinary  deference 
to  the  opinions  of  her  countrymen,  her  brothers,  who  knew  her  secret  dis- 

*  MelvU,  54.  t  Haynee,  til 


OF    SCOTLAND.  85 

approbation  of  the  violent  measures  they  were  driving  on,  took  care  to 
place  near  her  such  persons  as  betrayed  her,  by  (heir  insinuations,  into  many 
actions,  which  her  own  unbiassed  judgment  would  have  highly  condemned. 
As  their  success  in  the  present  juncture,  when  all  things  were  hastening 
towards  a  crisis,  depended  entirely  on  the  queen's  firmness,  me  princes  of 
Lorrain  did  not  trust  wholly  to  the  influence  of  their  ordinary  agents  ;  but, 
in  order  to  add  the  greater  weight  to  their  councils,  they  called  in  aid  the 
ministers  of  religion  ;  and,  by  the  authority  of  their  sacred  character,  they 
hoped  effectually  to  recommend  to  their  sister  that  system  of  severity 
which  they  had  espoused.*  With  this  view,  but  under  pretence  of  con- 
founding the  protestants  by  the  skill  of  such  able  masters  in  controversy, 
(hey  appointed  several  French  divines  to  reside  in  Scotland.  At  the  head 
of  these,  and  with  the  character  of  legate  from  the  pope,  was  Pelleve 
bishop  of  Amiens,  and  afterwards  archbishop  and  cardinal  of  Sens,  a  furi- 
ous bigot,t  servilely  devoted  to  the  house  of  Guise,  and  a  proper  instru- 
ment for  recommending  or  executing  the  most  outrageous  measures. 

Amidst  the  noise  and  danger  of  civil  arms,  these  doctors  had  little  oppor- 
tunity to  display  their  address  in  the  use  of  their  theological  weapons. 
But  they  gave  no  small  offence  to  the  nation  by  one  of  their  actions.  They 
persuaded  the  queen  to  seize  the  church  of  St.  Giles  in  Edinburgh,  which 
had  remained  ever  since  the  late  truce  in  the  hands  of  the  protestants ; 
and  having,  by  a  new  and  solemn  consecration,  purified  the  fabric  from  the 
pollution  with  which  they  supposed  the  profane  ministrations  of  the  pro 
testants  to  have  defiled  it,  they,  in  direct  contradiction  to  one  article  in  the 
late  treaty,  re-established  there  the  rites  of  the  Romish  church.  This, 
added  to  the  indifference,  and  even  contempt,  with  which  the  queen  re- 
ceived their  remonstrances,  convinced  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  that  it 
was  not  only  vain  to  expect  any  redress  of  their  grievances  at  her  hands, 
but  absolutely  necessary  to  take  arms  in  their  own  defence. 

The  eager  and  impetuous  spirit  of  the  nation,  as  well  as  every  consider- 
ation of  good  policy,  prompted  them  to  take  this  bold  step  without  delay. 
It  was  but  a  small  part  of  the  French  auxiliaries  which  had  as  yet  arrived. 
The  fortifications  of  Leith,  though  advancing  fast,  were  still  far  from  being 
complete.  Under  these  circumstances  of  disadvantage,  they  conceived  it 
possible  to  surprise  the  queen's  party,  and,  by  one  sudden  and  decisive 
blow,  to  prevent  all  future  bloodshed  and  contention.  [Oct.  6.]  Full  of 
these  expectations,  they  advanced  rapidly  towards  Edinburgh  with  a  nume- 
rous army.  But  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  deceive  an  adversary  as  vigilant 
and  attentive  as  the  queen  regent.  With  her  usual  sagacity,  she  both  fore- 
saw the  danger,  and  took  the  only  proper  course  to  avoid  it.  Instead  of 
keeping  the  field  against  enemies  superior  in  number,  and  formidable  on 
a  day  of  battle  by  the  ardour  of  their  courage,  she  retired  into  Leith, 
and  determined  patiently  to  wait  the  arrival  of  new  reinforcements.  Slight 
ill  unfinished  as  the  fortifications  of  that  town  then  were,  she  did  not 
dread  the  efforts  of  an  army  provided  neither  with  heavy  cannon  nor  with 
military  stores,  and  little  acquainted  with  the  method  of  attacking  any 
place  fortified  with  more  art  than  those  ancient  towers  erected  all  over  the 
kingdom  in  defence  of  private  property  against  the  incursions  of  banditti. 

Nor  did  the  queen  meanwhile  neglect  to  have  recourse  to  those  arts 
which  she  had  often  employed  to  weaken  or  divide  her  adversaries.  By 
private  solicitations  and  promises  she  shook  the  fidelity  or  abated  the  ardour 
of  some.  By  open  reproach  and  accusation  she  blasted  the  reputation  and 
diminished  the  authority  of  others.  Her  emissaries  were  every  where  at 
work,  and,  notwithstanding  the  zeal  for  religion  and  liberty  which  then 
animated  the  nation,  they  seem  to  have  laboured  not  without  success. 
We  find  Knox,  about  this  period,  abounding  in  complaints  of  the  lukewarm 

*  LcJey,  215.    Castelnau,  ap.  Jebb.  vol.  ii.  446.  473.  t  DoTlla,  Brantomt 


8»  THE  HISTORY  [Book  II. 

and  languid  spirit  which  had  begun  to  spread  among  his  party.*  But  u 
their  zeal  slackened  a  little,  and  suffered  a  momentary  intermission,  it  soon 
blazed  up  with  fresh  vigour,  and  rose  to  a  greater  height  than  ever. 

The  queen  herself  gave  occasion  to  this,  by  the  reply  which  she  made 
to  a  new  remonstrance  from  the  lords  of  the  congregation.  Upon  their 
arrival  at  Edinburgh,  they  once  more  represented  to  her  the  dangers  arising 
from  the  increase  of  the  French  troops,  the  fortifying  of  Lei'th,  and  her 
other  measures,  which  they  conceived  to  be  destructive  to  the  peace  and 
liberty  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  in  this  address  they  spoke  in  a  firmer  tone, 
and  avowed  more  openly  than  ever  their  resolution  of  proceeding  to  the 
utmost  extremities,  in  order  to  put  a  stop  to  such  dangerous  encroachments. 
To  a  remonstrance  of  this  nature,  and  uiged  with  so  much  boldness,  the 
queen  replied  in  terms  no  less  vigorous  and  explicit.  She  pretended  that 
she  was  not  accountable  to  the  confederate  lords  for  any  part  of  her  con- 
duct ;  and  upon  no  representation  of  theirs  would  she  either  abandon  mea- 
sures which  she  deemed  necessary,  or  dismiss  forces  which  she  found  use- 
ful, or  demolish  a  fortification  which  might  prove  of  advantage.  At  the 
same  time  she  required  them,  on  pain  of  treason,  to  disband  the  forces 
which  they  had  assembled. 

This  haughty  and  imperious  style  sounded  harshly  to  Scottish  nobles, 
impatient,  from  their  national  character,  of  the  slightest  appearance  of 
injury ;  accustomed,  even  from  their  own  monarchs,  to  the  most  respectful 
treatment ;  and  possessing,  under  an  aristocratical  form  of  government, 
such  a  share  of  power,  as  equalled  at  all  times,  and  often  controlled,  that 
of  the  sovereign.  They  were  sensible  at  once  of  the  indignity  offered  to 
themselves,  and  alarmed  with  this  plain  declaration  of  the  queen's  inten- 
tions ;  and  as  there  now  remained  but  one  step  to  take,  they  wanted 
neither  public  spirit  nor  resolution  to  take  it. 

But,  that  they  might  not  seem  to  depart  from  the  established  forms  ot 
the  constitution,  for  which,  even  amidst  their  most  violent  operations,  men 
always  retain  the  greatest  reverence,  [Oct.  21.]  they  assembled  all  the 
peers,  barons,  and  representatives  of  boroughs,  who  adhered  to  their  party. 
These  formed  a  convention,  which  exceeded  in  number,  and  equalled  in 
dignity,  the  usual  meetings  of  parliament.  The  leaders  of  the  congrega- 
tion laid  before  them  the  declaration  which  the  queen  had  given  in  answer 
to  their  remonstrance ;  represented  the  unavoidable  ruin  which  the  mea- 
sures she  therein  avowed  and  justified  would  bring  upon  the  kingdom; 
and  requiring  their  direction  with  regard  to  the  obedience  due  to  an  ad- 
ministration so  unjust  and  oppressive,  they  submitted  to  their  decision  a 
question,  one  of  the  most  delicate  and  interesting  that  can  possibly  fall 
under  the  consideration  of  subjects. 

This  assembly  proceeded  to  decide  with  no  less  despatch  than  unanimity. 
Strangers  to  those  forms  which  protract  business,  unacquainted  with  the 
arts  which  make  a  figure  in  debate,  and  much  more  fitted  for  action  than 
discourse,  a  warlike  people  always  hasten  to  a  conclusion,  and  bring  theii 
deliberations  to  the  shortest  issue.  It  was  the  work  but  of  one  day  to 
examine  and  to  resolve  this  nice  problem,  concerning  the  behaviour  ol  sub- 
jects towards  a  ruler  who  abuses  his  power.  But,  however  abrupt  theii 
proceeding  may  appear,  they  were  not  destitute  of  solemnity.  As  the 
determination  of  the  point  in  doubt  was  conceived  to  be  no  less  the  office 
of  divines  than  of  laymen,  the  former  were  called  to  assist  with  theii 
opinion.  Knox  and  Willox  appeared  for  the  whole  order,  and  pionounced, 
without  hesitation,  both  from  the  precepts  and  examples  in  Scripture,  that 
it  was  lawful  for  subjects  not  only  to  resist  tyrannical  princes,  nut  to  deprive 
them  of  that  authority  which  in  their  hands,  becomes  an  instrument  foi 
destroying  those  whom  the  Almighty  ordained  them  to  protect.     Th* 

*  Knox,  180. 


O  K   S  C  O  T  L  A  N  D.  87 

decision  of  persons  revered  so  highly  for  their  sacred  character,  but  more 
for  their  zeal  and  their  piety,  had  great  weight  with  the  whole  assembly. 
Not  satisfied  with  the  common  indiscriminate  manner  of  signifying  con- 
sent, every  person  present  was  called  in  his  turn  to  declare  his  sentiments  ; 
and  rising  up  in  order,  all  gave  their  suffrages,  without  one  dissenting  voice, 
for  depriving  the  queen  of  the  office  of  regent,  which  she  exercised  sc 
much  to  the  detriment  of  the  kingdom.* 

This  extraordinary  sentence  was  owing  no  less  to  the  love  of  liberty 
than  to  zeal  for  religion.  In  the  act  of  deprivation,  religious  grievances 
are  slightly  mentioned ;  and  the  dangerous  encroachments  of  the  queen 
upon  the  civil  constitution  are  produced  by  the  lords  of  the  congregation, 
in  order  to  prove  their  conduct  to  have  been  not  only  just  but  necessary. 
The  introducing  foreign  troops  into  a  kingdom  at  peace  with  all  the  world  ; 
the  seizing  and  fortifying  towns  in  different  parts  of  the  country ;  the  pro- 
moting strangers  to  offices  of  great  power  and  dignity  ;  the  debasing  the 
current  coin  ;|  the  subverting  the  ancient  laws  ;  the  imposing  of  new  and 
burdensome  taxes  ;  and  the  attempting  to  subdue  the  kingdom,  and  to  op- 
press its  liberties,  by  open  and  repeated  acts  of  violence,  are  enumerated 
at  great  length,  and  placed  in  the  strongest  light.  On  all  these  accounts, 
the  congregation  maintained,  that  the  nobles,  as  counsellors  by  birthright 
to  their  monarchs,  and  die  guardians  and  defenders  of  the  constitution,  had 
a  right  to  interpose  ;  and  therefore,  by  virtue  of  this  right,  in  the  name  of 
the  king  and  queen,  and  with  many  expressions  of  duty  and  submission 
towards  them,  they  deprived  the  queen  regent  of  her  office,  and  ordained 
that,  for  the  future,  no  obedience  should  be  given  to  her  commands.]; 

Violent  as  this  action  may  appear,  there  wanted  not  principles  in  the 
constitution,  nor  precedents  in  the  history  of  Scotland,  to  justify  and  to 
authorize  it.  Under  the  aristocratical  form  of  government  established 
among  the  Scots,  the  power  of  the  sovereign  was  extremely  limited.  The 
more  considerable  nobles  were  themselves  petty  princes,  possessing  exten- 
sive jurisdictions,  almost  independent  of  the  crown,  and  followed  by  nume- 
rous vassals,  who,  in  every  contest,  espoused  their  chieftain's  quarrel,  in 
opposition  to  the  king.  Hence  the  many  instances  of  the  impotence  ol 
regal  authority,  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Scottish  history.  In  every 
age,  the  nobles  not  only  claimed,  but  exercised,  the  right  of  controlling  the 
king.  Jealous  of  their  privileges,  and  ever  ready  to  take  the  field  in  de- 
fence of  them,  every  error  in  administration  was  observed,  every  encroach- 
ment upon  the  rights  of  the  aristocracy  excited  indignation,  and  no  prince 
ever  ventured  to  transgress  the  boundaries  which  the  law  had  prescribed 
to  prerogative,  without  meeting  resistance,  which  shook  or  overturned  his 
throne.  Encouraged  by  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  countenanced 
by  the  example  of  their  ancestors,  the  lords  of  the  congregation  thought  it 
incumbent  on  them,  at  this  juncture,  to  inquire  into  the  maladministration 
of  the  queen  regent,  and  to  preserve  their  country  from  being  enslaved 
or  conquered,  by  depriving  her  of  the  power  to  execute  such  a  pernicious 
scheme. 

The  act  of  deprivation,  and  a  letter  from  the  lords  of  the  congregation 
to  the  queen  regent,  are  still  extant.§     They  discover  not  only  that  mascu- 

*  Knox,  184. 

t  The  standard  of  money  in  Scotland  was  continually  varying.  In  the  16th  of  James  V.,  A.  D 
1520,  a  pound  weight  of  gold,  when  coined,  produced  j£108  of  current  money.  But  under  the 
queen  regent's  administration,  A.  D.  1556,  a  pound  weight  of  gold,  although  the  quantity  of  alloy 
was  considerably  increased,  produced  £144  of  current  money.  In  1529,  a  pound  weight  of  silver, 
when  coined,  produced  X9  is.  ;  but  in  1556,  it  produced  £13  current  money.  Ruddiman.  Prafat. 
ad  Anders.  Diplomat.  Scotiae.  p.  80,  81 ;  from  which  it  appears,  that  this  complaint,  which  the 
malecoments  often  repeated,  was  not  altogether  destitute  of  foundation. 

I  M.  Castelnau,  after  condemning  the  dangerous  counsels  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  with  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  acknowledges,  with  his  usual  candour,  that  the  Scots  declared  war 
against  the  queen  regent,  rather  from  a  desire  of  vindicating  their  civil  liberties  than  from  an* 
motive  of  religion.    Mem.  446.  $  Knox,  l*t. 


88  THEHISTORY  [Book  III. 

line  and  undaunted  spirit,  natural  to  men  capable  of  so  bold  a  resolution , 
but  are  remarkable  for  a  precision  and  vigour  of  expression,  which  we  are 
surprised  to  meet  with  in  an  age  so  unpolished.  The  same  observation 
may  be  made  with  respect  to  the  other  public  papers  of  that  period.  The 
ignorance  or  bad  taste  of  an  age  may  render  the  compositions  of  authors 
by  profession  obscure,  or  affected,  or  absurd  :  but  the  language  of  business 
is  nearly  the  same  at  all  times  ;  and  wherever  men  think  clearly,  and  are 
thoroughly  interested,  they  express  themselves  with  perspicuity  and  force. 


BOOR  III. 


1659.1  The  lords  of  the  congregation  soon  found  that  their  zeal  nad 
engaged  them  in  an  undertaking  which  it  was  beyond  their  utmost  ability 
to  accomplish.  The  French  garrison,  despising  their  numerous  but  irre- 
gular forces,  refused  to  surrender  Leith,  and  to  depart  out  of  the  kingdom  ; 
nor  were  these  sufficiently  skilful  in  the  art  of  war  to  reduce  the  place  by 
force,  or  possessed  of  the  artillery  or  magazines  requisite  for  that  purpose  ; 
and  their  followers,  though  of  undaunted  courage,  yet,  being  accustomed 
to  decide  every  quarrel  by  a  battle,  were  strangers  to  the  fatigues  of  a 
long  campaign,  and  soon  became  impatient  of  the  severe  and  constant  duty 
which  a  siege  requires.  The  queen's  emissaries,  who  found  it  easy  to 
mingle  with  their  countrymen,  were  at  the  utmost  pains  to  heighten  their 
disgust,  which  discovered  itself  at  first  in  murmurs  and  complaints,  but,  on 
occasion  of  the  want  of  money  for  paying  the  army,  broke  out  into  open 
mutiny.  The  most  eminent  leaders  were  hardly  secure  from  the  unbridled 
insolence  of  the  soldiers ;  while  some  of  inferior  rank,  interposing  too 
rashly  in  order  to  quell  them,  fell  victims  to  their  rage.  Discord,  conster- 
nation, and  perplexity  reigned  in  the  camp  of  the  reformers.  The  duke, 
their  general,  sunk,  with  his  usual  timidity,  under  the  terror  of  approach- 
ing danger,  and  discovered  manifest  symptoms  of  repentance  for  his  rash- 
ness in  espousing  such  a  desperate  cause. 

In  this  situation  of  their  affairs,  the  congregation  had  recourse  to  Eliza- 
beth, from  whose  protection  they  could  derive  their  only  reasonable  hope 
of  success.  Some  of  their  more  sagacious  leaders,  having  foreseen  that 
the  party  might  probably  be  involved  in  great  difficulties,  had  early  endea- 
voured to  secure  a  resource  in  any  such  exigency,  by  entering  into  a  secret 
correspondence  with  the  court  of  England.*  Elizabeth,  aware  of  the 
dangerous  designs  which  the  princes  of  Lorrain  had  formed  against  her 
crown,  was  early  sensible  of  how  much  importance  it  would  be,  not  only 
to  check  the  progress  of  the  French  in  Scotland,  but  to  extend  her  own 
influence  in  that  kingdom  ;|  and  perceiving  how  effectually  the  present 
insurrections  would  contribute  to  retard  or  defeat  the  schemes  formed  against 
England,  she  listened  with  pleasure  to  these  applications  of  the  malecon- 
tents,  and  gave  them  private  assurances  of  powerful  support  to  their  cause 
Randolph,!  an  agent  extremely  proper  for  conducting  any  dark  intrigue, 
was  despatched  into  Scotland,  and  residing  secretly  among  the  lords  of  the 
congregation,  observed  and  quickened  their  motions.  Money  seemed  to 
be  the  only  thing  they  wanted  at  that  time  ;  and  it  was  owing  to  a  seasona- 
ble remittance  from  England,^  that  the  Scottish  nobles  had  been  enab.ed 
to  take  the  field,  and  to  advance  towards  Leith.  But  as  Elizabeth  was 
distrustful  of  the  Scots,  and  studious  to  preserve  appearances  witn  France* 

•  Burn.  Hist.  Ref.  3.    Append.  278.    Keith,  Append.  21         t  See  Append.  Nc  1         {Keith. 
Append.  29.  $  Knox,  214     Keith,  Append.  44. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  89 

her  subsidies  were  bestowed  at  first  with  extreme  frugality.  The  subsist- 
ence of  an  army,  and  the  expenses  of  a  siege,  soon  exhausted  this  penurious 
supply,  to  which  the  lords  of  the  congregation  could  make  little  addition 
from  their  own  funds ;  and  the  ruin  and  dispersion  of  the  party  must  have 
instantly  followed. 

In  order  to  prevent  this,  Cockburn  of  Ormiston,  was  sent,  with  the 
utmost  expedition,  to  the  governors  of  the  town  and  castle  of  Berwick. 
As  Berwick  was  at  that  time  the  town  of  greatest  importance  on  the 
Scottish  frontier,  sir  Ralph  Sadler  and  sir  James  Crofts,  persons  of  consi- 
derable figure,  were  employed  to  command  there,  and  were  intrusted  with 
a  discretionary  power  of  supplying  the  Scottish  malecontents,  according 
to  the  exigency  of  their  affairs.  From  them  Cockburn  received  four 
thousand  crowns,  but  little  to  the  advantage  of  his  associates.  The  earl 
of  Bothwell,  by  the  queen's  instigation,  lay  in  wait  for  him  on  his  return, 
dispersed  his  followers,  wounded  him,  and  carried  off  the  money. 

This  unexpected  disappointment  proved  fatal  to  the  party.  In  mere 
despair,  some  of  the  more  zealous  attempted  to  assault  Leith ;  but  the 
French  beat  them  back  with  disgrace,  seized  their  cannon,  and,  pursuing 
them  to  the  gates  of  Edinburgh,  were  on  the  point  of  entering  along  with 
them.  All  the  terror  and  confusion  which  the  prospect  of  pillage  or  of 
massacre  can  excite  in  a  place  taken  by  storm,  rilled  the  city  on  thrs  occa- 
sion. The  inhabitants  fled  from  the  enemy  by  the  oppo-ite  gate;  the 
forces  of  the  congregation  were  irresolute  and  dismayed  ;  and  the  queen's 
partisans  in  the  town  openly  insulted  both.  At  last,  a  few  of  the  nobles 
ventured  to  face  the  enemy,  who,  after  plundering  some  houses  in  the 
suburbs,  retired  with  their  booty,  and  delivered  the  city  from  this  dreadful 
alarm. 

A  second  skirmish,  which  happened  a  few  days  after,  was  no  less  unfor 
tunate.  The  French  sent  out  a  detachment  to  intercept  a  convoy  ot 
provisions  which  was  designed  for  Edinburgh.  The  lords  of  the  congre- 
gation having  intelligence  of  this,  marched  in  all  haste  with  a  considerable 
body  of  their  troops,  and  falling  upon  the  enemy  between  Restalrig  and 
Leith,  with  more  gallantry  than  good  conduct,  were  almost  surrounded  by 
a  second  party  or  French,  who  advanced  in  order  to  support  their  own 
men.  In  this  situation  a  retreat  was  the  only  thing  which  could  save  the 
Scots ;  but  a  retreat  over  marshy  ground,  and  in  the  face  of  an  enemy 
superior  in  number,  could  not  long  be  conducted  with  order.  A  body  ot 
the  enemy  hung  upon  their  rear,  horse  and  foot  fell  into  the  utmost  con- 
fusion, and  it  was  entirely  owing  to  the  overcaution  of  the  French  that 
any  of  the  party  escaped  being  cut  in  pieces. 

On  this  second  blow,  the  hopes  and  spirits  of  the  congregation  sunk 
altogether.  They  did  not  think  themselves  secure  even  within  the  walls 
of  Edinburgh,  but  instantly  determined  to  retire  to  some  place  at  a  great 
distance  from  the  enemy.  In  vain  did  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  a 
few  others,  oppose  this  cowardly  and  ignominious  flight.  This  dread  of 
the  present  danger  prevailed  over  both  the  sense  of  honour  and  zeal  for 
the  cause.  [Nov.  ft.]  At  midnight  they  set  out  from  Edinburgh  in  great 
confusion,  and  marched  without  halting  till  they  arrived  at  Stirling.* 

During  this  last  insurrection,  the  great  body  of  the  Scottish  nobility 
joined  the  congregation.     The  lords  Seton  and  Borthwick  were  the  only 

Fersons  of  rank  who  took  arms  tor  the  oueen,  and  assisted  her  in  defending 
ieith  t  Bothwell  openly  favoured  her  cause,  but  resided  at  his  own  house 
The  earl  of  Huntly,  conformable  to  the  crafty  policy  which  distinguished 
nis  character,  amused  the  leaders  of  the  congregation,  whom  he  had 
engaged  to  assist,  with  many  fair  promises,  but  never  joined  them  with  a 
single  man.J     The  earl  of  Morton,  a  member  of  the  congregation,  fluctuated 

*  Keith.  Append.  21—45.  t  (bid.  Appur.d.  31  1  Ibid.  Append.  33.     Knox,  229 

Vol.  III.— 12 


90  THE  HISTORY  [Book  III 

in  a  state  of  irresolution,  and  did  not  act  heartily  for  the  common  cause 
Lord  Erskine,  governor  of  Edinburgh  castle,  though  a  protestant,  main 
tained  a  neutrality,  which  he  deemed  becoming  the  dignity  of  his  office, 
and  having  been  intrusted  by  parliament  with  the  command  of  the  principal 
fortress  in  the  kingdom,  he  resolved  that  neither  faction  should  get  it  into 
their  hands. 

A  few  days  before  the  retreat  of  the  congregation,  the  queen  suffered 
an  irreparable  loss  by  the  defection  of  her  principal  secretary,  William 
Maitland  of  Lethington.  His  zeal  for  the  reformed  religion,  together  with 
his  warm  remonstrances  against  the  violent  measures  which  the  queen  was 
carrying  on,  exposed  him  so  much  to  her  resentment,  and  to  that  of  her 
French  counsellors,  that  he,  suspecting  his  life  to  be  in  danger,  withdrew 
secretly  from  Leith,  and  fled  to  the  lords  of  the  congregation  ;*  and  they 
with  open  arms  received  a  convert,  whose  abilities  added  both  strength 
and  reputation  to  their  cause.  Maitland  had  early  applied  to  public  busi- 
ness admirable  natural  talents,  improved  by  an  acquaintance  with  the 
liberal  arts  ;  and,  at  a  time  of  life  when  his  countrymen  of  the  same 
quality  were  following  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  or  serving  as  adventurers 
in  the  armies  of  France,  he  was  admitted  into  all  the  secrets  of  the  cabinet, 
and  put  upon  a  level  with  persons  of  the  most  consummate  experience  in 
the  management  of  affairs.  He  possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  that 
intrepid  spirit  which  delights  in  pursuing  bold  designs,  and  was  no  less 
master  of  that  political  dexterity  which  is  necessary  for  carrying  them  on 
with  success.  But  these  qualities  were  deeply  tinctured  with  the  neigh- 
bouring vices.  His  address  sometimes  degenerated  into  cunning ;  his 
acuteness  bordered  upon  excess ;  his  invention,  overfertile,  suggested  to 
nim,  on  some  occasions,  chimerical  systems  of  policy,  too  refined  for  the 
genius  of  his  age  or  country;  and  his  enterprising  spirit  engaged  him  in 
projects  vast  and  splendid,  but  beyond  his  utmost  power  to  execute.  All 
the  cotemporary  writers,  to  whatever  faction  they  belong,  mention  him 
with  an  admiration  which  nothing  could  have  excited  but  the  greatest 
superiority  of  penetration  and  abilities. 

The  precipitate  retreat  of  the  congregation  increased  to  such  a  degree 
the  terror  and  confusion  which  had  seized  the  party  at  Edinburgh,  that 
before  the  army  reached  Stirling  it  dwindled  to  an  inconsiderable  num- 
ber. The  spirit  of  Knox  however  still  remained  undaunted  and  erect ; 
and  having  mounted  the  pulpit,  he  addressed  to  his  desponding  bearers  an 
exhortation  which  wonderfully  animated  and  revived  them.  The  heads 
of  this  discourse  are  inserted  in  his  history,!  and  afford  a  striking  example 
of  the  boldness  and  freedom  of  reproof  assumed  by  the  first  reformers,  as 
well  as  a  specimen  of  his  own  skill  in  choosing  the  topics  most  fitted  to 
\r.:}  lence  and  rouse  his  audience. 

\.  meeting  of  the  leaders  being  called,  to  consider  what  course  they 
should  bold,  now  that  their  own  resources  were  all  exhausted,  and  their 
destruction  appeared  to  be  unavoidable  without  foreign  aid,  they  turned 
their  eyes  once  more  to  England,  and  resolved  to  implore  the  assistance  of 
Elizabeth  towards  finishing  an  enterprise,  in  which  they  had  so  fatally 
experienced  their  own  weakness,  and  the  strength  of  their  adversaries 
Maitland,  as  the  most  able  negotiator  of  the  party,  was  employed  in  this 
embassy.  In  his  absence,  and  during  the  inactive  season  of  the  year,  it 
was  agreea  to  dismiss  their  followers,  worn  out  by  the  fatigues  of  a  cam- 
paign which  had  so  far  exceeded  the  usual  time  01  service.  But,  in  order 
to  preserve  the  counties  most  devoted  to  their  interest,  the  prior  of  St. 
Andrew's,  with  part  of  the  leaders,  retired  into  Fife.  The  duke  ot  Chatel- 
herault,  with  the  rest,  fixed  his  residence  at  Hamilton.  There  was  little 
need  of  Maitland's  address  or  eloquence  to  induce  Elizabeth  to  take  his 

•  Knox  193.  f  Ibid.  193 


UP"    SCOTLAND.  SI 

country  under  her  protection.  She  observed  the  prevalence  of  the  French 
counsels,  and  the  progress  of  their  arms  in  Scotland,  with  great  concern  ; 
and  as  she  well  foresaw  the  dangerous  tendency  of  their  schemes  in  that 
kingdom,  she  had  already  come  to  a  resolution  with  regard  to  the  part  she 
nerself  would  act,  if  their  power  there  should  grow  still  more  formidable 

In  order  to  give  the  queen  and  her  privy  council  a  full  and  distinct  view 
of  any  important  matter  which  might  come  before  them,  it  seems  to  have 
been  the  practice  of  Elizabeth's  ministers  to  prepare  memorials,  in  which 
they  clearly  stilled  the  point  under  deliberation,  laid  down  the  grounds  of 
the  conduct  which  they  held  to  be  most  reasonable,  and  proposed  a  method 
for  carrying  their  plan  into  execution.  Two  papers  of  this  kind,  written 
by  sir  William  Cecil  with  his  own  hand,  and  submitted  by  the  queen  to 
the  consideration  of  her  privy  council,  still  remain  ;*  they  are  entitled, 
•  A  short  discussion  of  the  weighty  matter  of  Scotland,"  and  do  honour 
to  the  industry  and  penetration  of  that  great  minister.  The  motives  which 
determined  the  queen  to  espouse  so  warmly  the  defence  of  the  congrega 
tion,  are  represented  with  perspicuity  and  lorce;  and  the  consequences  ot 
suffering  the  French  to  establish  themselves  in  Scotland  are  predicted  with 
great  accuracy  and  discernment. 

He  lays  it  down  as  a  principle,  agreeably  to  the  laws  both  of  God  and 
of  nature,  that  every  society  hath  a  right  to  defend  itself,  not  only  from 
present  dangers,  but  from  such  as  may  probably  ensue  ;  to  which  he  adds, 
that  nature  and  reason  teach  every  prince  to  defend  himself  by  the  same 
means  which  his  adversaries  employ  to  distress  him.  Upon  these  grounds 
he  establishes  the  right  of  England  to  interpose  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland, 
and  to  prevent  the  conquest  of  that  kingdom,  at  which  the  French  openly 
aimed.  The  French,  he  observes,  are  the  ancient  and  implacable  enemies 
of  England.  Hostilities  had  subsisted  between  the  two  nations  for  many 
centuries.  No  treaty  of  peace  into  which  they  entered  had  ever  been 
cordial  or  sincere.  No  good  effect  was  therefore  to  be  expected  from  the 
peace  lately  agreed  upon,  which,  being  extorted  by  present  necessity, 
would  be  negligently  observed,  and  broken  on  the  slightest  pretences.  In 
a  very  short  time  France  would  recover  its  former  opulence  ;  and  though 
now  drained  of  men  and  money  by  a  tedious  and  unsuccessful  war,  it  would 
quickly  be  in  a  condition  for  acting,  and  the  restless  and  martial  genius  of 
the  people  render  action  necessary.  The  princes  of  Lorrain,  who  at  that 
time  had  the  entire  direction  of  French  affairs,  were  animated  with  the 
most  virulent  hatred  against  the  English  nation.  They  openly  called  in 
question  the  legitimacy  of  the  queen's  birth,  and,  by  advancing  the  title 
and  pretensions  of  their  niece  the  queen  of  Scotland,  studied  to  deprive 
Elizabeth  of  her  crown.  With  this  view  they  had  laboured  to  exclude 
the  English  from  the  treaty  of  Chateau  en  Cambresis,  and  endeavoured  to 
conclude  a  separate  peace  with  Spain.  They  had  persuaded  Henry  II. 
to  permit  his  daughter-in-law  to  assume  the  title  and  arms  of  queen  of 
England  ;  and  even  since  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  they  had  solicited 
at  Rome,  and  obtained  a  bull,  declaring  Elizabeth's  birth  to  be  illegitimate 
Though  the  wisdom  and  moderation  of  the  constable  Montmorency  had 
for  some  time  checked  their  career,  yet  these  restraints  being  now  removed 
by  the  death  of  Henry  II.  and  the  disgrace  of  his  minister,  the  utmost 
excesses  of  violence  were  to  be  dreaded  from  their  furious  ambition,  armed 
with  sovereign  power.  Scotland  is  the  quarter  where  they  can  attack 
England  with  most  advantage.  A  war  on  the  borders  of  that  country 
exposes  France  to  no  danger;  but  one  unsuccessful  action  ther?  may 
hazard  the  crown,  and  overturn  the  government  of  England.  In  political 
conduct,  it  is  childish  to  wait  till  the  designs  of  an  enemy  be  ripe  for 
execution.     The  Scottisn  nobles,  after  their  utmost  efforts,  have  been 

*  Burn.  vol.  iii.    Append  233.    Forbes,  i.  387  c.  Keith,  Append.  Wi 


92  THE   HISiOUK  |  book  in. 

obliged  to  quit  the  field ;  and,  far  from  expelling  the  invaders  of  their 
liberties,  they  behold  the  French  power  daily  increasing,  and  must  at  last 
cease  from  struggling  any  longer  in  a  contest  so  unequal  The  invading 
of  England  will  immediately  "follow  the  reduction  ot  the  Scottish  male- 
contents,  by  the  abandoning  of  whom  to  the  mercy  of  the  French,  Eliza- 
beth will  open  a  way  for  her  enemies  into  the  heart  ot  her  own  kingdom, 
and  expose  it  to  the  calamities  of  war  and  the  danger  of  conquest 
Nothing  therefore  remained  but  to  meet  the  enemy  while  yet  at  adistanct 
from  England,  and,  by  supporting  the  congregation  with  a  powerful  army 
to  render  Scotland  the  theatre  of  the  war,  to  crush  the  designs  ot  the 
princes  of  Lorrain  in  their  infancy,  and,  by  such  an  early  and  unexpected 
effort,  to  expel  the  French  out  of  Britain,  before  their  power  had  time  to 
take  root  and  grow  up  to  any  formidable  height.  But  as  the  matter  was  of 
as  much  importance  as  any  which  could  fall  under  the  consideration  of  an 
English  monarch,  wisdom  and  mature  counsel  were  necessary  in  the  first 
place,  and  afterwards  vigour  and  expedition  in  conduct ;  the  danger  was 
urgent,  and  by  losing  a  single  moment  might  become  unavoidable* 

These  arguments  produced  their  full  effect  upon  Elizabeth,  who  was 
jealous,  in  an  extreme  degree,  of  every  pretender  to  her  crown,  and  nc 
less  anxious  to  preserve  the  tranquillity  and  happiness  of  her  subjects. 
From  these  motives  she  had  acted  in  granting  the  congregation  an  early 
supply  of  money;  and  from  the  same  principles  she  determined,  in  their 
present  exigency,  to  afford  them  more  effectual  aid.  One  of  Maitland's 
attendants  was  instantly  despatched  into  Scotland  widi  the  strongest  assu- 
rances of  her  protection,  and  the  lords  of  the  congregation  were  desired 
to  send  commissioners  into  England  to  conclude  a  treaty,  and  to  settle  the 
operations  of  the  campaign  with  the  duke  of  Norfolk. f 

Aleanwhile  the  queen  regent,  from  whom  no  motion  of  ihe  congregation 
could  long  be  concealed,  dreaded  the  success  of  this  negotiation  with  the 
court  of  England,  and  foresaw  how  little  she  would  be  able  to  resist  the 
united  efforts  of  the  two  kingdoms.  For  this  reason  she  determined,  if 
possible,  to  get  the  start  of  Elizabeth  ;  and  by  venturing,  notwithstanding 
the  inclemency  of  the  winter  season,  to  attack  the  malecontents  in  their 
present  dispersed  and  helpless  ^situation,  she  hoped  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war  before  the  arrival  of  their  English  allies. 

A  considerable  body  of  her  French  forces,  who  were  augmented  about 
this  time  by  the  arrival  of  the  Count  de  Martigues,  with  a  thousand  veteran 
foot,  and  some  cavalry,  were  commanded  to  march  to  Stirling.  Having 
there  crossed  the  Forth,  they  proceeded  along  the  coast  of  Fife,  destroying 
and  plundering,  with  excessive  outrage,  the  houses  and  lands  of  those  whom 
they  deemed  their  enemies.  Fife  was  the  most  populous  and  powerful 
county  in  the  kingdom,  and  most  devoted  to  the  congregation,  who  had 
hitherto  drawn  from  thence  their  most  considerable  supplies,  both  of  men 
and  provisions  ;  and  therefore,  besides  punishing  the  disaffection  of  the 
inhabitants  by  pillaging  the  country,  the  French  proposed  to  seize  and 
fortify  St.  Andrew's,  and  to  leave  in  it  a  garrison  sumcient  to  bridle  the 
mutinous  spirit  of  the  province,  and  to  keep  possession  of  a  port  situated 
on  the  main  ocean.J 

But  on  this  occasion  the  prior  ot  St.  Andrew's,  lord  Kuthven,  Kirkaldy 
of  Grange,  and  a  few  of  the  most  active  leaders  of  the  congregation, 
performed,  by  their  bravery  and  good  conduct,  a  service  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  their  party.  Having  assembled  six  hundred  horse  they 
infested  the  French  with  continual  incursions,  beat  up  their  quarters,  inter- 
cepted their  convoys  of  provisions,  cut  off  their  straggling  parties,  and  so 

*  The  arguments  which  the  Scots  employed,  in  order  to  obtain  Elizabeth's  assistance,  are  urged 
with  »rcat  force  in  a  paper  of  Maitland's.     Se>-  Append.  No.  11. 
t  Keith,  114     Rymer,  xv.  p.  569  t  Haynes,  221,  fee 


OF   SCOTLAND  OS 

harassed  them  with  perpetual  alarms  that  they  prevented  them  for  more 
than  three  weeks  from  advancing.* 

1560.]  At  last  the  prior,  with  his  feeble  party,  was  constrained  to  retire, 
and  the  French  set  out  from  Kirkaldy,  and  began  to  move  along  the  coast 
towards  St.  Andrew's.  [Jan.  23.]  They  had  advanced  but  a  few  miles 
when,  from  an  eminence,  they  descried  a  powerful  fleet  steering  its  course 
up  the  Frith  of  Forth.  As  they  knew  that  the  Marquis  D'Elbeuf  was  at 
that  time  preparing  to  sail  for  Scotland  with  a  numerous  army,  they 
hastily  concluded  that  these  ships  belonged  to  them,  and  gave  way  to  the 
most  immoderate  transports  of  joy  on  the  prospect  of  this  long  expected 
succour.  Their  great  guns  were  already  fired  to  welcome  their  friends, 
and  to  spread  the  tidings  and  terror  of  their  arrival  among  their  enemies, 
when  a  small  boat  from  the  opposite  coast  landed,  and  blasted  their  pre- 
mature and  shortlived  triumph,  by  informing  them  that  it  was  the  fleet  of 
England  which  was  in  sight,  intended  for  the  aid  of  the  congregation, 
and  was  soon  to  be  followed  by  a  formidable  land  army. t 

Throughout  her  whole  reign  Elizabeth  was  cautious,  but  decisive  ;  and. 
by  her  promptitude  in  executing  her  resolutions,  joined  to  the  deliberation 
with  which  she  formed  them,  her  administration  became  remarkable  no 
less  for  its  vigour  than  for  its  wisdom.  No  sooner  did  she  determine  to 
afford  her  protection  to  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  than  they  expe- 
rienced the  activity,  as  well  as  the  extent  of  her  power.  The  season  ot 
the  year  would  not  permit  her  land  army  to  take  the  field;  but  lest  the 
French  should,  in  the  mean  time,  receive  new  reinforcements,  she  instantly 
ordered  a  strong  squadron  to  cruise  in  the  Frith  of  Forth.  She  seems,  by 
her  instructions  to  Winter  her  admiral,  to  have  been  desirous  of  preserving 
the  appearances  of  friendship  towards  the  French. J  But  these  were  only 
appearances ;  if  any  French  fleet  should  attempt  to  land,  he  was  com- 
manded to  prevent  it  by  every  act  of  hostility  and  violence.  It  was  the 
sight  of  this  squadron  which  occasioned  at  first  so  much  joy  among  the 
French,  but  which  soon  inspired  them  with  such  terror  as  saved  Fife  from 
the  effects  of  their  vengeance.  Apprehensive  of  being  cut  off  from  theii 
companions  on  the  opposite  shore,  they  retreated  towards  Stirling  with 
the  utmost  precipitation,  and  in  a  dreadful  season,  and  through  roads  almost 
impassable,  arrived  at  Leith,  harassed  and  exhausted  with  fatigue.§  _ 

The  English  fleet  cast  anchor  in  the  road  of  Leith,  and  continuing  in  that 
station  till  the  conclusion  of  peace,  both  prevented  the  garrison  of  Leith 
from  receiving  succours  of  any  kind,  and  considerably  facilitated  the 
operations  of  their  own  forces  by  land. 

Feb.  27.1  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  English  squadron,  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  congregation  repaired  to  Berwick,  and  concluded  with  the 
duke  of  Norfolk  a  treaty,  the  bond  of  that  union  with  Elizabeth  which 
was  of  so  great  advantage  to  the  cause.  To  give  a  check  to  the  dangerous 
and  rapid  progress  of  the  French  arms  in  Scotland  was  the  professed  design 
of  the  contracting  parties.  In  order  to  this  the  Scots  engaged  never  to 
surfer  any  closer  union  of  their  country  with  France  ;  and  to  defend  them- 
selves to  the  uttermost  against  all  attempts  of  conquest.  Elizabeth,  on 
her  part,  promised  to  employ  in  Scotland  a  powerful  army  for  their 
assistance,  which  the  Scots  undertook  to  join  with  all  their  forces  ;  noplace 
in  Scotland  was  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  English ;  whatever  should 
be  taken  from  the  enemy  was  either  to  be  razed  or  kept  by  the  Scots  at 
their  choice ;  if  any  invasion  should  be  made  upon  England,  the  Scots 
were  obliged  to  assist  Elizabeth  with  part  of  their  forces;  and,  to  ascer- 
tain their  faithful  observance  of  the  treaty,  they  bound  themselves  to 
deliver  hostages  to  Elizabeth,  before  the  march  of  her  army  into  Scotland : 
in  conclusion,  the  Scots  made  many  protestations  of  obedience  and  loyalty 

•Knox,  202.  f  Ibid.  X  Keith,  Append.  45     Haynes,  231.  fc  Knox,  203 


*4  THE   HISTORY  [Book  111. 

towards  their  own  queen,  in  every  thing  not  inconsistent  with  their 
religion  and  the  liberties  of  their  country.* 

The  English  army,  consisting  of  six  thousand  foot  and  two  thousand 
horse,  under  the  command  of  lord  Gray  of  Wilton,  entered  Scotland  early 
in  the  spring.  The  members  of  the  congregation  assembled  from  all  parts 
of  the  kingdom  to  meet  their  new  allies;  and  having  joined  them,  with 
great  multitudes  of  their  followers,  they  advanced  together  towards  Leith 
[April  2].  The  French  were  little  able  to  keep  the  field  against  an  enemy 
so  much  superior  in  number.  A  strong  body  of  troops,  destined  for  their 
relief,  had  been  scattered  by  a  violent  storm,  and  had  either  perished  on 
the  coast  of  France,  or  with  difficulty  had  recovered  the  ports  of  that 
kingdom.!  But  they  hoped  to  be  able  to  defend  Leith  till  the  princes  ol 
Lorrain  should  make  good  the  magnificent  promises  of  assistance  with 
which  they  daily  encouraged  them  ;  or  till  scarcity  of  provisions  should 
constrain  the  English  to  retire  into  their  own  country.  In  order  to  hasten 
this  latter  event,  they  did  not  neglect  the  usual,  though  barbarous  precaution 
for  distressing  an  invading  enemy,  by  burning  and  laying  waste  all  the 
adjacent  country  .J  The  zeal,  however,  of  the  nation  frustrated  their  inten- 
tions :  eager  to  contribute  towards  removing  their  oppressors,  the  people 
produced  their  hidden  stores  to  support  their  friends  ;  the  neighbouring 
counties  supplied  every  thing  necessary ;  and,  far  from  wanting  subsist- 
ence, the  English  found  in  their  camp  all  sorts  of  provisions  at  a  cheaper 
rate  than  had  for  some  time  been  known  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom. § 

On  the  approach  of  the  English  army  the  queen  regent  retired  into  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh.  Her  health  was  now  in  a  declining  state,  and  her 
mind  broken  and  depressed  by  the  misfortunes  of  her  administration.  To 
avoid  the  danger  and  fatigue  of  a  siege,  she  committed  herself  to  the  pro- 
tection of  lord  Erskine.  This  nobleman  still  pieserved  his  neutrality,  and 
by  his  integrity  and  love  of  his  country  merited  equally  the  esteem  of  both 
parties.  He  received  the  queen  herself  with  the  utmost  honour  and 
respect,  but  took  care  to  admit  no  such  retinue  as  might  endanger  his  com- 
mand of  the  castle. || 

April  6.1  A  few  days  after  they  arrived  in  Scotland,  the  English  invested 
Leith.  The  garrison  shut  up  within  the  town  was  almost  half  as  numerous 
as  the  army  which  sat  down  before  it,  and  by  an  obstinate  defence  pro- 
tracted the  siege  to  a  great  length.  The  circumstances  of  this  siege,  related 
by  cotemporary  historians,  men  without  knowledge  or  experience  in  the 
art  of  war,  are  often  obscure  and  imperfect,  and  at  this  distance  of  time 
are  not  considerable  enough  to  be  entertaining. 

At  first  the  French  endeavoured  to  keep  possession  of  the  Hawk  Hill,  a 
rising  ground  not  far  distant  from  the  town,  but  were  beat  from  it  with 
great  slaughter  [April  15],  chiefly  by  the  furious  attack  of  the  Scottish 
cavalry.  Within  a  few  days  the  French  had  their  full  revenge;  having 
sallied  out  with  a  strong  body,  they  entered  the  English  trenches,  broke 
their  troops,  nailed  part  of  their  cannon,  and  killed  at  least  double  the 
number  they  had  lost  in  the  former  skirmish.  Nor  were  the  English  more 
fortunate  in  an  attempt  which  they  made  to  take  the  place  by  assault  [May  7]  ; 
they  were  met  with  equal  courage,  and  repulsed  with  considerable  loss. 
From  the  detail  of  these  circumstances  by  the  writers  of  that  age,  it  is  easy 
to  observe  the  different  characters  of  the  French  and  English  troops.  The 
former,  trained  to  war  during  the  active  reigns  of  Francis  I.  and  Henry  II., 
defended  themselves  not  only  with  the  bravery  but  with  the  skill  of  vete- 
rans. The  latter,  who  had  been  more  accustomed  to  peace,  still  pre- 
served the  intrepid  and  desperate  valour  peculiar  to  the  nation,  but  dis- 
covered few  marks  of  military  genius  or  of  experience  in  the  practice  of 

*  Knox,  217     Haynea,  253,  &c.        T  Mem.  de  Cartel.  450.       J  Knox,  225.        (Id.  ibid 
II  Forte'  Collect  vol.  1.  503     Keith.  122 


O  F  S  C  O  T  L  A  N  D.  9o 

war.  Every  misfortune  or  disappointment  during  the  siege  must  be 
imputed  to  manifest  errors  in  conduct.  The  success  of  the  besieged  in 
their  sally  was  owing  entirely  to  the  security  and  negligence  of  the  Eng- 
lish ;  many  of  their  officers  were  absent ;  their  soldiers  had  Jeft  their  sta- 
tions; and  the*,  'renches  were  almost  without  a  guard.*  The  ladders, 
which  had  been  pt  jvided  for  the  assault,  wanted  a  great  deal  of  the  neces- 
sary length ;  and  the  troops  employed  in  that  service  were  ill  supported. 
The  trenches  were  opened  at  first  in  an  improper  place;  and  as  it  was 
found  expedient  to  change  the  ground,  both  time  and  labour  were  lost. 
The  inability  of  their  own  generals,  no  less  than  the  strength  of  the  French 
garrison,  rendered  the  progress  of  the  English  wonderfully  slow.  Th 
Ion?  continuance,  however,  of  the  siege,  and  the  lossof  part  of  their  maga- 
zines by  an  accidental  fire,  reduced  the  French  to  extreme  distress  for 
want  of  provisions,  which  the  prospect  of  relief  made  them  bear  with 
admirable  fortitude. 

While  the  hopes  and  courage  of  the  French  protracted  the  siege  so  far 
beyond  expectation,  the  leaders  of  the  congregation  were  not  idle.  By 
new  associations  and  confederacies  they  laboured  to  unite  their  party  more 
perfectly.  By  publicly  ratifying  the  treaty  concluded  at  Berwick,  they 
endeavoured  to  render  the  alliance  with  England  firm  and  indissoluble. 
Among  the  subscribers  of  these  papers  we  find  the  earl  of  Huntly,  and 
some  others,  who  had  not  hitherto  concurred  with  the  congregation  in  any 
of  their  measures.f  Several  of  these  lords,  particularly  the  earl  of  Huntly, 
still  adhered  to  the  popish  church;  but,  on  this  occasion,  neither  their  reli- 
gious sentiments  nor  their  former  cautious  maxims  were  regarded;  the  tor 
rent  of  national  resentment  and  indignation  against  the  French  hurried 
them  on.I 

June  10.]  The  queen  regent,  the  instrument  rather  than  the  cause  of 
involving  Scotland  in  those  calamities  under  which  it  groaned  at  that  time, 
died  during  the  heat  of  the  siege.  No  princess  ever  possessed  qualities 
more  capable  of  rendering  her  administration  illustrious,  or  the  kingdom 
happy.  Of  much  discernment  and  no  less  address;  of  great  intrepidity 
and  equal  prudence ;  gentle  and  humane,  without  weakness ;  zealous  for 
her  religion,  without  bigotry;  a  lover  of  justice,  without  rigour.  One 
circumstance,  however,  and  that  too  the  excess  of  a  virtue  rather  than  any 
vice,  poisoned  all  these  great  qualities,  and  rendered  her  government 
unforiunate  and  her  name  odious.  Devoted  to  the  interest  of  France,  her 
native  country,  and  attached  to  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  her  brothers,  with 
most  passionate  fondness,  she  departed,  in  order  to  gratify  them,  from 
every  maxim  which  her  own  wisdom  or  humanity  would  have  approved. 
She  outlived,  in  a  great  measure,  that  reputation  and  popularity  which  had 
smoothed  her  way  to  the  highest  station  in  the  kingdom;  and  many  exam- 
ples of  falsehood,  and  some  of  severity,  in  the  latter  part  of  her  administra- 
tion, alienated  from  her  the  affections  of  a  people  who  had  once  placed  in 
her  an  unbounded  confidence.  But,  even  by  her  enemies,  these  unjusti- 
fiable actions  were  imputed  to  the  facility,  not  to  the  malignity  of  her 
nature;  and  while  they  taxed  her  brothers  and  French  counsellors  with 
rashness  and  cruelty,  they  still  allowed  her  the  praise  of  prudence  and  of 
lenity. §  A  few  days  before  her  death  she  desired  an  interview  with  the 
prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  the  earl  of  Argyll,  and  other  chiefs  of  the  congre- 

*  Haynes,  294.  298.  305,  &c.  t  Burn,  vol.  hi.  087.     Knox,  221.     Haynes,  261 .  263. 

t  The  dread  of  the  French  power  did  on  many  occasions  surmount  the  zeal  which  the  catholir 
nobles  had  for  their  religion.  Besides  the  presumptive  evidence  for  this,  arising  from  the  memorial 
mentioned  by  Burnet,  Hist. of  the  Reformation,  vol.  iii.  281,  and  published  by  him,  Append,  p.  278 
Ihe  instructions  of  Elizabeth  to  Randolph  her  agent  put  it  beyond  all  doubt  that  many  zealcus  papist* 
thought  the  alliance  with  England  to  be  necessary  for  preservius  the  liberty  and  independence  ot 
the  kingdom.  Keith,  158.  Huntly  himself  bwran  a  correspondence  with  Elizabeth's  minister!, 
before  the  march  of  the  English  army  into  Scotland.     Haynes's  State  Paners.  261.  263.     Se« 

ppend.  No  III.  (>  Buchanan.  324 


96  THE  HISTORY  [Book  111 

gation.  To  them  sne  lamented  the  fatal  issue  of  those  violent  counsels 
which  she  had  been  obliged  to  follow ;  and,  with  the  candour  natural  to  a 
generous  mind,  confessed  the  errors  of  her  own  administration,  and  begged 
forgiveness  of  those  to  whom  they  had  been  hurtful ;  but  at  the  same  time 
she  warned  them,  amidst  their  struggles  for  liberty  and  the  shock  of  arms, 
not  to  lose  sight  of  the  loyalty  and  subjection  which  were  due  to  their 
sovereign.*  The  remainder  of  her  time  she  employed  in  religious  medi- 
tations and  exercises.  She  even  invited  the  attendance  of  vVfllox,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  among  the  reformed  preachers,  listened  tc  his  instructions 
with  reverence  and  attention,!  and  prepared  for  the  approach  of  death 
with  a  decent  fortitude. 

Nothing  could  now  save  the  French  troops  shut  up  in  Leith  but  the  imme- 
diate conclusion  of  a  peace,  or  the  arrival  of  a  powerful  army  from  the 
continent.  The  princes  of  Lorrain  amused  their  party  in  Scotland  with 
continual  expectations  of  the  latter,  and  had  thereby  kept  alive  their  hopes 
and  their  courage ;  but,  at  last,  the  situation  of  France,  rather  than  the  ter- 
ror of  the  English  arms,  or  the  remonstrances  of  the  Scottish  malecontents, 
constrained  them,  though  with  reluctance,  to  turn  their  thoughts  towards 
pacific  counsels.  The  protestants  in  France  were  at  that  time  a  party 
formidable  by  their  number,  and  more  by  the  valour  and  enterprising  ge- 
nius of  their  leaders.  Francis  II.  had  treated  them  with  extreme  rigour, 
and  discovered,  by  every  step  he  took,  a  settled  resolution  to  extirpate  their 
religion,  and  to  rum  those  who  professed  it.  At  the  prospect  of  this  danger 
to  themselves  and  to  their  cause,  the  protestants  were  alarmed,  but  not 
terrified.  Animated  with  zeal,  and  inflamed  with  resentment,  they  not 
only  prepared  for  their  own  defence,  but  resolved,  by  some  bold  action,  to 
anticipate  the  schemes  of  their  enemies;  and  as  the  princes  of  Lorrain 
were  deemed  the  authors  of  all  the  king's  violent  measures,  they  marked 
them  out  to  be  the  first  victims  of  their  indignation.  [March  15.]  Hence, 
and  not  from  disloyalty  to  the  king,  proceeded  the  famous  conspiracy  of 
Amboise  ;  and  though  the  vigilance  and  good  fortune  of  the  princes  of 
Lorrain  discovered  and  disappointed  that  design,  it  was  easy  to  observe 
new  storms  gathering  in  every  piovince  of  the  kingdom,  and  ready  to  burst 
out  with  ail  the  fury  and  outrage  of  civil  war.  In  this  situation  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  house  of  Lorrain  was  called  off  from  the  thoughts  of  foreign 
conquests,  to  defend  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  French  crown  ;  and, 
instead  of  sending  new  reinforcements  into  Scotland,  it  became  necessary 
to  withdraw  the  veteran  troops  already  employed  in  that  kingdom.J 

In  order  to  conduct  an  affair  of  so  much  importance  and  delicacy,  the 
princes  of  Lorrain  made  choice  of  Monluc,  bishop  of  Valence,  and  of  the 
sieur  de  Randan.  As  both  these,  especially  the  former,  were  reckoned 
inferior  to  no  persons  of  that  age  in  address  and  political  refinement,  Eliza- 
beth opposed  to  them  ambassadors  of  equal  abilities;  Cecil,  her  prime 
minister,  a  man  perhaps  of  the  greatest  capacity  who  had  ever  held  that 
office ;  and  Wotton,  dean  of  Canterbury,  grown  old  in  the  art  of  nego- 
tiating under  three  successive  monarchs.  The  interests  of  the  French  and 
English  courts  were  soon  adjusted  by  men  of  so  great  dexterity  in  business  ; 
and  as  France  easily  consented  to  withdraw  those  forces  which  had  been 
the  chief  occasion  of  the  war,  the  other  points  in  dispute  between  that 
kingdom  and  England  were  not  matters  of  tedious  or  of  difficult  discussion. 

The  grievances  of  the  congregation,  and  their  demands  upon  their  own 
sovereigns  for  redress,  employed  longer  time,  and  required  to  be  treated 
with  a  more  delicate  hand.  After  so  many  open  attempts,  carried  on  by 
command  of  the  king  and  queen,  in  order  to  overturn  the  ancient  constitu- 
tion, and  to  suppress  the  religion  which  they  had  embraced,  the  Scottish 
nobles  could  not  think  themselves  secure  without  fixing  some  new  barriei 

*  Lesley,  de  Rebus  Geat  Scot.  333.  t  Knox,  238.  J  Lesley,  334. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  97 

•gainst  the  future  encroachments  of  regal  power.  But  the  legal  steps 
towards  accomplishing  this  were  not  so  obvious.  The  French  ambassa- 
dors considered  the  entering  into  any  treaty  with  subjects,  and  with 
rebels,  as  a  condescension  unsuitable  to  the  dignity  of  a  sovereign ;  and 
their  scruples  on  this  head  might  have  put  an  end  to  the  treaty,  if  the 
impatience  of  both  parties  for  peace  had  not  suggested  an  expedient,  which 
seemed  to  provide  for  the  security  of  (he  subject,  without  derogating  from 
the  honour  of  the  prince.  The  Scottish  nobles  agreed,  on  this  occasion,  to 
pass  from  the  point  of  right  and  privilege,  and  to  accept  the  redress  of 
their  grievances  as  a  matter  of  favour.  VVhatever  additional  security  their 
anxiety  for  personal  safety  or  their  zeal  for  public  liberty  prompted  them 
to  demand  was  granted  in  the  name  of  Francis  and  Mary,  as  acts  of  theii 
royal  favour  and  indulgence.  And,  lest  concessions  of  this  kind  should 
seem  precarious  and  liable  to  be  retracted  by  the  same  power  which  had 
made  them,  the  French  ambassador  agreed  to  insert  them  in  the  treaty 
with  Elizabeth,  and  thereby  to  bind  the  king  and  queen  inviolably  to 
observe  them.* 

In  relating  this  transaction,  cotemporary  historians  have  confounded  the 
concessions  of  Francis  and  Mary  to  their  Scottish  subjects,  with  the  treaty 
between  France  and  England  ;  the  latter,  besides  the  ratification  of  former 
treaties  between  the  two  kingdoms,  and  stipulations  with  regard  to  the 
time  and  manner  of  removing  both  armies  out  of  Scotland,  contained  an 
article  to  which,  as  the  source  of  many  important  events,  we  shall  often 
have  occasion  to  refer.  The  right  of  Elizabeth  to  her  crown  is  thereby 
acknowledged  in  the  strongest  terms  ;  and  Francis  and  Mary  solemnly  en- 
gaged neither  to  assume  the  title  nor  to  bear  the  arms  of  king  and  queen 
of  England  in  any  time  to  come.t 

July  6.]  Honourable  as  this  article  was  for  Elizabeth  herself,  the  con- 
ditions she  obtained  for  her  allies  the  Scots  were  no  less  advantageous  to 
them.  Monluc  and  Randan  consented,  in  the  name  of  Francis  and  Mary, 
that  the  French  forces  in  Scotland  should  instantly  be  sent  back  into  their 
own  country,  and  no  foreign  troops  be  hereafter  introduced  into  the  king- 
dom without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  parliament ;  that  the  fortifica- 
tions of  Leith  and  Dunbar  should  immediately  be  razed,  and  no  new  fort 
be  erected  without  the  permission  of  parliament ;  that  a  parliament  should 
be  held  on  the  first  day  of  August,  and  that  assembly  be  deemed  as  valid 
in  all  respects  as  if  it  had  been  called  by  the  express  commandment  of  the 
king  and  queen  ;  that,  conformable  to  the  ancient  laws  and  customs  of  the 
country,  the  king  and  queen  should  not  declare  war  or  conclude  peace 
without  the  concurrence  of  parliament ;  that,  during  the  queen's  absence, 
the  administration  of  government  should  be  vested  in  a  council  of  twelve 
persons,  to  be  chosen  out  of  twenty-four  named  by  parliament,  seven  of 
which  council  to  be  elected  by  the  queen,  and  five  by  the  parliament ;  that 
hereafter  the  king  and  queen  should  not  advance  foreigners  to  places  of 
trust  or  dignity  in  the  kingdom,  nor  confer  the  offices  of  treasurer  or  comp- 
troller of  the  revenues  upon  any  ecclesiastics  ;  that  an  act  of  oblivion, 
abolishing  the  guilt  and  memory  of  all  offences  committed  since  the  S/Xth 
of  March,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  should  be  passed  in 
the  ensuing  parliament,  and  be  ratified  by  the  king  and  queen ;  that  the 
king  and  queen  should  not,  under  the  colour  of  punishing  any  violation  of 
their  authority  during  that  period,  seek  to  deprive  any  of  their  subjects  of 
the  offices,  benefices,  or  estates  which  they  now  hold  ;  that  the  redress  due 
to  churchmen,  for  the  injuries  which  they  had  sustained  during  the  late 
insurrections,  should  be  left  entirely  to  the  cognizance  of  parliament. 
With  regard  to  religious  controversies,  the  ambassadors  declared  that  they 

ould  not  presume  to  decide,  but  permitted  the  parliament,  at  their  first 

•  Keith,  134,  &c.  t  Ibid.    Rymer,  xv.  p.  581,  661,  fee     Haynea,  325—354. 

Vol.  III. — 13 


98  THE    HISTORY  [Book  111. 

meeting,  to  examine  the  points  in  difference,  and  to  represent  their  sense 
of  them  to  the  king  and  queen.* 

To  such  a  memorable  period  did  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  by  their 
courage  and  perseverance,  conduct  an  enterprise  which  at  first  promised  a 
very  different  issue.  From  beginnings  extremely  feeble,  and  even  con- 
temptible, the  party  grew  by  degrees  to  ejreat  power  ;  and,  being  favoured 
by  many  fortunate  incidents,  baffled  all  the  efforts  of  their  own  queen, 
aided  by  the  forces  of  a  more  considerable  kingdom  The  sovereign 
authority  was  by  this  treaty  transferred  wholly  into  the  hands  of  the  con- 
gregation ;  that  limited  prerogative  which  the  crown  had  hitherto  pos- 
sessed, was  almost  entirely  annihilated  ;  and  the  aristocratical  power, 
which  always  predominated  in  the  Scottish  government,  became  supreme 
and  incontrollable.  By  this  treaty,  too,  the  influence  of  France,  which 
had  long  been  of  much  weight  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  was  greatly 
diminished  ;  and  not  only  were  the  present  encroachments  of  that  ambitious 
ally  restrained,  but  by  confederating  with  England,  protection  was  provided 
against  any  future  attempt  from  the  same  quarter.  At  the  same  time,  the 
controversies  in  religion  being  left  to  the  consideration  of  parliament,  the 

f)rotestants  might    reckon   upon   obtaining  whatever  decision  was   most 
avourable  to  the  opinions  which  they  professed. 

A  few  days  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  both  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish armies  quitted  Scotland. 

The  eyes  of  every  man  in  that  kingdom  were  turned  towards  the  ap- 
proaching parliament.  A  meeting,  summoned  in  a  manner  so  extraordinary, 
at  such  a  critical  juncture,  and  to  deliberate  upon  matters  of  so  much  con- 
sequence, was  expected  with  the  utmost  anxiety. 

A  Scottish  parliament  suitable  to  the  aristocratical  genius  of  the  govern 
ment,  was  properly  an  assembly  of  the  nobles.  It  was  composed  of 
bishops,  abbots,  barons,  and  a  few  commissioners  of  boroughs,  who  met 
all  together  in  one  house.  The  lesser  barons,  though  possessed  of  a  right 
to  be  present,  either  in  person  or  by  their  representatives,  seldom  exercised 
it.  The  expense  of  attending,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  with 
a  numerous  train  of  vassals  and  dependants  ;  the  inattention  of  a  martial 
age  to  the  forms  and  detail  of  civil  government ;  but,  above  all,  the  ex- 
orbitant authority  of  the  greater  nobles,  who  had  drawn  the  whole  power 
into  their  own  hands,  made  this  privilege  of  so  little  value  as  to  be 
almost  neglected.  It  appears  from  the  ancient  rolls  that,  during  times  ol 
tranquillity,  few  commissioners  of  boroughs,  and  almost  none  of  the  lesser 
barons,  appeared  in  parliament.  The  ordinary  administration  of  govern- 
ment was  abandoned,  without  scruple  or  jealousy,  to  the  king  and  to  the 
greater  barons.  But  in  extraordinary  conjunctures,  when  the  struggle  foi 
liberty  was  violent,  and  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  crown  rose  to  a 
height,  the  burgesses  and  lesser  barons  were  roused  from  their  inactivity 
and  stood  forth  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  their  country.  The  turbulent 
reign  of  James  III.  affords  examples  in  proof  of  this  observation.!  The 
public  indignation,  against  the  rash  designs  of  that  weak  and  ill-advised 
prince,  brought  into  parliament,  besides  the  greater  nobles  and  prelates,  a 
considerable  number  of  the  lesser  barons. 

The  same  causes  occasioned  the  unusual  confluence  of  all  orders  of  men 
to  the  parliament,  which  met  on  the  first  of  August.  The  universal  pas- 
sion for  liberty,  civil  and  religious,  which  had  seized  the  nation,  suffered 
lew  persons  to  remain  unconcerned  spectators  of  an  assembly,  whose  acts 
were  likely  to  prove  decisive  with  respect  to  both.  From  ail  corners  ot 
the  kingdom  men  flocked  in,  eager  and  determined  to  aid,  with  their  voices 
in  tl  3  senate,  the  same  cause  which  they  had  defended  with  their  sword9 
in  the  field.     Besides  a  full  convention  of  peers,  temporal  and  spiritual, 

•  Keith,  137,  4*.  t  Ibid,  147. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  99 

mere  appeared  the  representatives  of  almost  all  the  boroughs,  and  aoove 
a  hundred  barons,  who,  though  of  the  ksser  order,  were  gentlemen  of  the 
first  rank  and  fortune  in  the  nation.* 

The  parliament  was  ready  to  enter  on  business  with  the  utmost  zeal, 
when  a  difficulty  was  started  concerning  the  lawfulness  of  the  meeting. 
No  commissioner  appeared  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  queen,  and  no 
signification  of  their  consent  and  approbation  was  yet  received.  These 
were  deemed  by  many  essential  to  the  very  being  of  a  parliament.  But 
in  opposition  to  this  sentiment,  the  express  words  of  the  treaty  of  Edin- 
burgh were  urged,  by  which  this  assembly  was  declared  to  be  as  valid,  i« 
all  respects,  as  if  it  had  been  called  and  appointed  by  the  express  coii!- 
mand  of  the  king  and  queen.  As  the  adherents  of  the  congregation  greatly 
outnumbered  (heir  adversaries,  the  latter  opinion  prevailed.  Their  btJc.est 
eaders,  and  those  of  most  approved  zeal,  were  chosen  to  be  lords  of  the 
articles,  who  formed  a  committee  of  ancient  use  and  of  great  importance 
in  the  Scottish  parliament.!  The  deliberations  of  the  lords  of  the  articles 
were  carried  on  with  the  most  unanimous  and  active  zeal.  The  act  of 
oblivion,  the  nomination  of  twenty-four  persons,  out  of  whom  the  council, 
intrusted  with  supreme  authority,  was  to  be  elected  ;  and  every  other  thing 
prescribed  by  the  late  treaty,  or  which  seemed  necessary  to  render  it 
effectual,  passed  without  dispute  or  delay.  The  article  of  religion  em- 
ployed longer  time,  and  was  attended  with  greater  difficulty.  It  was 
brought  into  parliament  by  a  petition  from  those  who  adopted  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  reformation.  Many  doctrines  of  the  popish  church  were  a 
contradiction  to  reason,  and  a  disgrace  to  religion  ;  its  discipline  had 
become  corrupt  and  oppressive  ;  and  its  revenues  were  both  exorbitant 
and  ill  applied.  Against  all  these  the  protestants  remonstrated  with  the 
utmost  asperity  of  style,  which  indignation  at  their  absurdity,  or  experience 
of  their  pernicious  tendency  could  inspire  ;  and,  encouraged  by  the  num- 
ber as  well  as  zeal  of  their  friends,  to  improve  such  a  favourable  juncture, 
they  aimed  the  blow  at  the  whole  fabric  of  popery,  and  besought  the  par 
liament  to  interpose  its  authority  for  rectifying  these  multiplied  abuses.]; 

Several  prelates,  zealously  attached  to  the  ancient  superstition,  were 
present  in  this  parliament.  But,  during  these  vigorous  proceedings  of  the 
protestants,  they  stood  confounded  and  at  gaze  ;  and  persevered  in  a  silence 
which  was  fatal  to  their  cause.  They  deemed  it  impossible  to  resist  or 
divert  that  torrent  of  religious  zeal,  which  was  still  in  its  full  strength  ; 
they  dreaded  that  their  opposition  would  irritate  their  adversaries  and  ex- 
cite them  to  new  acts  of  violence  ;  they  hoped  that  the  king  and  queen 
would  soon  be  at  leisure  to  put  a  stop  to  the  career  of  their  insolent  sub- 
jects, and  that,  after  the  rage  and  havoc  of  the  present  storm,  the  former 
tranquillity  and  order  would  be  resiored  to  the  church  and  kingdom. 
They  were  willing,  perhaps,  to  sacrifice  the  doctrine,  and  even  the  power 
of  the  church,  in  order  to  ensure  the  safety  of  their  own  persons,  and  to 
preserve  the  possession  of  those  revenues  which  were  still  in  their  hands. 
Trom  whatever  motives  they  acted,  their  silence,  which  was  imputed  to 
the  consciousness  of  a  bad  cause,  afforded  matter  of  great  triumph  to  the 
protestants,  and  encouraged  them  to  proceed  with  more  boldness  and 
alucrity.§ 

The  parliament  did  not  think  it  enough  to  condemn  those  doctrines  men- 
tioned in  the  petition  of  the  protestants ;  they  moreover  gave  the  sanction 
of  their  approbation  to  a  confession  of  faith  presented  to  them  by  tnt 
reformed  teachers  ;||  and  composed,  as  might  be  expected  from  sueh  a  per- 

*  Keith,  146. 

t  From  an  original  letter  of  Hamilton,  archoishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  it  appears  that  the  lords  01 
articles  were  chosen  in  the  manner  afterwards  appointed  by  an  act  of  parliament,  1633. — Keitn  p 
467.     Spottiswood  seems  to  consider  this  to  have  been  the  common  practice.    Hist.  149 

t  Knox,  237  $  Ibid  253.  ||  Id.  ibid. 


!00  THE   HISTORY  [Book  ill. 

forrnance  at  that  juncture,  on  purpose  to  expose  the  absurd  tenets  and  prac 
lices  of  the  Romish  church.  By  another  act  the  jurisdiction  of  the  eccle- 
siastical courts  was  abolished,  and  the  causes  which  formerly  came  under 
their  cognizance  were  transferred  to  the  decision  of  civil  judges  *  By  a 
third  statute,  the  exercise  of  religious  worship,  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
Romish  church,  was  prohibited.  The  manner  in  which  the  parliament 
enforced  the  observation  of  this  law  discovers  the  zeal  of  that  assembly ; 
the  first  transgression  subjected  the  offender  to  the  forfeiture  of  his  goods, 
and  to  a  corporal  punishment  at  the  discretion  of  the  judge  ;  banishment 
was  the  penalty  of  the  second  violation  of  the  law  ;  and  a  third  act  of  dis- 
obedience was  declared  to  be  capital. t  Such  strangers  were  men  at  that 
time  to  the  spirit  of  toleration,  and  to  the  laws  of  humanity ;  and  with  such 
indecent  haste  did  the  very  persons  who  had  just  escaped  the  rigour  of 
ecclesiastical  tyranny,  proceed  to  imitate  those  examples  of  severity  of 
which  they  themselves  had  sojustly  complained. 

The  vigorous  zeal  of  the  parliament  overturned  in  a  few  days  the  ancient 
system  ot  religion,  which  had  been  established  so  many  ages.  In  reform- 
ing the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  church  the  nobles  kept  pace  with  the 
ardour  and  expectations  even  of  Knox  himself.  But  their  proceedings 
with  respect  to  these  were  not  more  rapid  and  impetuous  than  they  were 
slow  and  dilatory  when  they  entered  on  the  consideration  of  ecclesiastical 
revenues.  Among  the  lay  members,  some  were  already  enriched  with  the 
spoils  of  the  church,  and  others  devoured  in  expectation  the  wealthy  bene- 
fices which  still  remained  untouched.  The  alteration  in  religion  had 
afforded  many  of  the  dignified  ecclesiastics  themselves  an  opportunity  ot 
gratifying  their  avarice  or  ambition.  The  demolition  of  the  monasteries 
having  set  the  monks  at  liberty  from  their  confinement,  they  instantly  dis- 
persed all  over  the  kingdom,  and  commonly  betook  themselves  to  some 
secular  employment.  The  abbot,  if  he  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  embrace 
the  principles  of  the  reformation  from  conviction,  or  so  cunning  as  to  espouse 
them  out  of  policy,  seized  the  whole  revenues  of  the  fraternity ;  and,  ex 
cept  what  he  allowed  for  the  subsistence  of  a  few  superannuated  monks,! 
applied  them  entirely  to  his  own  use.  The  proposal  made  by  the  reformed 
teachers,  for  applying  these  revenues  towards  the  maintenance  of  ministers, 
the  education  of  youth,  and  the  support  of  the  poor,  was  equally  dreaded 
by  all  these  orders  of  men.  They  opposed  it  with  the  utmost  warmth,  and 
by  their  numbers  and  authority  easily  prevailed  on  the  parliament  to  give 
no  ear  to  such  a  disagreeable  demand. §  Zealous  as  the  first  reformers 
were,  and  animated  with  a  spirit  superior  to  the  low  considerations  ot 
interest,  they  beheld  these  early  symptoms  of  selfishness  and  avarice  among 
their  adherents  with  amazement  and  sorrow  ;  and  we  find  Knox  expressing 
with  the  utmost  sensibility  of  that  contempt  with  which  they  were  treated 
by  many  from  whom  he  expected  a  more  generous  concern  for  the  success 
of  religion  and  the  honour  of  its  ministers.|[ 

A  difficulty  hath  been  started  with  regard  to  the  acts  of  this  parliament 
concerning  religion.  This  difficulty,  which  at  such  a  distance  of  time  is  ol 
no  importance,  was  founded  on  the  words  of  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh.  By 
that  the  parliament  were  permitted  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of 
religion,  and  to  signify  their  sentiments  of  it  to  the  king  and  queen.  But- 
instead  of  presenting  their  desires  to  their  sovereigns  in  the  humble  form  ol 
a  supplication  or  address,  the  parliament  converted  them  into  so  many  actsj 
which,  although  they  never  received  the  royal  assent,  obtained  all  over  the 
kingdom  the  weight  and  authority  of  laws.  In  compliance  with  their  in- 
junctions the  established  system  of  religion  was  every  where  overthrown, 
and  that  recommended  by  the  reformers  introduced  in  its  place.    The  par 

*  Keith,  152.        T  Knox,  254.         J  Keiih,  490    Append.  190, 191.         f  See  Append.  No.  IV 
I  Knox,  239. 256. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  101 

;iality  and  zea.  of  the  people  overlooked  or  supplied  any  defect  in  the 
orm  of  these  acts  of  parliament,  and  rendered  the  observance  of  them  more 
universal  than  ever  had  been  yielded  to  the  statutes  of  the  most  regular  or 
constitutional  assembly.  By  those  proceedings  it  must,  however,  be  con- 
fessed that  the  parliament,  or  rather  the  nation,  violated  the  last  article  in 
the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  and  even  exceeded  the  powers  which  belong  to 
subjects.  But  when  once  men  have  been  accustomed  to  break  tbrous^h  the 
common  boundaries  of  subjection,  and  their  minds  are  inflamed  with  the 
passions  which  civil  war  inspires,  it  is  mere  pedantry  or  ignorance  to  mea- 
sure their  conduct  by  those  rules  which  can  be  applied  only  where  govern- 
ment is  in  a  state  of  order  and  tranquillity.  A  nation,  when  obliged  to 
employ  such  extraordinary  efforts  in  defence  of  its  liberties,  avails  itself  c( 
every  thing  which  can  promote  this  great  end ;  and  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
as  well  as  the  importance  of  the  object,  justify  any  departure  from  the 
common  and  established  rules  of  the  constitution. 

In  consequence  of  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  as  well  as  by  the  ordinary 
forms  of  business,  it  became  necessary  to  lay  the  proceedings  of  parliament 
before  the  king  and  queen.  For  this  purpose  sir  James  Sandilands  of 
Calder,  lord  St.  John,  was  appointed  to  repair  to  the  court  of  France. 
After  holding  a  course  so  irregular,  the  leaders  of  the  congregation  had  no 
reason  to  flatter  themselves  that  Francis  and  Mary  would  ever  approve 
their  conduct,  or  confirm  it  by  their  royal  assent.  The  reception  of  their 
ambassador  was  no  other  than  they  might  have  expected.  He  was  treated 
by  the  king  and  queen  with  the  utmost  coldness,  and  dismissed  without 
obtaining  the  ratification  of  the  parliament's  proceedings.  From  the  princes 
Lorrain,  and  their  partisans,  he  endured  all  the  scorn  and  insult  which 
it  was  natural  for  them  to  pour  upon  the  party  he  represented.* 

Though  the  earls  of  Morton,  Glencairn,  and  Maitland  of  Lethington,  the 
ambassadors  of  the  parliament  to  Elizabeth  their  protectress,  met  with  a 
very  different  reception,  they  were  not  more  successful  in  one  part  of  the 
negotiation  intrusted  to  their  care.  The  Scots,  sensible  of  the  security 
which  they  derived  from  their  union  with  England,  were  desirous  of  ren- 
dering it  indissoluble.  With  this  view  they  empowered  these  eminent 
leaders  of  their  party  to  testify  to  Elizabeth  their  gratitude  for  that  season- 
able and  effectual  aid  which  she  had  afforded  them  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
to  beseech  her  to  render  the  friendship  between  the  nations  perpetual,  by 
condescending  to  marry  the  earl  of  Arran,  who,  though  a  subject,  was 
nearly  allied  to  the  royal  family  of  Scotland,  and,  alter  Mary,  the  undoubted 
heir  to  the  crown. 

To  the  former  part  of  this  commission  Elizabeth  listened  with  the  utmost 
satisfaction,  and  encouraged  the  Scots,  in  any  future  exigency,  to  hope  foi 
the  continuance  of  her  good  offices  ;  with  regard  to  the  latter,  she  discovered 
those  sentiments  to  which  she  adhered  throughout  her  whole  reign.  Averse 
from  marriage,  as  some  maintain,  through  choice,  but  more  probably  out 
of  policy,  that  ambitious  princess  would  never  admit  any  partner  to  the 
throne  ;  but,  delighted  with  the  entire  and  uncontrolled  exercise  of  power, 
she  sacrificed  to  the  enjoyment  of  that  the  hopes  of  transmitting  her  crown 
to  her  own  posterity.  The  marriage  with  the  earl  of  Arran  could  not  be 
attended  with  any  such  extraordinary  advantage  as  to  shake  this  resolu- 
tion ;  she  declined  it  therefore,  but  with  many  expressions  of  good  will 
towards  the  Scottish  nation,  and  of  respect  for  Arran  himself.t 

Towards  the  conclusion  of  this  year,  distinguished  by  so  many  remark- 
able events,  there  happened  one  of  great  importance.  On  the  fourth  of 
December  died  Francis  II.,  a  prince  of  a  feeble  constitution,  and  of  a  mean 
understanding.    As  he  did  not  leave  any  issue  by  the  queen,  no  incident 

*  Knox,  S55.  Bueh.  337.  State  papers  published  by  lord  Hardwicke,  vol.  i.  p.  135,  fcc 
t  Barn,  a    Append.  306.    Keith,  154,  &c. 


i02  THE  HISTORY  [Book  111. 

unild  have  been  more  fortunate  to  those  who,  during  the  late  commotious 
in  Scotland,  had  taken  part  with  the  congregation.  Mary,  by  the  charms 
of  her  beauty,  had  acquired  an  entire  ascendant  over  her  husband  :  and  as 
she  transferred  all  her  influence  to  her  uncles  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  Fran- 
cis followed  them  implicitly  in  whatever  track  they  were  pleased  to  lead 
him.  The  power  of  France,  under  such  direction,  alarmed  the  Scottish 
malecontents  with  apprehensions  of  danger  no  less  formidable  than  well 
founded.  The  intestine  disorders  which  raged  in  France,  and  the  season- 
able interposition  of  England  in  behalf  of  the  congregation,  had  hitherto 
prevented  the  princes  of  Lorrain  from  carrying  their  designs  upon  Scotland 
into  execution.  But,  under  their  vigorous  and  decisive  administrations,  ii 
was  impossible  that  the  commotions  in  France  could  be  of  long  continu- 
ance, and  many  things  might  fall  in  to  divert  Elizabeth's  attention,  for  the 
future,  from  the  affairs  of  Scotland.  In  either  of  these  events,  the  Scots 
would  stand  exposed  to  all  the  vengeance  which  the  resentment  of  the 
French  court  could  inflict.  The  blow,  however  long  suspended,  was  una- 
voidable, and  must  fall  at  last  with  redoubled  weight.  From  this  pros- 
pect and  expectation  of  danger,  the  Scots  were  delivered  by  the  death  ol 
Francis;  the  ancient  confederacy  of  the  two  kingdoms  had  already  been 
broken,  and  by  this  event  the  chief  bond  of  union  which  remained  was 
dissolved.  Catherine  of  Medicis,  who,  during  the  minority  of  Charles 
IX.  her  second  son,  engrossed  the  entire  direction  of  the  French  councils, 
was  far  from  any  thoughts  of  vindicating  the  Scottish  queen's  authority. 
Catherine  and  Mary  had  been  rivals  in  power  during  the  reign  of  Francis 
II.,  and  had  contended  for  the  government  of  that  weak  and  inexperienced 
prince ;  but  as  the  charms  of  the  wife  easily  triumphed  over  the  authority 
uf  the  mother,  Catherine  could  never  forgive  such  a  disappointment  in  her 
favourite  passion,  and  beheld  now,  with  secret  pleasure,  the  difficult  and 
perplexing  scene  ou  which  her  daughter-in-law  was  about  to  enter.  Mary 
overwhelmed  with  all  the  sorrow  which  so  sad  a  reverse  of  fortune  could 
occasion;  slighted  by  the  queen-mother;*  and  forsaken  by  the  tribe  ol 
courtiers,  who  appear  only  in  the  sunshine  of  prosperity,  retired  to  Rheims, 
and  there  in  solitude  indulged  her  grief,  or  hid  her  indignation.  Even  the 
princes  of  Lorrain  were  obliged  to  contract  their  views  ;  to  turn  them  from 
foreign  to  domestic  objects ;  and,  instead  of  forming  vast  projects  with 
regard  to  Britain,  they  found  it  necessary  to  think  of  acquiring  and  estab- 
lishing an  interest  with  the  new  administration. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  emotions  of  joy  which,  on  all  these 
accounts,  the  death  of  the  French  monarch  excited  among  the  Scots. 
They  regarded  it  as  the  only  event  which  could  give  firmness  and  stability 
to  that  system  of  religion  and  government  which  was  now  introduced  ; 
and  it  is  nc  wonder  cotemporary  historians  should  ascribe  it  to  the  imme 
diate  care  of  Providence,  which,  by  unforeseen  expedients,  can  secure  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  kingdoms,  in  those  situations  where  human  pru- 
dence and  invention  would  utterly  despair.! 

About  this  time  the  protestant  church  of  Scotland  began  to  assume  a 
regular  form.  Its  principles  had  obtained  the  sanction  of  public  authority, 
and  some  fixed  external  policy  became  necessary  for  the  government  and 
preservation  of  the  infant  society.  The  model  introduced  by  the  reformers 
differed  extremely  from  that  which  had  been  long  established.  The 
motives  which  induced  them  to  depart  so  far  from  the  ancient  system 
deserve  to  be  explained. 

The  licentious  lives  of  the  clergy,  as  has  been  already  observed,  seem 
to  have  been  among  the  first  things  that  excited  any  suspicion  concerning 
the  truth  of  the  doctrines  which  they  taught,  and  roused  that  spirit  ol 
inquiry  which  proved  fatal  to  the  popish  system.     As  this  disgust  at  the 

*  Henault,  340.     Casteln.  454.  t  Knox,  259. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  103 

vices  of  ecclesiastics  was  soon  transfeired  to  their  persons,  and  shitting 
from  them,  hy  no  violent  transition,  settled  at  last  upon  the  offices  which 
they  enjoyed  ;  the  effects  of  the  reformation  would  naturally  have  extended 
not  only  to  the  doctrine,  but  to  the  form  of  government  in  the  popish 
church  ;  and  the  same  spirit  which  abolished  the  former  would  have  over- 
turned the  latter.  But  in  the  arrangements  which  took  place  in  the 
different  kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  reforma- 
tion, we  may  observe  something  similar  to  what  happened  upon  the  fust 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  Roman  empire.  In  both  periods,  the 
form  of  ecclesiastical  policy  was  modelled,  in  some  measure,  upon  that 
of  the  civil  government.  When  the  Christian  church  was  patronised  and 
established  by  the  state,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  various  orders  of  the 
ecclesiaslics,  distinguished  by  the  names  of  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and 
bishops,  was  made  to  correspond  with  the  various  divisions  of  the  empire  : 
and  the  ecclesiastic  of  chief  eminence  in  each  of  these  possessed  authority, 
more  or  less  extensive,  in  proportion  to  that  of  the  civil  magistrate  who 
presided  over  the  same  district.  When  the  reformation  took  place,  the 
episcopal  form  of  government,  with  its  various  ranks  and  degrees  of 
subordination,  appearing  to  be  most  consistent  with  the  genius  of  monarchy, 
it  was  continued,  with  a  few  limitations,  in  several  provinces  of  Germany, 
in  England,  and  in  the  northern  kingdoms.  But  in  Switzerland  and  some 
parts  of  the  Low-Countries,  where  the  popular  form  of  government  allowed 
more  full  scope  to  the  innovating  genius  ot  the  reformation,  all  pre-eminence 
of  order  in  the  church  was  destroyed,  and  an  equality  established  more 
suitable  to  the  spirit  of  republican  policy.  As  the  model  of  episcopal 
government  was  copied  from  that  of  the  Christian  church  as  established 
in  the  Roman  empire,  the  situation  of  the  primitive  church,  prior  to  its 
establishment  by  civil  authority,  seems  to  have  suggested  the  idea,  and 
furnished  the  model  of  the  latter  system,  which  has  since  been  denominated 
Presbyterian.  The  first  Christians,  oppressed  by  continual  persecutions, 
and  obliged  to  hold  their  religious  assemblies  by  stealth  and  in  corners, 
were  contented  with  a  form  of  government  extremely  simple.  The 
influence  of  religion  concurred  with  the  sense  of  danger,  in  extinguishing 
among  them  the  spirit  of  ambition,  and  in  preserving  a  parity  of  rank, 
the  effect  of  their  sufferings,  and  the  cause  of  many  of  their  virtues. 
Calvin,  whose  decisions  were  received  among  many  protestants  of  that 
age  with  incredible  submission,  was  the  patron  and  restorer  of  this 
scheme  of  ecclesiastical  policy.  The  church  of  Geneva,  formed  under 
his  eye  and  by  his  direction,  was  deemed  the  most  perfect  model  of 
this  government ;  and  Knox,  who  during  his  residence  in  that  city,  had 
studied  and  admired  it,  warmly  recommended  it  to  the  imitation  of  his 
countrymen. 

Among  the  Scottish  nobility,  some  hated  the  persons,  and  others  coveted 
the  wealth  of  the  dignified  clergy.  By  abolishing  that  order  of  men,  the 
former  indulged  their  resentment,  and  the  latter  hoped  to  gratify  their 
avarice.  The  people,  inflamed  with  the  most  violent  aversion  to  popery, 
and  approving  of  every  scheme  that  departed  farthest  from  the  practice 
of  the  Romish  church,  were  delighted  with  a  system  so  admirably  suited 
to  their  predominant  passion  :  while  the  friends  of  civil  liberty  beheld  witl, 
pleasure  the  protestant  clergy  pulling  down  with  their  own  hands  that  fabric 
of  ecclesiastical  power  which  their  predecessors  had  reared  with  so  much 
art  and  industry;  and  flattered  themselves  that,  by  lending  their  aid  to 
strip  churchmen  of  their  dignity  and  wealth,  they  might  entirely  deliver  the 
nation  from  their  exorbitant  and  oppressive  jurisdiction.  The  new  mode 
of  government  easily  made  its  way  among  men  thus  prepared,  by  their 
various  interests  and  passions,  for  its  reception. 

But,  on  the  first  introduction  of  his  system,  Knox  did  not  deem  it  expedient 


104  THE  HISTORY  [Book  III. 

to  depart  altogether  from  the  ancient  form.*  Instead  of  bishop  ?,  he  pro 
posed  to  establish  ten  or  twelve  superintendents  in  different  p;  rts  of  the 
kingdom.  These,  as  the  name  implies,  were  empowered  to  inspect  the 
life  and  doctrine  of  the  other  clergy  They  presided  in  the  inferior  judi- 
catories of  the  church,  and  performed  several  other  parts  of  the  episcopal 
function.  Their  jurisdiction,  however,  exlenoeo  to  sacred  things  only; 
they  claimed  no  seat  in  parliament,  and  pretendeo  no  right  to  the  dignity 
or  revenues  of  the  former  bishops. 

The  number  of  inferior  clergy,  to  whom  the  care  of  parochial  duty 
could  be  committed,  was  still  extremely  small ;  they  had  embraced  the 
principles  of  the  reformation  at  different  times,  and  from  various  motives  ; 
during  the  public  commotions,  they  were  scattered,  merely  by  chance, 
over  the  different  provinces  of  the  kingdom,  and  in  a  few  places  only  were 
formed  into  regular  classes  or  societies.  [Dec.  20.]  The  first  general 
assembly  of  the  church,  which  was  held  this  year,  bears  all  the  marks  of 
an  infi  it  aad  unformed  society.  The  members  were  but  few  in  number, 
and  ol  no  considerable  rank  ;  no  uniform  or  consistent  rule  seems  to  have 
been  observed  in  electing  them.  From  a  great  part  of  the  kingdom  no 
representatives  appeared.  In  the  name  of  some  entire  counties  but  one 
person  was  present  ;  while,  in  other  places,  a  single  town  or  church  sent 
several  members.  A  convention  so  feeble  and  irregular  could  not  possess 
extensive  authority  ;  and,  conscious  of  their  own  weakness,  the  members 
put  an  end  to  their  debates,  without  venturing  upon  any  decision  of  much 
importance.! 


1561.1  In  order  to  give  greater  strength  and  consistence  to  the  presby- 
rian  plan,  Knox,  with  the  assistance  of  his  brethren,  composed  the  first 
book  of  discipline,  which  contains  the  model  or  platform  of  the  intended 


policy.!  [Jan.  15.]  They  presented  it  to  a  convention  of  estates,  which 
was  held  in  the  beginning  of  this  year.  Whatever  regulations  were  pro- 
posed, with  regard  to  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  jurisdiction,  would  have 
easily  obtained  the  sanction  of  that  assembly ;  but  a  design  to  recover 
the  patrimony  of  the  church,  which  is  there  insinuated,  met  with  a  very 
different  reception. 

In  vain  did  the  clergy  display  the  advantages  which  would  accrue  to 
the  public  by  a  proper  application  of  ecclesiastical  revenues.  In  vain  did 
they  propose  by  an  impartial  distribution  of  this  fund,  to  promote  true 
religion,  to  encourage  learning,  and  to  support  the  poor.  In  vain  did  they 
even  intermingle  threatenings  of  the  divine  displeasure  against  the  unjust 
detainers  of  what  was  appropriated  to  a  sacred  use.  The  nobles  held 
fast  the  prey  which  they  had  seized  ;  and,  bestowing  upon  the  proposal 
the  name  of  a  devout  imagination,  they  affected  to  consider  it  as  a  project 
altogether  visionary,  £nd  treated  it  with  the  utmost  scorn.§ 

This  convention  appointed  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  to  repair  to  the 
queen,  and  to  invite  her  to  return  into  her  native  countiy,  and  to  assume 
the  reins  of  government,  which  had  been  too  long  committed  to  other  hands. 
Though  some  of  her  subjects  dreaded  her  return,  and  others  foresaw  dan- 
gerous consequences  with  which  it  might  be  attended,||  the  bulk  of  them 
desired  it  with  so  much  ardour  that  the  invitation  was  given  with  the 
greatest  appearance  of  unanimity.  But  the  zeal  of  the  Roman  catholics 
got  the  start  of  the  prior  in  paying  court  to  Mary ;  and  Lesly,  afterwards 
bisl  op  of  Ross,  who  was  commissioned  by  them,  arrived  before  hirn  at 
the  place  of  her  residence. IT  Lesly  endeavoured  to  infuse  into  the  queen'b 
mind  suspicions  of  her  protestant  subjects,  and  to  persuade  her  to  throw 
herself  entirely  into  the  arms  of  those  who  adhered  to  her  own  religion. 
For  this  purpose  be  insisted  that  she  should  land  at  Aberdeen  ;  and,  as  the 

•  Spotswood,  156.  t  Keith,  498.  {  Spots.  153.  $  koox,  850  I  Sw 

typend.  No.  V.  "  Letly,  ffl7. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  104 

protestant  doctrines  had  made  no  considerable  progress  in  that  part  of  the 
kingdom,  he  gave  her  assurance  of  being  joined  in  a  few  days  by  twenty 
thousand  men;  and  flattered  her  that,  with  such  an  army,  encouraged  by 
her  presence  and  authority,  she  might  easily  overturn  the  reformed  church, 
before  it  was  firmly  settled  on  its  foundations. 

But,  at  this  juncture,  the  princes  of  Lorrain  were  not  disposed  to  li?  ten 
to  this  extravagant  and  dangerous  proposal.  Intent  on  defending  tnemse  vts 
against  Catherine  of  Medicis,  whose  insidious  policy  was  employed  m 
undermining  their  exorbitant  powers,  they  had  no  leisure  to  attend  to  the 
affairs  of  Scotland,  and  wished  their  niece  to  take  possession  of  her  king- 
dom with  as  little  disturbance  as  possible.  The  French  officers  too,  who 
had  served  in  Scotland,  dissuaded  Mary  from  all  violent  measures;  and. 
by  representing  the  power  and  number  of  the  protestants  to  be  irresistible, 
determined  her  to  court  them  by  every  art  ;  and  rather  to  employ  the 
.eadinsr  men  of  that  party  as  ministers  than  to  provoke  them,  by  a  fruitless 
ooposition  to  become  her  enemies.*  Hence  proceeded  the  confidence  and 
arfection  with  which  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  was  received  by  the  queen. 
His  representation  of  the  state  of  the  kingdom  gained  great  credit  ;  and 
Lesly  beheld  with  regret  the  new  channel  in  which  court  favour  was 
likely  to  run. 

Another  convention  of  estates  was  held  in  May.  The  arrival  of  an 
ambassador  from  France  seems  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  this  meeting. 
He  was  instructed  to  solicit  the  Scots  to  renew  their  ancient  alliance  with 
Prance,  to  break  their  new  confederacy  with  England,  and  to  restore  the 
popish  ecclesiastics  to  the  possession  of  their  revenues  an#  the  exercise  of 
(heir  functions.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  form  any  conjecture  concerning  the 
intentions  of  the  French  court  in  making  these  extraordinary  and  ill-timed 
propositions.  They  were  rejected  with  that  scorn  which  might  well  have 
been  expected  from  the  temper  of  the  nation,  t 

In  this  convention,  the  protestant  clergy  did  not  obtain  a  more  favourable 
audience  than  formerly,  and  their  prospect  of  recovering  the  patrimony  of 
the  church  still  remained  as  distant  and  uncertain  as  ever.  But  with  regard 
to  another  point,  they  found  the  zeal  of  the  nobles  in  no  degree  abated. 
The  book  of  discipline  seemed  to  require  that  the  monuments  of  popery, 
which  still  remained  in  the  kingdom,  should  be  demolished  ;J  and,  though 
neither  the  same  pretence  of  policy,  nor  the  same  ungovernable  rage  of 
the  people,  remained  to  justify  or  excuse  this  barbarous  havoc,  the  con- 
vention, considering  every  religious  fabric  as  a  relic  of  idolatry,  passed 
sentence  upon  them  by  an  act  in  form  ;  and  persons  the  most  remarkable 
for  the  activity  of  their  zeal  were  appointed  to  put  it  in  execution. 
Abbeys,  cathedrals,  churches,  libraries,  records,  and  even  the  sepulchres 
of  the  dead,  perished  in  one  common  ruin.  The  storm  of  popular  insur- 
rection, though  impetuous  and  irresistible,  had  extended  only  to  a  few- 
counties,  and  soon  spent  its  rage  ;  but  now  a  deliberate  and  universal  rapine 
completed  the  devastation  of  every  thing  venerable  and  magnificent  which 
had  escaped  its  violence. § 

In  the  mean  time  Mary  was  in  no  haste  to  return  into  Scotland.  Accus 
torned  to  the  elegance,  splendour,  and  gayety  of  a  polite  court,  she  still 
fondly  lingered  in  France,  the  scene  of  all  these  enjoyments,  and  contem- 
plated with  horror  the  barbarism  of  her  own  country,  and  the  turbulence 
of  her  subjects,  which  presented  her  with  a  very  different  tace  ot  things. 
The  impatience,  however,  of  her  people,  the  persuasions  of  her  uncles, 
but,  above  all,  the  studied  and  mortifying  neglect  with  which  she  wai 
treated  by  the  queen-mother,  forced  her  to  think  of  beginning  this  disagree 
;  ble  voyage.|l     But  while  she  was   preparing  for  it    there  were  sown 

*  Melv.  61.  f  Knox,  269  273.  J  Spotswood.  153.  $  Ibid.  174.  ||  Braatome 

Jebb.  vol.  ii.  482. 

Vol.  III.— 14 


106  THE   HISTORY  IBook  II! 

between  her  and  Elizabeth  the  seeds  of  that  personal  jealousy  and  discord 
which  imbittered  the  life  and  shortened  the  days  of  the  Scottish  queen. 

The  ratification  of  the  late  treaty  of  Edinburgh  was  the  immediate 
occasion  of  this  fatal  animosity;  the  true  cause  of  it  lay  much  deeper. 
Almost  every  article  in  that  treaty  had  been  executed  by  both  parties 
with  a  scrupulous  exactness.  The  fortifications  of  Leith  were  demolished, 
and  the  armies  of  France  and  England  withdrawn  within  the  appointee 
time.  The  grievances  of  the  Scottish  malecontents  were  redressed,  and 
they  had  obtained  what  ;ver  they  could  demand  for  their  future  security. 
With  regard  to  all  tht-e,  Mary  could  have  little  reason  to  decline,  or 
Elizabeth  to  urge,  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 

The  sixth  article  remained  the  only  source  of  contest  and  difficulty 
No  minister  ever  entered  more  deeply  into  the  schemes  of  his  sovereign, 
or  pursued  them  with  more  dexterity  and  success,  than  Cecil.  In  the 
conduct  of  the  negotiation  at  Edinburgh,  the  sound  understanding  of  this 
able  politician  had  proved  greatly  an  overmatch  for  Monluc's  refinements 
in  intrigue,  and  had  artfully  induced  the  French  ambassadors,  not  only  to 
acknowledge  that  the  crowns  of  England  and  Ireland  did  of  right  belong 
to  Elizabeth  alone,  but  also  to  promise,  that  in  all  times  to  come  Mary 
should  abstain  from  using  the  title  or  bearing  the  arms  of  those  kingdoms. 

The  ratification  of  this  article  would  have  been  of  the  most  fatal  conse- 
quence to  Mary.  The  croAvn  of  England  was  an  object  worthy  of  her 
ambition.  Her  pretensions  to  it  gave  her  great  dignity  and  importance  in 
the  eyes  of  all  Europe.  By  many,  her  title  was  esteemed  preferable  to 
that  of  Elizabeth.  Among  the  English  themselves,  the  Roman  catholics, 
who  formed  at  that  time  a  numerous  and  active  party,  openly  espoused 
this  opinion;  and  even  the  protestants,  who  supported  Elizabeth's  throne, 
could  not  deny  the  queen  of  Scots  to  be  her  immediate  heir.  A  proper 
opportunity  to  avail  herself  of  all  these  advantages  could  not,  in  the  course 
of  things,  be  far  distant,  and  many  incidents  might  fall  in,  to  bring  this 
opportunity  nearer  than  was  expected.  In  these  circumstances,  Mary,  by 
ratifying  the  article  in  dispute,  would  have  lost  the  rank  she  had  hitherto 
held  among  neighbouring  princes;  the  zeal  of  her  adherents  must  have 
gradually  cooled ;  and  she  might  have  renounced  from  that  moment,  all 
hones  of  ever  wearing  the  English  crown.* 

None  of  these  beneficial  consequences  escaped  the  penetrating  eye  of 
Elizabeth,  who,  for  this  reason,  had  recourse  to  everything  by  which  she 
could  hope  either  to  sooth  or  frighten  the  Scottish  queen  into  a  compliance 
with  her  demands;  and  if  that  princess  had  been  so  unadvised  as  to  ratify 
the  rash  concessions  of  her  ambassadors,  Elizabeth,  by  that  deed,  would 
have  acquired  an  advantage  which,  under  her  management,  must  have 
turned  to  great  account.  By  such  a  renunciation,  the  question  with  regard 
to  the  right  of  succession  would  have  been  left  altogether  open  and  unde- 
cided ;  and,  by  means  of  that,  Elizabeth  might  either  have  kept  her  rival 
in  perpetual  anxiety  and  dependence,  or,  by  the  authority  of  her  parlia- 
ment, she  might  have  broken  in  upon  the  order  of  lineal  succession,  and 
transferred  the  crown  to  some  other  descendant  of  the  royal  blood.  The 
former  conduct  she  observed  towards  James  VI.,  who  during  his  whole 
reign  she  held  in  perpetual  fear  and  subjection.  The  latter  and  more 
rigorous  method  of  proceeding  would,  in  all  probability,  have  been 
employed  against  Mary,  whom  for  many  reasons  she  both  envied  and 
hated. 

Nor  was  this  step  beyond  her  power,  unprecedented  in  the  history,  or 
inconsistent  with  the  constitution  of  England.  Though  succession  by 
Hereditary  right  be  an  idea  so  natural  and  so  popular  that  it  has  been  esta- 
blished in  almost  every  civilized  nation,  yet  England  affords  many  memo 

*  Haynes.  373,  &c 


OF   SCOTLAND.  107 

rable  instances  of  deviation  from  that  rule.  The  crown  of  that  Kingdom 
having  once  been  seized  by  the  hand  of  a  conqueror,  this  invited  the  bold 
and  enterprising  in  every  age  to  imitate  such  an  illustrious  example  ol 
fortunate  ambition.  From  the  time  of  William  the  Norman,  the  regulai 
course  of  descent  had  seldom  continued  through  three  successive  reigns. 
Those  princes,  whose  intrigues  or  valour  opened  to  them  a  way  to  the 
throne,  called  in  the  authority  of  the  great  council  of  the  nation  to  con- 
firm their  dubious  titles.  Hence  parliamentary  and  hereditary  right  became 
in  England  of  equal  consideration.  That  great  assembly  claimed  and 
actually  possessed  a  power  of  altering  the  order  of  regal  succession ;  and 
even  so  late  as  Henry  VIII.  an  act  of  parliament  had  authorized  thai 
capricious  monarch  to  settle  the  order  of  succession  at  his  pleasure.  The 
English,  jealous  of  their  religious  liberty,  and  averse  from  the  dominion  ol 
strangers,  would  have  eagerly  adopted  the  passions  of  their  sovereign,  ar  d 
might  have  been  easily  induced  to  exclude  the  Scottish  line  from  the  right 
of  succeeding  to  the  crown.  These  seem  to  have  been  the  views  of  both 
queens,  and  these  were  the  difficulties  which  retarded  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty  of  Edinburgh. 

But,  if  the  sources  of  their  discord  were  to  be  traced  no  higher  than 
this  treaty,  an  inconsiderable  alteration  in  the  words  of  it  might  have 
brought  the  present  question  to  an  amicable  issue.  The  indefinite  and 
ambiguous  expression,  which  Cecil  had  inserted  into  the  treaty,  might 
have  been  changed  into  one  more  limited  but  more  precise ;  and  Mary, 
instead  of  promising  to  abstain  from  bearing  the  title  of  queen  of  England 
in  all  times  to  come,  might  have  engaged  not  to  assume  that  title  during 
the  life  of  Elizabeth,  or  the  lives  of  her  lawful  posterity.* 

Such  an  amendment,  however,  did  not  suit  the  views  of  either  queen. 
Though  Mary  had  been  obliged  to  suspend  for  some  time  the  prosecution 
of  her  title  to  the  English  crown,  she  had  not  however  relinquished  it. 
She  determined  to  revive  her  claim  on  the  first  prospect  of  success,  and 
was  unwilling  to  bind  herself,  by  a  positive  engagement,  not  to  take  advan 
tage  of  any  such  fortunate  occurrence.  Nor  would  the  alteration  have 
been  more  acceptable  to  Elizabeth,  who,  by  agreeing  to  it,  would  have 
tacitly  recognised  the  right  of  her  rival  to  ascend  the  throne  after  her 
decease.  But  neither  the  Scottish  nor  English  queen  durst  avow  these 
secret  sentiments  of  their  hearts.  Any  open  discovery  of  an  inclination  to 
disturb  the  tranquillity  o(  England,  or  to  wrest  the  sceptre  out  of  Eliza- 
beth's hands,  might  have  proved  fatal  to  Mary's  pretensions.  Any  sus- 
picion of  a  design  to  alter  the  order  of  succession,  and  to  set  aside  the 
claim  of  the  Scottish  queen,  would  have  exposed  Elizabeth  to  much  and 
deserved  censure,  and  have  raised  up  against  her  many  and  dangerous 
enemies.  These,  however  carefully  concealed  or  artfully  disguised,  were, 
in  all  probability,  the  real  motives  which  determined  the  one  queen  to 
solicit,  and  the  other  to  refuse,  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  in  its  original 
form;  while  neither  had  recourse  to  that  explication  of  it,  which,  to  a 

*  This  expedient  for  terminating  the  differences  between  Elizabeth  and  Mary  wassoobvious  tiiat 
it  could  not  fail  of  presenting  itself  to  the  view  of  the  English  ministers. 

"  There  hath  been  a  matter  secretly  thought  of,  (says  Cecil  in  a  letter  to  Throkmorton.  July  14, 
1561.)  which  I  dare  communicate  to  you,  although  I  mean  never  to  be  an  author  thereof;  and  that 
is,  if  an  accord  might  be  made  betwixt  our  mistress  and  the  Scottish  queen,  that  this  should  by 
parliament  in  Scotland,  &c.  surrender  unto  the  queen's  Majesty  all  matters  of  claim,  and  unto  the 
heir3  of  her  body ;  and  in  consideration  thereof,  the  Scottish  queen's  interest  should  be  acknow- 
ledged in  default  of  heirs  of  the  body  of  the  queen's  Majesty.  Well.  God  send  our  mistress  a  hus- 
Dand,  and  by  time  a  son,  that  we  may  hope  our  posterity  shall  have  a  masculine  succession.  This 
matter  is  too  big  for  weak  folks,  and  too  deep  for  simple.  The  Queen's  Majesty  knoweth  of  it." 
Hardw.  State  Pap.  1.  174.  But  with  regard  to  every  point  relating  to  the  succession,  Elizabeth  was 
so  jealous  and  so  apt  to  take  offence,  that  her  most  confidential  ministers  durst  not  urg»»  her  to 
idvance  one  step  farther  than  she  herself  chose  to  go.  Cecil,  mentioning  some  scheme  about  t.h« 
succession,  if  the  queen  should  not  marry  or  leave  issue,  adds,  with  bis  usual  caution :  "  Thisson| 
^ath  many  parts;  but,  for  my  part,  I  have  no  skill  but  in  plain  sone."    Ibid.  178. 


103  THE  HISTORY  [Book  IH. 

heart  unwarped  oy  political  interest,  and  sincerely  desirous  of  union  and 
concord,  would  have  appeared  so  obvious  and  natural. 

But,  though  considerations  of  interest  first  occasioned  this  rupture  between 
the  British  queens,  rivalship  of  another  kind  contributed  to  widen  the 
breach,  and  female  jealousy  increased  the  violence  of  their  political  hatred. 
Elizabeth,  with  all  those  extraordinary  qualities  by  which  she  equalled  or 
surpassed  such  of  her  sex  as  have  merited  the  greatest  renown,  discovered 
an  admiration  of  her  own  person,  to  a  degree  which  women  of  ordinary 
understandings  either  do  not  entertain,  or  prudently  endeavour  to  conceal. 
Her  attention  to  dress,  her  solicitude  to  display  her  charms,  her  love  oi 
flattery,  were  all  excessive.  Nor  were  these  weaknesses  confined  to  tnat 
period  of  life  when  they  are  more  pardonable.  Even  in  very  advanced 
years,  the  wisest  woman  of  that,  or  perhaps  of  any  other  age,  wore  the 
garb  and  affected  the  manners  of  a  girl.*  Though  Elizabeth  was  as  much 
inferior  to  Mary  in  beauty  and  gracefulness  of  person,  as  she  excelled  her 
in  political  abilities  and  in  the  arts  of  government,  she  was  weak  enough 
to  compare  herself  with  the  Scottish  queen  ;t  and  as  it  was  impossible 
she  could  be  altogether  ignorant  how  much  Mary  gained  by  the  comparison, 
she  envied  and  hated  her  as  a  rival  by  whom  she  was  eclipsed.  In  judging 
of  the  conduct  of  princes,  we  are  apt  to  ascribe  too  much  to  political 
motives,  and  too  little  to  the  passions  which  they  feel  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  mankind.  In  order  to  account  tor  Elizabeth's  present  as  well  as 
subsequent  conduct  towards  Mary,  we  must  not  always  consider  her  as  a 
queen,  we  must  sometimes  regard  her  merely  as  a  woman. 

Elizabeth,  though  no  stranger  to  Mary's  difficulties  with  respect  to  the 
treaty,  continued  to  urge  her,  by  repeated  applications,  to  ratify  it.J 
Mary,  under  various  pretences,  still  contrived  to  gain  time,  and  to  elude 
the  request.  But  while  the  one  queen  solicited  with  persevering  importu- 
nity, and  the  other  evaded  with  artful  delay,  they  both  studied  an  extreme 
f)oliteness  of  behaviour,  and  loaded  each  other  with  professions  of  sisterly 
ove,  with  reciprocal  declarations  of  unchangeable  esteem  and  amity. 

It  was  not  long  before  Mary  was  convinced,  that  among  princes  these 
expressions  of  friendship  are  commonly  far  distant  from  the  heart.  In 
sailing  from  France  to  Scotland,  the  course  lies  along  the  English  coast. 
In  order  to  be  safe  from  the  insults  of  the  English  fleet,  or  in  case  of  tern 

Sestuous  weather,  to  secure  a  retreat  in  the  harbours  of  that  kingdom, 
lary  sent  M.  D'Oysel  to  demand  of  Elizabeth  a  safe  conduct  during  her 
voyage.  This  request,  which  decency  alone  obliged  one  prince  to  grant 
to  another,  Elizabeth  rejected,  in  such  a  manner  as  gave  rise  to  no  slight 
suspicion  of  a  design,  either  to  obstruct  the  passage,  or  to  intercept  the 
person  of  the  Scottish  queen.§ 

Mary  in  a  long  conference  with  Throkmorton,  the  English  ambassadoi 
in  France,  explained  her  sentiments  concerning  this  ungenerous  behavioui 
of  his  mistress,  in  a  strain  of  dignified  expostulation,  which  conveys  an  idea 
of  her  abilities,  address,  and  spirit,  as  advantageous  as  any  transaction  in 
her  reign.  Mary  was  at  that  time  only  in  her  eighteenth  year;  and  as 
Throkmorton's  account  of  what  passed  in  his  interview  with  her,  is 
addressed  directly  to  Elizabeth, ||  that  dexterous  courtier,  we  may  be  well 
assured,  did  not  embellish  the  discourse  of  the  Scottish  queen  with  any 
colouring  too  favourable. 

Whatever  resentment  Mary  might  feel,  it  did  not  retard  her  departure 
from  France.  She  was  accompanied  to  Calais,  the  place  where  she 
embarked,  in  a  manner  suitable  to  her  dignity,  as  the  queen  of  two  pow- 
erful kingdoms.  Six  princes  of  Lorrain,  her  ui.cles,  with  many  of  the  most 
eminent  among  the  French  nobles  were  in  her  retinue.     Catherine,  who 

*  Johnston,  Hist.  Rer.  Britan.  34(i,  347.  Carte,  vol  iii.  699  Catalogue  of  Roys1  and  Noble 
Authors,  article  gsaez.  t  Melvil,  g&  ;  Keith,  157.  160,  &c.  $  Ibid.  171     Camden 

See  Appendix,  No.  VT.  ||  Cabbala,  p.  374.     Keith,  170,  &c. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  109 

secretly  rejoiced  at  her  departure,  graced  it  with  every  circumstance  of 
magnificence  and  respect.  After  bidding  adieu  to  her  mourning  attend- 
ants, with  a  sad  heart,  and  eyes  bathed  in  tears,  Mary  left  that  kingdom, 
the  short  but  only  scene  of  her  life  in  which  fortune  smiled  upon  her. 
While  the  French  coast  continued  in  sight,  she  intently  gazed  upon  it,  and 
musing,  in  a  thoughtful  posture,  on  that  height  of  fortune  whence  she  had 
fallen,  and  presaging,  perhaps,  the  disasters  and  calamities  which  embit- 
tered the  remainder  of  her  days,  she  sighed  often,  and  cried  out  "  Fare- 
well, France!  Farewell,  beloved  country,  which  I  shall  never  more 
behold!"  Even  when  the  darkness  of  the  night  had  hid  the  land  from  her 
view,  she  would  neither  retire  to  the  cabin,  nor  taste  food,  but  commanding 
a  couch  to  I  e  placed  on  the  deck,  she  there  waited  the  return  of  day  with 
the  utmost  impatience.  Fortune  soothed  her  on  this  occasion;  the  galley 
made  little  way  during  the  night.  In  the  morning,  the  coast  of  France 
was  still  within  sight,  and  she  continued  to  feed  her  melancholy  with  the 
prospect;  and,  as  long  as  her  eyes  could  distinguish  it,  to  utter  the  same 
tender  expressions  of  regret.*  At  last  a  brisk  gale  arose,  by  the  favour  of 
which  for  some  days,  and  afterwards  under  the  cover  of  a  thick  fog,  Mary- 
escaped  the  English  fleet,  which,  as  she  apprehended,  lay  in  wait  in  order 
to  intercept  her;t  and  on  the  nineteenth  of  August,  after  an  absence  of 
near  thirteen  years,  landed  safely  at  Leith  in  her  native  kingdom. 

Mary  was  received  by  her  subjects  with  shouts  and  acclamations  of  joy, 
and  with  every  demonstration  of  welcome  and  regard.  But  as  her  arrival 
was  unexpected,  and  no  suitable  preparation  had  been  made  for  it,  they 
could  not,  with  all  their  efforts,  hide  from  her  the  poverty  of  the  country, 
and  were  obliged  to  conduct  her  to  the  palace  of  Holyrood-house  with  little 
pomp.  The  queen,  accustomed  from  her  infancy  to  splendour  and  mag- 
nificence, and  fond  of  them,  as  was  natural  to  her  age,  could  not  help 
observing  the  change  in  her  situation,  and  seemed  to  be  deeply  affected 
with  it.j 

Never  did  any  prince  ascend  the  throne  at  a  juncture  which  called  for 
more  wisdom  in  council,  or  more  courage  and  steadiness  in  action.  The 
rage  of  religious  controversy  was  still  unabated.  The  memory  of  past 
oppression  exasperated  the  protestants ;  the  smart  of  ancient  injuries  ren- 
dered the  papists  desperate  ;  both  were  zealous,  fierce,  and  irreconcilable. 
The  absence  of  their  sovereign  had  accustomed  the  nobles  to  independence ; 
and,  during  the  late  commotions,  they  had  acquired  such  an  increase  of 
wealth,  by  the  spoils  of  the  church,  as  threw  great  weight  into  the  scale 
of  the  aristocracy,  which  stood  not  in  need  of  any  accession  of  power 
The  kingdom  had  long  been  under  the  government  of  regents,  who  exer 
cised  a  delegated  jurisdiction,  attended  with  little  authority,  and  whicn 
inspired  no  reverence.  A  state  of  pure  anarchy  had  prevailed  for  the  two 
last  years,  without  a  regent,  without  a  supreme  council,  without  the  power, 
or  even  the  form,  of  a  regular  government. §  A  licentious  spirit,  unac 
quainted  with  subordination,  and  disdaining  the  restraints  of  law  and  justice, 
had  spread  through  all  ranks  of  men.  The  influence  of  France,  the  ancient 
ally  of  the  kingdom,  was  withdrawn  or  despised.  The  English,  of  ene- 
mies become  confederates,  had  grown  into  confidence  with  the  nation,  and 

*  Brantome,  483.     He  himself  was  in  the  same  galley  with  the  queen. 

t  Goodal,  vol.  i.  175.  Camden  insinuates,  rather  than  affirms,  that  it  was  the  object  of  the  Eng- 
lish fleet  to  intercept  Mary.  This,  however,  seems  to  be  doubtful.  Elizabeth  positively  asserts 
that,  at  the  request  of  the  king  of  Spain,  she  had  fitted  out  a  few  ships  of  slender  force,  in  order  to 
clear  the  narrow  seas  of  pirates,  which  infested  them  ;  and  she  appeals  for  the  truth  of  this  to  Mary's 
own  ministers.  App.  No.  VI.  Cecil,  in  a  letter  to  Throkmorton,  Aue.  26,  i561,  informs  him,  that 
"  the  queen's  ships,  which  were  upon  the  seas  to  cleanse  them  of  pirates,  saw  her  [i.  e.  Mary],  *id 
saluted  her  galleys,  and  staying  her  ships  examined  them  of  pirates,  and  dismissed  them  gently. 
One  Scottish  ship  they  detained  as  vehemently  suspected  of  piracy."  Hard.  State  Papers,  I  176. 
Castelnau,  who  accompanied  Mary  in  this  voyage,  confirms  the  circumstance  of  her  galleys  beta" 
in  sight  of  the  English  fleet.    Mem.  ap.  Jebb.  xi.  455. 

t  Brant.  484  <S  Keith  Appendix.  92 


110  THE   HISTORY  [Book  III. 

had  gained  an  ascendant  over  all  its  councils.  The  Scottish  monarchs  did 
not  derive  more  splendour  or  power  from  the  friendship  of  the  former  than 
they  had  reason  to  dread  injury  and  diminution  from  the  interposition  ot 
the  latter.  Every  consideration,  whether  of  interest  or  of  self-preservation, 
obliged  Elizabeth  to  depress  the  royal  authority  in  Scotland,  and  to  create 
the  prince  perpetual  difficulties,  by  fomenting  the  spirit  of  dissatisfaction 
among  the  people. 

In  this  posture  were  the  affairs  of  Scotland  when  the  administration  fell 
into  the  hands  of  a  young  queen,  not  nineteen  years  of  age,  unacquainted 
with  the  manners  and  laws  of  her  countjy,  a  stranger  to  her  subjects,  with- 
out experience,  without  allies,  and  almost  without  a  friend. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  Mary's  situation  we  find  some  circumstances 
which,  though  they  did  not  balance  these  disadvantages,  contributed  how- 
ever to  alleviate  them ;  and,  with  skilful  management  might  have  produced 
great  effects.  Her  subjects,  unaccustomed  so  long  to  the  residence  of  their 
prince,  were  not  only  dazzled  by  the  novelty  and  splendour  of  the  royal 
presence,  but  inspired  with  awe  and  reverence.  Besides  the  places  of 
power  and  profit  bestowed  by  the  favour  of  a  prince,  his  protection,  his 
familiarity,  and  even  his  smiles,  confer  honour  and  win  the  hearts  of  men. 
From  all  corners  of  the  kingdom  the  nobles  crowded  to  testify  their  duty 
and  affection  to  their  sovereign,  and  studied  by  every  art  to  wipe  out  the 
memory  of  past  misconduct,  and  to  lay  in  a  stock  of  future  merit.  The 
amusements  and  gayety  of  her  court,  which  was  filled  with  the  most 
accomplished  of  the  French  nobility,  who  had  attended  her,  began  to  soften 
and  polish  the  rude  manners  of  the  nation.  Mary  herself  possessed  many 
of  those  qualifications  which  raise  affection  and  procure  esteem.  The 
beauty  and  gracefulness  of  her  person  drew  universal  admiration,  the  ele- 
gance and  politeness  of  her  manners  commanded  general  respect.  To  all 
the  charms  of  her  own  sex  she  added  many  of  the  accomplishments  of  the 
other.  The  progress  she  had  made  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences,  which 
were  then  deemed  necessary  or  ornamental,  was  far  beyond  what  is  com- 
monly attained  by  princes;  and  all  her  other  qualities  were  rendered  more 
agreeable  by  a  courteous  affability,  which,  without  lessening  the  dignity 
of  a  prince,  steals  on  the  hearts  of  subjects  with  a  bewitching  insinuation. 

From  these  circumstances,  notwithstanding  the  threatening  aspect  of 
affairs  at  Mary's  return  into  Scotland  ;  notwithstanding  the  clouds  which 
gathered  on  every  hand,  a  political  observer  would  have  predicted  a  very 
different  issue  of  her  reign  ;  and,  whatever  sudden  gusts  of  faction  he 
might  have  expected,  he  would  never  have  dreaded  the  destructive  vio- 
.ence  of  that  storm  which  followed. 

While  all  parties  were  contending  who  should  discover  the  most  ljtriul 
attachment  to  the  queen,  the  zealous  and  impatient  spirit  of  the  age  broke 
out  in  a  remarkable  instance.  On  the  Sunday  after  her  arrival  the  queen 
commanded  mass  to  be  celebrated  in  the  chapel  of  her  palace.  The  first 
rumour  of  this  occasioned  a  secret  murmuring  among  the  protestants  who 
attended  the  court ;  complaints  and  threatening  soon  followed ;  the  servants 
belonging  to  the  chapel  were  insulted  and  abused  ;  and,  if  the  prior  of  St. 
Andrew's  had  not  seasonably  interposed,  the  rroters  might  have  proceeded 
to  the  utmost  excesses.* 

It  is  impossible,  at  this  distance  of  time,  and  under  circumstances  so 
very  different,  to  conceive  the  violence  of  that  zeal  against  popery  which 
then  possessed  the  nation.  Every  instance  of  condescension  to  the  papists 
was  deemed  an  act  of  apostacy,  and  the  toleration  of  a  single  mass  pro- 
nounced to  be  more  formidable  to  the  natron  than  the  invasion  of  ten 
thousand  armed  men.f  Under  the  influence  of  these  opinrons  many  pro- 
testants would   have   ventured    to  go  dangerous   lengths;    and,  without 

*  Knox,  284.    Haynes,  Knox,  "»87. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  Ill 

attempting  to  convince  their  sovereign  by  argument,  or  to  leclaim  her  by 
indulgence,  would  have  abruptly  denied  her  the  liberty  of  worshipping 
God  in  that  manner  which  alone  she  thought  acceptable  to  him.  But  the 
prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  other  leaders  of  the  r  arty,  not  only  restrained 
this  impetuous  spirit,  but,  in  spite  of  the  murmurs  of  the  people  and  the 
exclamations  of  the  preachers,  obtained  for  the  queen  and  her  domestics  the 
undisturbed  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion.  Near  a  hundred  years  after 
this  period,  when  the  violence  of  religious  animosities  had  begun  to  sub- 
side, when  time  and  the  progress  of  learning  had  enlarged  the  views  of 
the  human  mind,  an  Eng I ish  House  of  Commons  refused  to  indulge  the 
wife  of  their  sovereign  in  the  private  use  of  the  mass.  The  protestant 
Naders  deserve,  on  this  occasion,  the  praise  both  of  wisdom  and  of  mode- 
ration for  conduct  so  different.  But,  at  the  same  time,  whoever  reflects 
upon  the  encroaching  and  sanguinary  spirit  of  popery  in  that  age,  will  be 
**ar  from  treating  the  fears  and  caution  of  the  more  zealous  reformers  as 
altogether  imaginary,  and  destitute  of  any  real  foundation. 

The  leaders  of  the  protestants,  however,  by  this  prudent  compliance 
with  the  prejudices  of  their  sovereign,  obtained  from  her  a  proclamation 
highly  favourable  to  their  religion,  which  was  issued  six  days  after  her 
arrival  in  Scotland  [Aug.  25].  The  reformed  doctrine,  though  established 
over  all  the  kingdom  by  the  parliament,  which  met  in  consequence  of  the 
treaty  of  pacification,  had  never  received  the  countenance  or  sanction  of 
royal  authority.  In  order  to  quiet  the  minds  of  those  who  had  embraced 
that  doctrine,  and  to  remove  any  dread  of  molestation  which  they  might 
entertain,  Mary  declared,  "  that  until  she  should  take  final  orders  concerning 
religion,  with  advice  of  parliament,  any  attempt  to  alter  or  subvert  the 
religion  which  she  found  universally  practised  in  the  realm,  should  be 
deemed  a  capital  crime."*  Next  year  a  second  proclamation  to  the  same 
effect  was  published.! 

The  queen,  conformably  to  the  plan  which  had  been  concerted  in  France, 
committed  the  administration  of  affairs  entirely  to  protestants.  Her  council 
was  filled  with  the  most  eminent  persons  of  that  party ;  not  a  single  papist 
was  admitted  into  any  degree  of  confidence.!  The  prior  of  St.  Andrew's 
and  Maitland  of  Lethington  seemed  to  hold  the  first  place  in  the  queen's 
affection,  and  possessed  all  the  power  as  well  as  reputation  of  favourite 
ministers.  Her  choice  could  not  have  fallen  upon  persons  more  acceptable 
to  her  people  ;  and,  by  their  prudent  advice,  Mary  conducted  herself  with 
so  much  moderation,  and  deference  to  the  sentiments  of  the  nation,  as  could 
not  fail  of  gaining  the  affection  of  her  subjects,§  the  firmest  foundation  of 
a  prince's  power,  and  the  only  genuine  source  of  his  happiness  and  glory. 

A  cordial  reconcilement  with  Elizabeth  was  another  object  of  great 
importance  to  Mary;  and  though  she  seems  to  have  had  it  much  at  heart, 
in  the  beginning  of  her  administration,  to  accomplish  such  a  desirable  con- 
junction, yet  many  events  occurred  to  widen  rather  than  toclose  the  breach. 
The  formal  offices  of  friendship,  however,  are  seldom  neglected  among 
princes ;  and  Elizabeth,  who  had  attempted  so  openly  to  obstruct  the 
queen's  voyage  into  Scotland,  did  not  fail,  a  few  days  after  her  arrival,  to 
command  Randolph  to  congratulate  her  safe  return.  Mary,  that  she  might 
be  on  equal  terms  with  her,  sent  Maitland  to  the  English  court,  with  many 
ceremonious  expressions  of  regard  for  Elizabeth.il  Both  the  ambassadors 
were  received  with  the  utmost  civility;  and  on  each  side  the  professions 
of  kindness,  as  they  were  made  with  little  sincerity,  were  listened  to  with 
proportional  credit. 

Both  were  intrusted,  however,  with  something  more  than  mere  matter 
of  ceremony.  Randolph  urged  Mary,  with  fresh  importunity,  to  ratify  the 
treaty  of  Edinburgh.     Maitland  endeavoured  to  amuse  Elizabeth,  by  apo- 

•  Keith,  504.  t  Ibid.  510  Knox,  385  $  Lesley,  235.  U  Keith,  181,  »U, 


lit  THE  HISTORY  LBook  111. 

logizing  for  the  dilatory  conduct  of  his  mistress  with  regard  to  that  point 
The  multiplicity  of  public  affairs  since  her  arrival  in  Scotland,  the  im 
portance  oi  the  question  in  dispute,  and  the  absence  of  many  noblemen, 
with  whom  she  was  obliged  in  decency  to  consult,  were  the  pretences 
•  'ffered  in  excuse  for  her  conduct ;  the  real  causes  of  it  were  those  which 
have  already  been  mentioned.  But,  in  order  to  extricate  herself  out  of 
these  difficulties,  into  which  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh  had  led  her,  Mary 
was  brought  to  yield  a  point,  which  formerly  she  seemed  determined  never 
to  give  up.  She  instructed  Maitland  to  signify  her  willingness  to  disclaim 
any  right  to  the  crown  of  England,  during  the  life  of  Elizabeth,  and  the 
lives  of  her  posterity ;  if,  in  failure  of  these,  she  were  declared  next  heir 
by  an  act  of  parliament.* 

Reasonable  as  this  proposal  might  appear  to  Mary,  who  thereby  pre- 
cluded herself  from  disturbing  Elizabeth's  possession  of  the  throne,  nothing 
could  be  more  inconsistent  with  Elizabeth's  interest,  or  more  contradictory 
to  a  passion  which  predominated  in  the  character  of  thai  princess.  Not- 
withstanding all  the  great  qualities  which  threw  such  lustre  on  her  reign, 
we  may  observe,  that  she  was  tinctured  with  a  jealousy  of  her  right  to 
the  crown,  which  often  betrayed  her  into  mean  and  ungenerous  actions. 
The  peculiarity  of  her  situation  heightened,  no  doubt,  and  increased,  but 
did  not  infuse,  this  passion.  It  descended  to  her  from  Henry  VII.  her 
grandfather,  whom,  in  several  features  of  his  character,  she  nearly  resem- 
bled. Like  him,  she  suffered  the  title  by  which  she  held  the  crown  to 
remain  ambiguous  and  controverted,  rather  than  submit  it  to  parliamentary 
discussion,  or  derive  any  addition  to  her  right  from  such  authority.  Like 
him,  she  observed  every  pretender  to  the  succession,  not  only  with  that 
attention  which  prudence  prescribes,  but  with  that  aversion  which  suspicion 
inspires.  The  present  uncertainty  with  regard  to  the  right  of  succession 
operated  for  Elizabeth's  advantage,  both  on  her  subjects  and  on  her  rivals. 
Among  the  former,  every  lover  of  his  country  regarded  her  life  as  the 
great  security  of  the  national  tranquillity  ;  and  chose  rather  to  acknowledge 
a  title  which  was  dubious  than  to  search  for  one  that  was  unknown.  The 
latter,  while  nothing  was  decided,  were  held  in  dependence,  and  obliged 
to  court  her.  The  manner  in  which  she  received  this  ill-timed  proposal 
of  the  Scottish  queen  was  no  other  than  might  have  been  expected.  She 
rejected  it  in  a  peremptory  tone,  with  many  expressions  of  a  resolution 
never  to  permit  a  point  of  so  much  delicacy  to  be  touched. 

Sept.  1.]  About  this  time  the  queen  made  her  public  entry  into  Edinburgh 
with  great  pomp.  Nothing  was  neglected  that  could  express  the  duty  and 
affection  of  the  citizens  towards  their  sovereign.  But,  amidst  these  de- 
monstrations of  regard,  the  genius  and  sentiments  of  the  nation  discovered 
themselves  in  a  circumstance,  which,  though  inconsiderable,  ought  not  be 
overlooked.  As  it  was  the  mode  of  the  times  to  exhibit  many  pageants  at 
every  public  solemnity,  most  of  these,  on  this  occasion,  were  contrived  to 
be  representations  of  the  vengeance  which  the  Almighty  had  indicted  upon 
idolaters.!  Even  while  they  studied  to  amuse  and  to  flatter  the  queen,  her 
subjects  could  not  refrain  from  testifying  their  abhorrence  of  that  religion 
which  she  professed. 

To  restore  the  regular  administration  of  justice,  and  to  reform  the  internal 
policy  of  the  country,  became  the  next  object  of  the  queen's  care.  The 
laws  enacted  for  preservation  of  public  order,  and  the  security  of  private 
property,  were  nearly  the  same  in  Scotland  as  in  every  other  civilized 
country.  But  the  nature  of  the  Scottish  constitution,  the  feebleness  ol 
/egal  authority,  the  exorbitant  power  of  the  nobles,  the  violence  of  faction, 
and  the  fierce  manners  of  the  people,  rendered  the  execution  of  these  laws 
feeble,  irregular,  and  partial.     In  the  counties  which  border  on  England, 

•  Camden,  307.    Bueh.  329  t  Keith,  W 


OF  SCOTLAND.  113 

this  defect  was  most  apparent ;  and  the  consequences  of  it  most  sensibly 
felt.  The  inhabitants,  strangers  to  industry,  averse  from  labour,  and  un- 
acquainted with  the  arts  of  peace,  subsisted  chiefly  by  spoil  and  pillage, 
and,  being  confederated  in  septs  or  clans,  committed  these  excesses  not 
only  with  impunity,  but  even  with  honour.  During  the  unsettled  state  ot 
the  kingdom  from  the  death  of  James  V.  this  dangerous  license  had  grown 
to  an  unusual  height ;  and  the  inroads  and  rapine  of  those  freebooters  were 
become  no  less  intolerable  to  their  own  countrymen  than  to  the  English. 
To  restrain  and  punish  these  outrages  was  an  action  equally  popular  in 
both  kingdoms.  The  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  was  the  person  chosen  for  this 
mportant  service,  and  extraordinary  powers,  together  with  the  title  of  th«. 
queen's  lieutenant,  were  vested  in  him  for  that  purpose. 

Nothing  can  be  more  surprising  to  men  accustomed  to  regular  govern- 
ment, than  the  preparations  made  on  this  occasion.  They  were  such  as 
might  be  expected  in  the  rudest  and  most  imperfect  state  of  society.  The 
freeholders  of  eleven  several  counties,  with  all  their  followers  completely 
armed,  were  summoned  to  assist  the  lieutenant  in  the  discharge  of  his 
office.  Every  thing  resembled  a  military  expedition,  rather  than  the  pro- 
gress of  a  court  of  justice.*  The  prior  executed  his  commission  with  such 
vigour  and  prudence  as  acquired  him  a  great  increase  of  reputation  and 
popularity  among  his  countrymen.  Numbers  of  the  banditti  suffered  the 
punishment  due  to  their  crimes ;  and,  by  the  impartial  and  rigorous  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  order  and  tranquillity  were  restored  to  that  part  ot 
the  kingdom. 

During  the  absence  of  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  the  leaders  of  the 
popish  faction  seem  to  have  taken  some  steps  towards  insinuating  them- 
selves into  the  queen's  favour  and  confidence.!  But  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's,  the  most  remarkable  person  in  the  party  for  abilities  and  political 
address,  was  received  with  little  favour  at  court ;  and,  whatever  secret 
partiality  the  queen  might  have  towards  those  who  professed  the  same 
religion  with  herself,  she  discovered  no  inclination  at  that  time  to  take  the 
administration  of  affairs  out  of  the  hands  to  which  she  had  already  com 
mitted  it. 

The  cold  reception  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  was  owing  to  his 
connexion  with  the  house  of  Hamilton ;  from  which  the  queen  was  much 
alienated.  The  duke  of  Guise  and  the  cardinal  could  never  forgive  the 
zeal  with  which  the  duke  of  Chatelherault  and  his  son  the  earl  of  Arran 
had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  congregation.  Princes  seldom  view  their 
successors  without  jealousy  and  distrust.  The  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  per- 
haps, dreaded  the  duke  as  a  rival  in  power.  All  these  causes  concurred 
in  infusing  into  the  queen's  mind  an  aversion  for  that  family.  The  duke, 
indulging  his  love  of  retirement,  lived  at  a  distance  from  court,  without 
taking  pains  to  insinuate  himself  into  favour;  and  though  the  earl  of  Arran 
openly  aspired  to  marry  the  queen,  he,  by  a  most  unpardonable  act  of 
imprudence,  was  the  only  nobleman  of  distinction  who  opposed  Mary's 
enjoying  the  exercise  of  her  religion  ;  and,  by  rashly  entering  a  public 
protestation  against  it,  entirely  forfeited  her  favour. J  At  the  same  time, 
the  sordid  parsimony  of  his  father  obliged  him  either  to  hide  himself  in 
wme  retirement,  or  to  appear  in  a  manner  unbecoming  his  dignity  as  first 
prince  of  the  blood,  or  his  high  pretensions  as  suitor  to  the  queen. §  His 
love  inflamed  by  disappointment,  and  his  impatience  exasperated  by 
neglect,  preyed  gradually  on  his  reason,  and,  after  many  extravagances, 
broke  out  at  last  in  ungovernable  frenzy. 

Dec.  20j  Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  a  convention  of  estates  was 
held,  chiefly  on  account  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  assembly  of  the 
church,  which  sat  at  the  same  time,  presented  a  petition,  containing  many 

*  Keith,  KW.  t  ibid. '203.  t  Keitl,  201.  304.    Knox,  286.  $  Keith,  IN. 

Vol.  III.— 15 


H4  THE   HISTORY  [Book  111. 

demands  with  respect  to  the  suppressing  of  popery,  the  er  crjraging  the 
protestant  religion,  and  the  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  tne  clergy  * 
The  last  was  a  matter  of  great  importance,  and  the  steps  taken  towards,  it 
deserve  to  be  traced. 

Though  the  number  of  protestant  preachers  was  now  considerably 
increased,  many  more  were  still  wanted,  in  every  corner  of  the  kingdom. 
No  legal  provision  having  been  made  for  them,  they  had  hitherto  drawn  a 
scanty  and  precarious  subsistence  from  the  benevolence  of  their  people. 
To  suffer  the  ministers  of  an  established  church  to  continue  in  this  state  of 
indigence  and  dependence  was  an  indecency  equally  repugnant  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion  and  to  the  maxims  of  sound  policy;  and  would  have 
justified  all  the  imputations  of  avarice  with  which  the  reformation  was  theni 
loaded  by  its  enemies.  The  revenues  of  the  popish  church  were  the  only 
fund  which  could  be  employed  for  their  relief;  but,  during  the  three  last 
years,  the  state  of  these  was  greatly  altered.  A  great  majority  of  abbots, 
priors,  and  other  heads  of  religious  houses,  had,  either  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
or  from  views  of  interest,  renounced  the  errors  of  popery ;  and,  notwith 
standing  this  change  in  their  sentiments,  they  retained  their  ancient  reve 
nues.  Almost  the  whole  order  of  bishops,  and  several  of  the  other  dignita 
ries,  still  adhered  to  the  Romish  superstition  ;  and,  though  debarred  from 
every  spiritual  function,  continued  to  enjoy  the  temporalities  of  their  bene 
flees.  Some  laymen,  especially  those  who  had  been  active  in  promoting 
the  reformation,  had,  under  various  pretences,  and  amidst  the  license  of 
civil  wars,  got  into  their  hands  possessions  which  belonged  to  the  church. 
Thus,  before  any  part  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  revenues  could  be  applied 
towards  the  maintenance  of  the  protestant  ministers,  many  different  interests 
were  to  be  adjusted  ;  many  claims  to  be  examined  ;  and  the  prejudices  and 
passions  of  the  two  contending  parties  required  the  application  of  a  delicate 
hand.  After  much  contention,  the  following  plan  was  approved  by  a 
majority  of  voices,  and  acquiesced  in  even  by  the  popish  clergy  them- 
selves. An  exact  account  of  the  value  of  ecclesiastical  benefices  throughout 
the  kingdom  was  appointed  to  be  taken.  The  present  incumbents,  to 
whatever  party  they  adhered,  were  allowed  to  keep  possession  ;  two-thirds 
of  their  whole  revenue  were  reserved  for  their  own  use,  the  remainder  was 
annexed  to  the  crown  ;  and  out  of  that  the  queen  undertook  to  assign  a  suffi- 
cient maintenance  for  the  protestant  clergy .t 

As  most  of  the  bishops  and  several  of  the  other  dignitaries  were  still 
firmly  attached  to  the  popish  religion,  the  extirpation  of  the  whole  order, 
rather  than  an  act  of  such  extraordinary  indulgence,  might  have  been 
expected  from  the  zeal  of  the  preachers,  and  from  that  spirit  which  had 
hitherto  animated  the  nation.  But,  on  this  occasion,  other  principles 
obstructed  the  operations  of  such  as  were  purely  religious.  Zeal  for 
liberty,  and  the  love  of  wealth,  two  passions  extremely  opposite,  concurred 
in  determining  the  protestant  leaders  to  fall  in  with  this  plan,  which 
deviated  so  manifestly  from  the  maxims  by  which  they  had  hitherto  regu 
lated  their  conduct. 

If  the  reformers  had  be«»n  allowed  to  act  without  control,  and  to  level  all 
distinctions  in  the  church,  the  great  revenues  annexed  to  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nities could  not,  with  any  colour  of  justice,  have  been  retained  by  those  in 
whose  hands  they  now  were  ;  but  must  either  have  been  distributed  among 
the  protestant  clergy,  who  performed  all  religious  offices,  or  must  have 
fallen  tc  the  queen,  from  the  bounty  of  whose  ancestors  the  greater  part  of 
them  was  originally  derived.  The  former  scheme,  however  suitable  to  the 
religious  spirit  of  many  among  the  people,  was  attended  with  manifold 
danger.  The  popish  ecclesiastics  had  acquired  a  share  in  the  national 
property,    which  far  exceeded  the  proportion  that  was  consistent  with  the 

*  Keith,  81*        t  Ibid  Append.  175     Knox,  104. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  115 

happiness  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  the  nobles  were  determined  to  guard  against 
this  evil,  by  preventing  the  return  of  those  possessions  into  the  hands  of  the 
church,  ftor  was  the  latter,  which  exposed  the  constitution  to  more  immi- 
nent hazard,  to  be  avoided  with  less  care.  Even  that  circumscribed  prero- 
gative, which  the  Scottish  kings  possessed,  was  the  object  of  jealousy  to 
the  nobles.  If  they  had  allowed  the  crown  to  seize  the  spoils  of  the 
church,  such  an  increase  of  power  must  have  followed  that  accession  ot 
property  as  would  have  raised  the  royal  authority  above  control,  and  have 
rendered  the  most  limited  prince  in  Europe  the  most  absolute  and  inde- 
pendent. The  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  presented  a  recent  and  alarming 
example  of  this  nature.  The  wealth  which  flowed  in  upon  that  prince, 
from  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries,  not  only  changed  the  maxims  of 
his  government,  but  the  temper  of  his  mind  ;  and  he  who  had  formerly  sub- 
mitted to  his  parliaments,  and  courted  his  people,  dictated  from  that  time 
to  the  former  with  intolerable  insolence,  and  tyrannized  over  the  latter  with 
unprecedented  authority.  And  if  his  policy  had  not  been  extremely  short- 
sighted, if  he  had  not  squandered  what  he  acquired,  with  a  profusion  equal 
to  his  rapaciousness,  and  which  defeated  his  ambition,  he  might  have 
est  iblished  despotism  in  England  cri  a  basis  so  broad  and  strong  as  all  the 
"forts  of  the  subjects  would  never  have  been  able  to  shake.  In  Scotland, 
where  the  riches  ot  the  clergy  bore  as  great  a  proportion  to  the  wealth  of 
the  kingdom,  the  acquisition  of  church  lands  would  have  been  of  no  less 
t  nportance  to  the  crown,  and  no  less  fatal  to  the  aristocracy.  The  nobles, 
i  >r  this  reason,  guarded  against  such  an  increase  of  the  royal  power,  and 
r  he  re  by  secured  their  own  independence. 

Vvarice  mingled  itself  with  their  concern  for  the  interest  of  their  order 
The  reuniting  the  possessions  of  the  church  to  the  crown,  or  the  bestowing 
themon  the  protestant  clergy,  would  have  been  a  fatal  blow,  both  to  those 
nobles  who  had,  by  fraud  or  violence,  seized  part  of  these  revenues,  and  to 
?;io^e  abbots  and  priors  who  had  totally  renounced  their  ecclesiastical  cha- 
racter.  But  as  the  plan  which  was  proposed  gave  some  sanction  to  their 
usurpation,  they  promoted  it  with  their  utmost  influence.  The  popish 
ecclesiastics,  though  the  lopping  off  a  third  of  their  revenues  was  by  no 
means  agreeable  to  them,  consented,  under  their  present  circumstances,  to 
sacrifice  a  part  of  their  possessions,  in  order  to  purchase  the  secure  enjoy- 
ment of  the  remainder;  and,  after  deeming  the  whole  irrecoverably  lost, 
they  considered  whatever  they  could  retrieve  as  so  much  gain.  Many  of 
the  ancient  dignitaries  were  men  of  noble  birth  ;  and,  as  they  no  ionger 
entertained  hopes  of  restoring  the  popish  religion,  they  wished  their  own 
relations,  rather  than  the  crown  or  the  protestant  clergy,  to  be  enriched 
with  the  spoils  of  the  church.  They  connived,  for  this  reason,  at  the 
encroachments  of  the  nobles  ;  they  even  aided  their  avarice  and  violence  ; 
they  dealt  out  the  patrimony  of  the  church  among  their  own  relations,  and, 
by  granting  yews  and  perpetual  leases  of  lands  and  tithes,  gave,  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power,  some  colour  of  legal  possession  to  what  was  formerly 
mere  usurpation.  Many  vestiges  of  such  alienation  still  remain.*  The 
nobles,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  incumbents,  daily  extended  their  en- 
croachments, and  gradually  stripped  the  ecclesiastics  of  their  richest  and 
most  valuable  possessions.  Even  that  third  part,  which  was  given  ,;p  in 
order  to  silence  the  clamours  of  the  protestant  clergy,  and  to  be  some  equi 
valent  to  the  crown  for  its  claims,  amounted  to  no  considerable  sum.  The 
thirds  due  by  the  more  powerful  nobles,  especially  by  such  as  had  embraced 
the  reformation,  were  almost  universally  remitted.  Others,  by  producing 
fraudulent  metals;  by  estimating  the  corn,  and  other  payments  in  kind,  at 
an  under  value  ;  and  by  the  connivance  of  collectors,  greatly  diminished 
'he  charge  against  themselves  :t  and  the  nobles  had  much  reason  to  be  sati? 

*  Keith,  507.    Spotsw.  175.         t  Ibid.  Append.  188.    Spotew.  ffl 


116  1  HE   HISTORY  [Book  HI. 

fied  with  a  device  which,  at  so  small  expense,  secured  to  them  such  valu? 
able  possessions. 

Not  were  the  protestant  clergy  considerable  gainers  by  this  new  regu- 
lation; they  found  it  to  be  a  more  easy  matter  to  kindle  zeal  than  to  extin- 
guish avarice.  Those  very  men,  whom  formerly  they  had  swayed  with 
absolute  authority,  were  now  deaf  to  all  their  remonstrances.  The  prior 
of  St.  Andrew's,  the  earl  of  Argyll,  the  earl  of  Morton,  and  Maitland,  all  the 
most  zealous  leaders  of  the  congregation,  were  appointed  to  assign,  or  as 
it  was  called,  to  modify  their  stipends.  A  hundred  merks  Scottish  was  the 
allowance  which  their  liberality  afforded  to  the  generality  of  ministers. 
To  a  few  three  hundred  merks  were  granted.*  About  twenty-four  thou- 
sand pounds  Scottish  appears  to  have  Deen  the  whole  sum  allotted  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  national  church  established  bv  law,  and  esteemed 
throughout  the  kingdom  the  true  church  of  God.j  Even  this  sum  was  paid 
with  little  exactness,  and  the  ministers  were  kept  in  the  same  poverty  and 
dependence  as  formerly. 

1562.]  The  gentleness  of  the  queen's  administration,  and  the  elegance 
of  her  court,  had  mitigated,  in  some  degree,  the  ferocity  of  the  nobles,  and 
accustomed  them  to  greater  mildness  and  humanity ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  her  presence  and  authority  were  a  check  to  their  factious  and  tumul- 
tuary spirit.  But,  as  the  state  of  order  and  tranquillity  was  not  natural  to 
the  feudal  aristocracy,  it  could  not  be  of  long  continuance  ;  and  this  year 
became  remarkable  for  the  most  violent  eruptions  of  intestine  discord  and 
animosity. 

Among  the  great  and  independent  nobility  of  Scotland,  a  monarch  coulc 
possess  little  authority,  and  exercise  no  extensive  or  rigorous  jurisdiction 
The  interfering  of  interest,  the  unsettled  state  of  property,  the  frequency 
of  public  commotions,  and  the  fierceness  of  their  own  manners  sowed 
among  the  great  families  the  seeds  of  many  quarrels  and  contentions 
These,  as  we  have  already  observed,  were  frequently  decided  not  by  law 
but  by   violence.     The  offended  baron,  without  having  recourse  to  tht 
monarch,  or  acknowledging  his  superior  authority,  assembled  his  own  fol- 
lowers, and  invaded  the  lands  of  his  rival  in  a  hostile  manner.     Together 
with  his  estate  and  honours,  every  nobleman  transmitted  some  hereditary 
feud  to  his  posterity,  who  were  bound  in  honour  to  adopt  and  to  prosecute 
it  with  unabated  rancour. 

Such  a  dissension  had  subsisted  between  the  house  of  Hamilton  and  the 
earl  of  Bothwell,  and  was  heightened  by  mutual  injuries  during  the  late 
commotions.];  The  earl  of  Arran  and  Bothwell  happening  to  attend  the 
court  at  the  same  time,  their  followers  quarrelled  frequently  in  the  streets 
of  Edinburgh,  [February]  and  excited  dangerous  tumults  in  that  city.  At 
last,  the  mediation  of  their  friends,  particularly  of  Knox,  brought  about  a 
reconcilement,  but  an  unfortunate  one  to  both  these  noblemen. § 

A  few  days  after,  Arran  came  to  Knox,  and,  with  the  utmost  terror  and 
confusion,  confessed  first  to  him,  and  then  to  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  that, 
in  order  to  obtain  the  sole  direction  of  affairs,  Bothwell,  and  his  kinsmen 
the  Hamiltons,  had  conspired  to  murder  the  prior,  Maitland,  and  the  other 
favourites  of  the  queen.  The  duke  of  Chatelherault  regarded  the  prior 
as  a  rival,  who  had  supplanted  him  in  the  queen's  favour,  and  who  filled 
that  place  at  the  helm,  which  he  imagined  to  be  due  to  himself,  as  first 
prince  of  the  blood.  Bothwell,  on  account  of  the  personal  injuries  which 
he  had  received  from  the  prior  during  the  hostile  operations  of  the  two 
contending  parties,  was  no  less  exasperated  against  him.  But  whether  he 
and  the  Hamiltons  had  agreed  to  cement  their  new  alliance  with  the  blood 
of  their  common  enemy,  or  whether  the  conspiracy  existed  only  in  the 
frantic  and  disordered  imagination  of  the  earl  of  Arran,  it  is  impossible. 

•  Kmx,  301         t  Keith,  Append.  188.        i  Keith,  315         $  fold.  305. 


OF  SCOTLAND  117 

amidst  the  contradiction  of  historians  and  the  defectiveness  of  records, 
positively  to  determine.  Among  men  inflamed  with  resentment  and  impa- 
tient for  revenge,  rash  expressions  might  be  uttered,  and  violent  and  cri- 
minal expedients  proposed ;  and  on  that  foundation  Arran's  distempered 
fancy  might  rear  the  whole  superstructure  of  a  conspiracy.  All  the  per- 
sons accused  denied  their  guilt  with  the  utmost  confidence.  But  the. 
known  characters  of  the  men,  and  the  violent  -piril  of  the  age,  added 
greatly  to  the  probability  of  the  accusation,  and  abundantly  justify  the  con- 
duct of  the  queen's  ministers,  who  confined  Bothwell,  Arran,  and  a  few  of 
the  ringleaders  in  separate  prisons,  and  obliged  the  duke  to  surrender  the 
strong  castle  of  Dumbarton,  which  he  had  held  ever  since  the  time  of  his 
resigning  the  office  of  regent.* 

The  designs  of  the  earl  of  Huntly  against  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's  were 
deeper  laid,  and  produced  more  memorable  and  more  tragical  events. 
George  Gordon  earl  of  Huntly,  having  been  one  of  the  nobles  who  con 
spired  against  James  III.,  and  who  raised  his  son  James  IV.  to  the  throne, 
enjoyed  a  great  share  in  the  confidence  of  that  generous  prince. t  By  his 
bounty,  great  accessions  of  wealth  and  power  were  added  to  a  family 
already  opulent  and  powerful.  On  the  death  of  that  monarch,  Alexander 
the  next  earl,  being  appointed  lord-lieutenant  of  all  the  counties  beyond 
Forth,  left  the  other  nobles  to  contend  for  offices  at  court  ;  and  retiring  to 
the  north,  where  his  estate  and  influence  lay,  resided  there  in  a  kind  of 
princely  independence.  The  chieftains  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom  dreaded 
the  growing  dominion  of  such  a  dangerous  neighbour,  but  were  unable  to 
prevent  his  encroachments.  Some  of  his  rivals  he  secretly  undermined, 
others  he  subdued  by  open  force.  His  estate  far  exceeded  that  of  any 
other  subject,  and  his  superiorities  and  jurisdictions  extended  over  many 
of  the  northern  counties.  With  power  and  possessions  so  extensive,  under 
two  long  and  feeble  minorities,  and  amidst  the  shock  of  civil  commotions, 
the  earls  of  Huntly  might  have  indulged  the  most  elevated  hopes.  But, 
happily  for  the  crown,  an  active  and  enterprising  spirit  was  not  the  cha- 
racteristic of  that  family ;  and,  whatever  object  their  ambition  might  have 
in  view,  they  chose  rather  to  acquire  it  by  political  address  than  to  seize 
it  openly  and  by  force  of  arms. 

The  conduct  of  George  the  present  earl,  during  fhe  late  commotions, 
had  been  perfectly  suitable  to  the  character  of  the  family  in  that  age, 
dubious,  variable,  and  crafty.  While  the  success  of  the  lords  of  the  con- 
gregation was  uncertain,  he  assisted  the  queen  regent  in  her  attempts  to 
crush  them.  When  their  affairs  put  on  a  better  aspect,  he  pretended  to 
join  them,  but  never  heartily  favoured  their  cause.  He  was  courted  and 
feared  by  each  of  the  contending  parties ;  both  connived  at  his  encroach- 
ments in  the  north  ;  and  by  artifice  and  force,  which  he  well  knew  how  to 
employ  alternately  and  in  their  proper  places,  he  added  every  day  to  the 
exorbitant  power  and  wealth  which  he  possessed. 

He  observed  the  growing  reputation  and  authority  of  the  prior  of  St 
Andrew's  with  the  greatest  jealousy  and  concern,  and  considered  him  as  a 
rival  who  had  engrossed  that  share  in  the  queen's  confidence,  to  which  his 
own  zeal  for  the  popish  religion  seemed  to  give  him  a  preferable  title. 
Personal  injuries  soon  increased  the  misunderstanding  occasioned  by  rival- 
ship  in  power.  The  queen  having  determined  to  reward  the  services  of 
the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  by  creating  him  an  earl,  she  made  choice  ol 
Mar,  as  the  place  whence  he  should  take  his  title ;  and,  that  he  migh'  be 
better  able  to  support  his  new  honour,  bestowed  upon  him  at  the  same 
time  the  lands  of  that  name.  These  were  part  of  the  royal  demesnes,! 
but  the  earls  of  Huntly  had  been  permitted,  for  several  years,  to  keep 
possession  of  them.§     [Feb.  1.]  On  this  occasion  the  earl  not  only  com- 

•  Knox.  307, 308.        t  Crawf.  Officers  of  State,  56.        t  Cruwt.  Pee*.  297.       $  Buck.  334. 


118  THE   HISTORY  [Book  III 

plained,  with  some  reason,  of  the  loss  which  he  sustained,  but  had  rea 
cause  to  be  alarmed  at  the  intrusion  of  a  formidable  neighbour  into  the 
heart  of  his  territories,  who  might  be  able  to  rival  his  power,  and  excite  his 
oppressed  vassals  to  shake  off  nis  yoke. 

June  11 .]  An  incident,  which  happened  soon  after,  increased  and  con- 
firmed Huntly's  suspicions.  Sir  John  Gordon,  his  third  son,  and  lord  Ogil- 
vie,  had  a  dispute  about  the  property  of  an  estate.  This  dispute  became 
a  deadly  quarrel.  They  happened  unfortunately  to  meet  in  the  streets  ot 
Edinburgh  ;  and  being  both  attended  with  armed  followers,  a  scuflle 
ensued,  in  which  lord  Ogilvie  was  dangerously  wounded  by  Sir  John. 
The  magistrates  seized  both  the  offenders,  ana  the  queen  commanded 
them  to  be  strictly  confined.  Under  any  regular  government,  such  a 
breach  of  public  peace  and  order  would  expose  the  person  offending  to 
certain  punishment.  At  this  time  some  severity  was  necessary  in  order  to 
vindicate  the  queen's  authority  from  an  insult  the  most  heinous  which  had 
been  offered  to  it  since  her  return  into  Scotland.  But  in  an  age  accustomed 
to  license  and  anarchy,  even  this  moderate  exercise  of  her  power,  in  order 
iiig  them  to  be  kept  in  custody,  was  deemed  an  act  of  intolerable  rigour; 
and  the  friends  of  each  party  began  to  convene  their  vassals  and  depend- 
ents, in  order  to  overawe  or  to  frustrate  the  decisions  of  justice.*  Mean- 
while Gordon  made  his  escape  out  of  prison,  and  flying  into  Aberdeenshire, 
complained  loudly  of  the  indignity  with  which  he  had  been  treated  ;  and 
as  all  the  queen's  actions  were  at  this  juncture  imputed  to  the  earl  of  Mar, 
this  added  not  a  little  to  the  resentment  which  Huntly  had  conceived 
against  that  nobleman. 

Aug.]  At  the  very  time  when  these  passions  fermented,  with  the  utmost 
violence,  in  the  minds  of  the  earl  of  Huntly  and  his  family,  the  queen  hap- 
pened  to  set  out  on  a  progress  into  the  northern  parts  of  the  kingdom 
bhe  was  attended  by  the  earls  of  Mar  and  Morton,  Maitland,  and  other 


leaders  of  that  party.     The  presence  of  the  queen  in  a  country  where  no 
name  greater  than  the  earl  of  Huntly's  had  been  heard  of,  and  no  pen 
superior  to  his  had  been  exercised,  for  many  years,  was  an  event  of  itseh 


abundantly  mortifying  to  that  haughty  nobleman.  But  while  the  queen 
was  entirely  under  the  direction  of  Mar,  all  her  actions  were  more  apt  tc 
be  misrepresented,  and  construed  into  injuries ;  and  a  thousand  circum- 
stances could  not  but  occur  to  awaken  Huntly's  jealousy,  to  offend  his 
pride,  and  to  inflame  his  resentment.  Amidst  the  agitation  of  so  many 
violent  passions,  some  eruption  was  unavoidable. 

On  Mary's  arrival  in  the  north,  Huntly  employed  his  wife,  a  woman 
capable  of  executing  the  commission  with  abundance  of  dexterity,  to  sooth 
the  queen,  and  to  intercede  for  pardon  to  their  son.  But  the  queen  peremp- 
torily required  that  he  should  again  deliver  himself  into  the  hands  of  jus- 
tice, and  rely  on  her  clemency.  Gordon  was  persuaded  to  do  so ;  and 
being1  enjoined  by  the  queen  to  enter  himself  prisoner  in  the  castle  ot 
Stirling,  he  promised  likewise  to  obey  that  command.  Lord  Erskine, 
Mar's  uncle,  was  at  that  lime  governor  of  this  fort.  The  queen's  severity 
and  the  place  in  which  she  appointed  Gordon  to  be  confined,  were  inter- 
preted to  be  new  marks  of  Mar's  rancour,  and  augmented  the  hatred  of 
the  Gordons  against  him. 

Sept.  1.]  Mean  time,  sir  John  Gordon  set  out  towards  Stirling;  but 
/nstead  of  performing  his  promise  to  the  queen,  made  his  escape  from  his 
guards,  and  returned  to  take  the  command  of  his  followers,  who  were 
rising  in  arms  all  over  the  north.  These  were  destined  to  second  ami 
improve  the  blow,  by  which  his  father  proposed,  secretly  and  at  once,  to 
cut  off  Mar,  Morton,  and  Maitland,  his  principal  adversaries.  The  time 
and  place  foi  perpetrating  this  horrid  deed  were  frequently  appointed 

*  Keith,  223. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  119 

6ut  the  txecuting  of  it  was  wonderfully  prevented,  by  some  ot  those  unfore- 
seen incidents  wnich  so  often  occur  to  disconcert  the  schemes  and  to  intirni 
date  the  hearts  of  assassins.*  Huntly's  own  house,  at  Strathbogie,  was 
the  last  and  most  convenient  scene  appointed  for  committing  the  intended 
violence.  But  on  her  journey  thither,  the  queen  heard  of  young  Gordon's 
flight  and  rebellion,  and,  refusing  in  the  first  transports  of  her  indignation 
to  enter  under  the  father's  roof,  by  that  fortunate  expression  of  her  resent- 
ment saved  her  ministers  from  unavoidable  destruction.! 

The  ill  success  of  these  efforts  of  private  revenge  precipitated  Huntly  into 
open  rebellion.  As  the  queen  was  entirely  under  the  direction  ot  nis  rivals, 
it  was  impossible  to  compass  their  ruin  without  violating  the  allegiance 
which  he  owed  his  sovereign.  On  her  arrival  at  Inverness,  the  command- 
ing officer  in  the  castle,  by  Huntly's  orders,  shut  the  gates  against  ner 
Miry  was  obliged  to  lodge  in  the  town,  which  was  open  and  defenceless 
but  this  too  was  quickly  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  the  earl's  followers.| 
The  utmost  consternation  seized  the  queen,  who  was  attended  by  a  very- 
slender  train.  She  every  moment  expected  the  approach  of  the  rebels, 
and  some  ships  were  already  ordered  into  the  river  to  secure  her  escape. 
The  loyalty  of  the  Munroes,  Frasers,  Mackintoshes,  and  some  neighbour- 
ing  clans,  who  took  arms  in  her  defence,  saved  her  from  this  danger.  By 
their  assistance,  she  even  forced  the  castle  to  surrender,  and  inflicted  on  the 
governor  the  punishment  which  his  insolence  deserved. 

This  open  act  of  disobedience  was  the  occasion  of  a  measure  more  gall 
ing  to  Huntly  than  any  the  queen  had  hitherto  taken.  Lord  Erskine 
having  pretended  a  right  to  the  earldom  of  Mar,  Stewart  resigned  it  in  his 
favour;  and  at  the  same  time  Maiy  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  earl  ol 
Murray,  with  the  estate  annexed  to  that  dignity,  which  had  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  Earl  of  Huntly  since  the  year  1548. §  From  this  encroach- 
ment upon  his  domains  he  concluded  that  his  family  was  devoted  to 
destruction ;  and,  dreading  to  be  stripped  gradually  of  all  those  possessions 
which,  in  reward  of  their  services,  the  gratitude  of  the  crown  had  bestowed 
on  himself,  or  his  ancestors,  he  no  longer  disguised  his  intentions,  but,  in 
defiance  of  the  queen's  proclamation,  openly  took  arms.  Instead  of  yield 
mg  those  places  of  strength,  which  Mary  required  him  to  surrender,  his 
followers  dispersed  or  cut  in  pieces  the  parties  which  she  despatched  to 
take  possession  of  them  ;!!  and  he  himself  advancing  with  a  considerable 
body  of  men  towards  Aberdeen,  to  which  place  the  queen  was  now 
returned,  filled  her  small  court  with  consternation.  Murray  had  only  a 
handful  of  men  in  whom  he  could  confide.  11  In  order  to  form  the  appear- 
ance of  an  army,  he  was  obliged  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  neighbour- 
ing barons ;  but  as  most  of  these  either  favoured  Huntly's  designs,  or  stood 
in  awe  of  his  power,  from  them  no  cordial  or  effectual  service  could  be 
expe  ted. 

Oct.  28.]  With  these  troops,  however,  Murray,  who  could  gain  nothing 
by  delay,  marched  briskly  towards  the  enemy.  He  found  them  at  Con- 
chie,  posted  to  great  advantage ;  he  commanded  his  northern  associates 
instantly  to  begin  the  attack;  but  on  the  first  motion  of  the  enemy  they 
treacherously  turned  their  back;  and  Huntly's  followers,  throwing  aside 
their  spears  and  breaking  their  ranks,  drew  their  swords  and  rushed  for- 
ward to  the  pursuit.  It  was  then  that  Murray  gave  proof,  both  of  ste  dy 
courage  and  prudent  conduct.  He  stood  immoveable  on  a  rising  ground 
with  the  small  but  trusty  body  of  his  adherents,  who,  presenting  their 
spears  to  the  enemy,  received  them  with  a  determined  resolution  which 
they  little  expected.  The  Highland  broad  sword  is  not  a  weapon  fit  tc 
encounter  the  Scottish  spear.     In  every  civil  commotion,  the  superiority  ol 

*  Keith,  230  t  Knox,  318.  J  Crawf.  Officers  of  State,  87,  88.         $  Crawf.  Peer.  359 

|1  Knoi,  319  IT  Keith,  230. 


120  THE  HISTORY  |Book  III. 

the  latte.  nas  been  evident,  and  has  always  decided  the  contest.  On  this 
occasion  the  irregular  attack  of  Huntly's  troops  was  easily  repulsed  by 
Murray's  firm  battalion.  Before  they  recovered  from  the  confusion  occa- 
sioned by  this  unforeseen  resistance,  Murray's  northern  troops,  who  had 
fled  so  shamefully  in  the  beginning  of  the  action,  willing  to  regain  their 
credit  with  the  victorious  party,  fell  upon  them,  and  completed  the  rout 
Huntly  himself,  who  was  extremely  corpulent,  was  trodden  to  death  in  the 
pursuit.  His  sons,  sir  John  and  Adam,  were  taken,  and  Murray  returned 
in  triumph  to  Aberdeen  with  his  prisoners. 

The  trial  of  men  taken  in  actual  rebellion  against  their  sovereign  was 
extremely  short.  Three  days  after  the  battle,  sir  John  Gordon  was 
beheaded  at  Aberdeen.  His  brother  Adam  was  pardoned  on  account  of 
his  youth.  Lord  Gordon,  who  had  been  privy  to  his  father's  designs,  was 
seized  in  the  south,  and  upon  trial  found  guilty  of  treason;  but,  through 
the  queen's  clemency,  the  punishment  was  remitted.  The  first  parliament 
proceeded  against  this  great  family  with  the  utmost  rigour  of  law,  and 
reduced  their  power  and  fortune  to  the  lowest  ebb.* 

As  the  fall  ot  the  earl  of  Huntly  is  the  most  important  event  of  this  year, 
it  would  have  been  improper  to  interrupt  the  narrative  by  taking  notice  of 
lesser  transactions,  which  may  now  be  related  with  equal  propriety. 

In  the  beginning  of  summer,  Mary,  who  was  desirous  of  entering  into  a 
more  intimate  correspondence  and  familiarity  with  Elizabeth,  employed 
Maitland  to  desire  a  personal  interview  with  her,  somewhere  in  the  north 
of  England.  As  this  proposal  could  not  be  rejected  with  decency,  the 
time,  the  place,  and  the  circumstances  of  the  meeting  were  instantly 
agreed  upon.  But  Elizabeth  was  prudent  enough  not  to  admit  into  her 
kingdom  a  rival  who  outshone  herself  so  far  in  beauty  and  gracefulness  of 
person;  and  who  excelled  so  eminently  in  all  the  arts  of  insinuation  and 
address.  Under  pretence  of  being  confined  to  London,  by  the  attention 
which  she  was  obliged  to  give  to  the  civil  wars  in  France,  she  put  off  the 

*  This  conspiracy  of  the  earl  of  Huntly  is  one  of  the  most  intricate  and  mysterious  passages  in 
the  Scottish  history.  As  it  was  a  transaction  purely  domestic,  and  in  which  the  English  were  little 
interested,  few  original  papers  concerning  u  have  been  tound  in  Cecil's  collection,  the  great  store- 
house of  evidence  and  information  with  regard  to  the  affairs  of  this  period. 

Buchanan  supposes  Mary  to  have  formed  a  design  about  this  lime  of  destroying  Murray,  and  ol 
employing  the  power  of  the  earl  of  Huntly  for  this  purpose.  But  his  account  of  this  whole  trans 
action  appears  to  be  so  void  of  truth,  and  even  of  probability,  as  to  deserve  no  serious  examination. 
At  that  time  Mary  wanted  power,  and  seems  to  have  had  no  inclination  to  commit  any  act  ol 
violence  upon  her  brother. 

Two  other  hypotheses  have  been  advanced,  in  order  to  explain  this  matter ;  but  they  appear  to  be 
equally  removed  from  truth. 

I.  It  cannot  be  well  conceived,  that  the  queen's  journey  to  the  north  was  a  scheme  concerted  by 
Murray,  in  order  to  ruin  the  earl  of  Huntly.  1.  Huntly  had  resided  at  court  almost  ever  since  the 
queen's  return.  Keith,  198,  Append.  175,  &c.  This  was  the  proper  place  in  which  to  have  seized 
him.  To  attack  him  in  Aberdeenshire,  the  seat  of  his  power  and  in  the  midst  of  his  vassals,  was 
a  project  equally  absurd  and  hazardous.  2  The  queen  was  not  accompanied  with  a  body  of  troops 
capable  of  attempting  any  thing  against  Huntly  by  violence :  her  train  was  not  more  numerous  than 
was  usual  in  times  of  greatest  tranquillity.  Keith,  330.  3.  There  remain  two  original  letters  wi:h 
regard  to  this  conspiracy;  one  from  Randolph  the  English  resident,  and  another  from  Maitland, 
both  directed  to  Cecil  They  talk  of  Huntly's  measures  as  notoriously  treasonable.  Randolph 
mentions  his  repeated  attempts  to  assassinate  Murray,  &c.  No  hint  is  given  of  any  previous  reso- ' 
lution  formed  by  Mary's  ministers  to  ruin  Huntly  and  his  family.  Had  any  such  design  ever  existed, 
it  was  Randolph's  duty  to  have  discovered  it ;  nor  would  Maitland  have  laboured  to  conceal  it  from 
the  English  eecretary.    Keith,  22!).  232. 

II.  To  suppose  that  the  earl  of  Huntly  had  laid  any  plan  for  seizing  the  queen  and  her  ministers 
seems  to  be  no  less  improbable.  1.  On  the  queen's  arrival  in  the  north,  he  laboured,  in  good  earnest, 
to  gain  her  favour,  and  to  obtain  a  pardon  for  his  son.  Knox,  318.  2.  He  met  the  queen,  first  at 
Aberdeen,  and  then  atRothemay,  whither  he  would  not  have  ventured  to  come,  had  he  harboured 
any  such  treasonable  resolution.  Knox,  318  3  His  conduct  was  irresolute  and  wavering,  like 
that  of  a  man  disconcerted  by  an  unforeseen  danger,  not  like  one  executing  a  concerted  plan.  4.  The 
most  considerable  persons  of  his  clan  submitted  to  the  queen,  and  found  surety  to  obey  her  com- 
mands. Keith,  220.  Had  the  earl  been  previously  determined  to  rise  in  arms  against  the  queen 
oi  to  seize  her  ministers,  it  is  probable  he  would  have  imparted  it  to  his  principal  followers,  not 
would  they  have  deserted  him  in  this  manner. 

For  these  reasons  I  have,  on  the  one  hand,  vindicated  the  earl  of  Murray  from  any  deliberate 
intention  of  ruining  the  family  of  Gordon  :  and  on  the  other  hand,  I  have  imputed  the  violent  con- 
duct of  the  earl  of  Huntly  to  a  sudden  start  of  resentment,  without  charging  him  with  any  pre- 
meditated purpoee  of  rebellion 


OP'   SCOTLAND.  121 

interview  for  that  season,*  and  prevented  her  subjects  from  seeing  the 
Scottish  queen,  the  charms  of  whose  appearance  and  behaviour  she  envied, 
and  had  some  reason  to  dread. 

During  this  year,  the  assembly  of  the  church  met  twice.  [June  2, 
Dec  25.]  In  both  these  meetings  were  exhibited  many  complaints  of  the 
poverty  and  dependence  of  the  church ;  and  many  murmurs  against  the 
negligence  or  avarice  of  those  who  had  been  appointed  to  collect  and  to 
distribute  the  small  fund  appropriated  for  the  maintenance  of  preachers.t 
A  petition,  craving  redress  of  their  grievances,  was  presented  to  the  queen ; 
but  without  any  effect.  There  was  no  reason  to  expect  that  Mary  would 
discover  any  forwardness  to  grant  the  request  of  such  suppliants.  As  her 
ministers,  though  all  most  zealous  protestants,  were  themselves  growing 
rich  on  the  inheritance  of  the  church,  they  were  equally  regardless  of  the 
indigence  and  demands  of  their  brethren. 

1563.1  Mary  had  now  continued  above  two  years  in  a  state  of  widow 
hood.  Her  gentle  administration  had  secured  the  hearts  of  her  subjects, 
who  were  impatient  for  her  marriage,  and  wished  the  crown  to  descend  in 
the  right  line  from  their  ancient  monarchs.  She  herself  was  the  most 
amiable  woman  of  the  age  ;  and  the  fame  of  her  accomplishments,  together 
with  the  favourable  circumstance  of  her  having  one  kingdom  already  in 
her  possession,  and  the  prospect  of  mounting  the  throne  of  another, 
prompted  many  different  princes  to  solicit  an  alliance  so  illustrious.  Scot- 
land, by  its  situation,  threw  so  much  weight  and  power  into  whatever 
scale  it  fell  that  all  Europe  waited  with  solicitude  for  Marys  deter- 
mination; and  no  event  in  that  age  excited  stronger  political  fears  and 
jealousies ;  none  interested  more  deeply  the  passions  of  several  princes, 
or  gave  rise  to  more  contradictory  intrigues,  than  the  marriage  of  the 
Scottish  queen. 

The  princes  of  the  house  of  Austria  remembered  what  vast  projects 
the  French  had  founded  on  their  former  alliance  with  the  queen  oi  Scots ; 
and  though  the  unexpected  death,  first  of  Henry  and  then  of  Francis,  had 
hindered  these  from  taking  effect,  yet  if  Mary  should  again  make  choice 
of  a  husband  among  the  French  princes,  the  same  designs  might  be  revived 
and  prosecuted  with  better  success. 

In  order  to  prevent  this,  the  emperor  entered  into  a  negotiation  with  the 
cardinal  of  Lorrain,  who  had  proposed  to  marry  the  Scottish  queen  to  the 
archduke  Charles,  Ferdinand's  third  son.  The  matter  was  communicated 
to  Mary,  and  Melvil,  who  at  that  time  attended  the  elector  Palatine, 
was  commanded  to  inquire  into  the  character  and  situation  of  the  arch 
duke.T 

Philip  II.,  though  no  less  apprehensive  of  Mary's  falling  once  more  into 
the  hands  of  France,  envied  his  uncle  Ferdinand  the  acquisition  of  so 
important  a  prize  ;  and,  as  his  own  insatiable  ambition  grasped  at  all  the 
kingdoms  of  Europe,  he  employed  his  ambassador  at  the  French  court  to 
solicit  the  princes  of  Lorrain  in  behalf  of  his  son  Don  Carlos,  at  that  time 
the  heir  of  all  the  extensive  dominions  which  belonged  to  the  Spanish 
monarchy.§ 

Catherine  of  Medicis,  on  the  other  hand,  dreaded  the  marriage  of  the 
Scottish  queen  with  any  of  the  Austrian  princes,  which  wci  Id  have  added 
st  much  to  the  power  and  pretensions  of  that  ambiticus  race.  Her 
jeaiousy  of  the  princes  of  Lorrain  rendered  her  no  less  averse  from  an 
alliance  which,  by  securing  to  them  the  protection  of  the  emperor  or  king 
of  Spain,  would  ajive  new  boldness  to  their  enterprising  spirit,  and  enable 
hem  to  set  the  power  of  the  crown,  which  they  already  rivalled,  at  open 
defiance  :  and  as  she  was  afraid  that  these  splendid  proposals  of  the  Aus- 

•  Keith,  216.  t  Knox,  311.  323.  ♦  Melv.  63  65.    Keith,  230.    Sea  Append.  No.  VII 

4  Castelnau,  461.     Addil  a  Labour.  501.  503. 

Vol.  lil  —16 


,22  THE   HISTORY  [Boo*  [1? 

trian  family  would  dazzle  the  young  queen,  she  instantly  despatched 
Castelnau  into  Scotland,  to  offer  her  in  marriage  the  duke  of  Anjou,  the 
brother  of  her  former  husband,  who  soon  after  mounted  the  throne  of 
France.* 

Mary  attentively  weighed  the  pretensions  of  so  many  rivals.  The  arch- 
duke had  little  to  recommend  him  but  his  high  birth.  The  example  ol 
Henry  VIII.  was  a  warning  against  contracting  a  marriage  with  the  brother 
of  her  former  husband ;  and  she  could  not  bear  the  thoughts  of  appearing 
in  France,  in  a  rank  inferior  to  that  which  she  had  formerly  held  in  that 
kingdom.  She  listened,  therefore,  with  partiality,  to  the  Spanish  propo- 
sitions, and  the  prospect  of  such  vast  power  and  dominions  flattered  the 
ambition  of  a  young  and  aspiring  princess. 

Three  several  circumstances,  however,  concurred  to  divert  Mary  from 
any  thoughts  of  a  foreign  alliance. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  murder  of  her  uncle  the  duke  of  Guise.  The 
violence  and  ambition  of  that  nobleman  had  involved  his  country  in  a  civi. 
war;  which  was  conducted  with  furious  animosity  and  various  success. 
At  last  the  duke  laid  siege  to  Orleans,  the  bulwark  of  the  protestant 
cause  ;  and  he  had  reduced  that  city  to  the  last  extremity,  when  he  was 
assassinated  by  the  frantic  zeal  of  Poltrot.  This  blow  proved  fatal  to  the 
queen  of  Scots.  The  young  duke  was  a  minor  ;  and  the  cardinal  of  Lor- 
rain,  though  subtle  and  intriguing,  wanted  that  undaunted  and  enterprising 
courage,  which  rendered  the  ambition  of  his  brother  so  formidable. 
Catherine,  instead  of  encouraging  the  ambition  or  furthering  the  pretensions 
of  her  daughter-in-law,  took  pleasure  in  mortifying  the  one,  and  in  disap- 
pointing the  other.  In  this  situation,  and  without  such  a  protector,  it  became 
necessary  for  Mary  to  contract  her  views,  and  to  proceed  with  caution  ; 
and,  whatever  prospect  of  advantage  might  allure  her,  she  could  venture 
upon  no  dangerous  or  doubtful  measure. 

The  second  circumstance  which  weighed  with  Mary  was  the  opinion 
of  the  queen  of  England.  The  marriage  of  the  Scottish  queen  interested 
Elizabeth  more  deeply  than  any  other  prince;  and  she  observed  all  her 
deliberations  concerning  it  with  the  most  anxious  attention.  She  herself 
seems  early  to  have  formed  a  resolution  of  living  unmarried,  and  she  dis- 
covered no  small  inclinalion  to  impose  the  same  law  on  the  queen  of  Scots. 
She  had  already  experienced  what  use  might  be  made  of  Mary's  power 
and  pretensions  to  invade  her  dominions,  and  to  disturb  her  possession  of 
the  crown.  The  death  of  Francis  II.  had  happily  delivered  her  from 
this  danger,  which  she  determined  to  guard  against  for  the  future  with  the 
utmost  care.  As  the  restless  ambition  of  the  Austrian  princes,  the  avowed 
and  bigoted  patrons  of  the  catholic  superstition,  made  her,  in  a  particular 
manner,  dread  their  neighbourhood,  she  instructed  Randolph  to  remon 
strate,  in  the  strongest  terms,  against  any  alliance  with  them  ;  and  to  acquaint 
Mary,  that  as  she  herself  would  consider  such  a  match  to  be  a  breach  ot 
the  personal  friendship  in  which  they  were  so  happily  united  ;  so  the 
English  nation  would  regard  it  as  the  dissolution  of  that  confederacy  which 
now  subsisted  between  the  two  kingdoms  ;  that,  in  order  to  preserve  their 
own  religion  and  liberties,  they  would,  in  all  probability,  take  some  step 
prejudicial  to  her  right  of  succession,  which,  as  she  well  knew,  they  neither 
wanted  power  nor  pretences  to  invalidate  and  set  aside.  This  threatening 
was  accompanied  with  a  promise,  but  expressed  in  very  ambiguous  terms, 
hat  if  Mary's  choice  of  a  husband  should  prove  agreeable  lo  the  English 
nation,  Elizabeth  would  appoint  proper  persons  to  examine  her  title  to  the 
succession,  and,  if  well  founded,  command  it  to  be  publicly  recognised. 
She  observed,  however,  a  mysterious  silence  concerning  the  person  on 
whom  she  wished  the  choice  of  the  Scottish  queen  to  fall.     The  revealing 

*  Caste!:. au,  461 


OF   SCOTLAND  123 

01  the  secret  was  reserved  for  some  future  negotiation.  Meanwhile  she 
threw  out  some  obscure  hints,  that  a  native  of  Britain,  or  one  not  of  princely 
rank,  would  be  her  safest  and  most  inoffensive  choice.*  An  advice,  offered 
with  such  an  air  of  superiority  and  command,  mortified,  no  doubt,  the  pride 
of  the  Scottish  queen.  But,  under  her  present  circumstances,  she  was 
obliged  to  bear  this  indignity.  Destitute  of  all  foreign  assistance,  and 
intent  upon  the  English  succession,  the  great  object  of  her  wishes  and 
ambition,  it  became  necessary  to  court  a  rival,  whom,  without  manifest 
imprudence,  she  could  not  venture  to  offend. 

The  inclination  of  her  own  subjects  was  another,  and  not  the  least 
considerable  circumstance,  which  called  for  Mary's  attention  at  this  con- 
juncture. They  had  been  taught,  by  the  fatal  experiment  of  her  former 
marriage,  to  dread  a  union  with  any  great  prince,  whose  power  might  be 
employed  to  oppress  their  religion  and  liberties.  They  trembled  at  the 
thoughts  of  a  match  with  a  foreigner ;  and  if  the  crown  should  be 
strengthened  by  new  dominions  and  alliances,  they  foresaw  that  the  royal 
prerogative  would  soon  be  stretched  beyond  its  ancient  and  legal  limits 
Their  eagerness  to  prevent  this  could  hardly  fail  of  throwing  them  once 
more  into  the  arms  of  England.  Elizabeth  would  be  ready  to  afford  them 
her  aid  towards  obstructing  a  measure  so  disagreeable  to  herself.  It  was 
easy  for  them  to  seize  the  person  of  the  sovereign.  By  the  assistance  of 
the  English  fleet,  they  could  render  it  difficult  for  any  foreign  prince  to  land 
in  Scotland.  The  Roman  catholics,  now  an  inconsiderable  party  in  the 
kingdom,  and  dispirited  by  the  loss  of  the  earl  of  Huntly,  could  give  no 
obstruction  to  their  designs.  To  what  violent  extremes  the  national 
abhorrence  of  a  foreign  yoke  might  have  been  carried  is  manifest  from 
what  she  had  already  seen  and  experienced. 

For  these  reasons  Mary  laid  aside,  at  that  time,  all  thoughts  of  foreign 
alliance,  and  seemed  willing  to  sacrifice  her  own  ambition,  in  order  to 
remove  the  jealousies  of  Elizabeth,  and  to  quiet  the  fears  of  her  own 
subjects. 

The  parliament  met  this  year,  for  the  first  time  since  the  queen's  return 
into  Scotland.  [May  26.]  Mary's  administration  had  hitherto  been 
extremely  popular.  Her  ministers  possessed  the  confidence  of  the  nation  ; 
and  by  consequence,  the  proceedings  of  that  assembly  were  conducted 
with  perfect  unanimity.  The  grant  of  the  earldom  of  Murray  to  the 
prior  of  St.  Andrew's  was  confirmed  ;  the  earl  of  Huntly,  and  several  of 
his  vassals  and  dependants,  were  attainted  :  the  attainder  against  Kirkaldy 
of  Grange,  and  some  of  his  accomplices  in  the  murder  of  cardinal  Beatoun, 
was  reversed  :t  the  act  of  oblivion,  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh, 
received  the  royal  sanction.  But  Mary,  who  had  determined  never  to 
ratify  that  treaty,  took  care  that  this  sanction  should  not  be  deemed  any 
ic'cnovvledgment  of  its  validity;  she  granted  her  consent  merely  in  con- 
descension to  the  lords  in  parliament,  who  on  their  knees  besought  her  to 
lli.iy  the  jealousies  and  apprehensions  of  her  subjects  by  such  a  gracious 
•  tw.+ 

No  attempt  was  made  in  this  parliament,  to  procure  the  queen's  assent 
to  the  laws  establishing  the  protestant  religion.  Her  ministers,  though 
zealous  f'Hestants  themselves,  were  aware  that  this  could  not  be  urged 
without  manifest  danger  and  imprudence.  She  had  consented,  through 
their  influence,  to  tolerate  and  protect  the  reformed  doctrine.  They  had 
even  prevailed  on  her  to  imprison  and  prosecute  the  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's,  and  prior  of  Withorn,  for  celebrating  mass  contrary  to  her 
proclamation. §  Mary,  however,  was  still  passionately  devoted  to  the 
Romish  church ;  and  though,  from  political  motives,  she  had  granted  a 
temporary  protection  of  opinions  which  she  disapproved,  theie  were  no 

*  Keith,  242.  245.        t  Knox,  330.        {.  Pari.  9  CI   Mary,  c.  67.     Spotaw   188.        $  Keith,  238 


124  THE   HISTORY  (Book  III 

grounds  to  hope  that  she  would  agree  to  establish  them  for  perpetuity 
The  moderation  of  those  who  professed  it  was  the  best  method  for  recon 
ciling  the  queen  to  the  protestant  religion.  Time  might  abate  her  bigotry 
Her  prejudices  might  wear  off  gradually,  and  at  last  she  might  yield  tc 
the  wishes  of  her  people,  what  their  importunity  or  their  violence  could 
never  have  extorted.  Many  laws  of  importance  were  to  be  proposed  in 
parliament;  and  to  defeat  all  these,  by  such  a  fruitless  and  ill-timed 
application  to  the  queen,  would  have  been  equally  injurious  to  individuals 
and  detrimental  to  the  public 

The  zeal  of  the  protestant  clergy  was  deaf  to  all  these  considerations  of 
prudence  or  policy.  Eager  and  impatient,  it  brooked  no  delay :  severe 
and  inflexible,  it  would  condescend  to  no  compliances.  The  leading  men 
of  that  order  insisted,  that  this  opportunity  of  establishing  religion  by  law 
was  not  to  be  neglected.  They  pronounced  the  moderation  of  the  courtiers 
apostacy ;  and  their  endeavours  to  gain  the  queen  they  reckoned  criminal 
and  servile.  Knox  solemnly  renounced  the  friendship  of  the  earl  of  Mur- 
ray, as  a  man  devoted  to  Mary,  and  so  blindly  zealous  for  her  service  as 
to  become  regardless  of  those  objects  which  he  had  hitherto  esteemed 
most  sacred.  This  rupture,  which  is  a  strong  proof  of  Murray's  sincere 
attachment  to  the  queen  at  that  period,  continued  above  a  year  and  a  half.* 

The  preachers,  being  disappointed  by  the  men  in  whom  they  placed 
the  greatest  confidence,  gave  vent  to  their  indignation  in  their  pulpits. 
These  echoed  more  loudly  than  ever  with  declamations  against  idolatry ; 
with  dismal  presages  concerning  the  queen's  marriage  with  a  foreigner; 
and  with  bitter  reproaches  against  those  who,  from  interested  motives,  had 
deserted  that  cause  which  they  once  reckoned  it  their  honour  to  support. 
The  people,  inflamed  by  such  vehement  declamations,  which  were 
dictated  by  a  zeal  more  sincere  than  prudent,  proceeded  to  rash  and 
unjustifiable  acts  of  violence.  [Aug.l  During  the  queen's  absence,  on  a 
progress  into  the  west,  mass  continued  to  be  celebrated  in  her  chapel  at 
Holyrood-house.  The  multitude  of  those  who  openly  resorted  thither 
gave  great  offence  to  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who,  being  free  from  the 
restraint  which  the  royal  presence  imposed,  assembled  in  a  riotous  manner, 
interrupted  the  service,  and  filled  such  as  were  present  with  the  utmost 
consternation.  Two  of  the  ringleaders  in  this  tumult  were  seized,  and  a 
day  appointed  for  their  trial. t 

Oct.  8.]  Knox,  who  deemed  the  zeal  of  these  persons  laudable,  and 
their  conduct  meritorious,  considered  them  as  sufferers  in  a  good  cause ;  and 
in  order  to  screen  them  from  danger,  he  issued  circular  letters,  requiring 
all  who  professed  the  true  religion,  or  were  concerned  for  the  preservation 
of  it,  to  assemble  at  Edinburgh,  on  the  day  of  trial,  that  by  their  presence 
they  might  comfort  and  assist  their  distressed  brethren. f  One  of  these 
letters  fell  into  the  queen's  hands.  To  assemble  the  subjects  without  the 
authority  of  the  sovereign  was  construed  to  be  treason,  and  a  resolution 
was  taken  to  prosecute  Knox  for  that  crime,  before  the  privy  council. 
[Dec.  t5.]  Happily  for  him,  his  judges  were  not  only  zealous  protestants, 
but  the  very  men  who,  during  the  late  commotions,  had  openly  resisted 
and  set  at  defiance  the  queen's  authority.  It  was  under  precedents  drawn 
from  their  own  conduct  that  Knox  endeavoured  to  shelter  himself.  Nor 
would  it  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  these  counsellors  to  have  found  out 
a  distinction,  by  which  they  could  censure  him  without  condemning  them- 
selves. After  a  long  hearing,  to  the  astonishment  of  Lethington  and  the 
other  courtiers,§  he  was  unanimously  acquitted.  Sinclair,  bishop  of  Ross, 
and  president  of  the  Court  of  Session,  a  zealous  papist,  heartily  concurred 
with  the  other  counsellors  in  this  decision  ;||  a  remarkable  fact,  which 
shows  the  unsettled  state  of  governn  ent  in  that  age  ;  the  low  condition  to 

•  Knox,  331.        I  FWd,  335.        J  Ibid.  336.        $  Caldei  vv.  MS.  Hi»t.  i.  833.        ||  Knox,  343. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  i«6 

which  regal  authority  was  then  sunk. ,  and  the  impunity  with  which  sub- 
jects might  invade  those  rights  of  the  crown  which  are  now  held  sacred. 

1 564. T  The  marriage  of  the  Scottish  queen  continued  still  to  he  the 
object  of  attention  andintrigue.  Though  Elizabeth,  even  while  she  wished 
v,o  direct  Mary,  treated  her  with  a  disgustful  reserve  ;  though  she  kept  her, 
without  necessity,  in  a  state  of  suspense  ;  and  hinted  often  at  the  person 
whom  she  destined  to  be  her  husband,  without  directly  mentioning  hb 
name  ;  yet  Mary  framed  all  her  actions  to  express  such  prudent  respect  for 
the  English  queen,  that  foreign  princes  began  to  imagine  that  she  had  given 
herself  up  implicitly  to  her  direction.*  The  prospect  of  this  union  alarmed 
Catherine  of  Medicis.  Though  Catherine  had  taken  pleasure  all  along  in 
doing  ill  offices  to  the  queen  of  Scots  ;  though  soon  after  the  duke  ot 
Guise's  death,  she  had  put  upon  her  a  most  mortifying  indignity,  by  stopping 
the  payment  of  her  dowry,  by  depriving  her  subject  the  duke  of  Chatel- 
herault  of  his  pension,  and  by  bestowing  the  command  of  the  Scottish 
guards  on  a  Frenchman  ;f  she  resolved,  however,  to  prevent  this  dangerous 
conjunction  of  the  British  queens.  For  this  purpose  she  now  employed 
all  her  art  to  appease  Mary,|  to  whom  she  had  given  so  many  causes  ot 
offence.  The  arrears  of  her  dowiy  were  instantly  paid  ;  more  punctual 
remittances  were  promised  for  the  future  ;  and  offers  made,  not  only  to 
restore  but  to  extend  the  privileges  of  the  Scottish  nation  in  France.  It 
was  easy  for  Mary  to  penetrate  into  the  motives  of  this  sudden  change  ; 
she  well  knew  the  character  of  her  mother-in-law,  and  laid  little  stress 
upon  professions  of  friendship  which  came  from  a  princess  of  such  a  false 
and  unfeeling  heart. 

The  negotiation  with  England,  relative  to  the  marriage,  suffered  no 
interruption  from  this  application  of  the  French  queen.  As  Mary,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  wishes  of  her  subjects,  and  pressed  by  the  strongest 
motives  of  interest,  determined  speedily  to  marry,  Elizabeth  was  obliged 
to  break  that  unaccountable  silence  which  she  had  hitherto  affected.  The 
secret  was  disclosed,  and  her  favourite  lord  Robert  Dudley,  afterwards 
earl  of  Leicester,  was  declared  to  be  the  happy  man  whom  she  had 
chosen  to  be  the  husband  of  a  queen  courted  by  many  princes.§  Eliza- 
beth's wisdom  and  penetration  were  remarkable  in  the  choice  of  her 
ministers;  in  distinguishing  her  favourites,  those  great  qualities  were  less 
conspicuous.  She  was  influenced  in  two  cases  so  opposite,  by  merit  ot 
very  different  kinds.  Their  capacity  for  business,  their  knowledge,  their 
prudence,  were  the  talents  to  which  alone  she  attended  in  choosing  her 
ministers  ;  whereas  beauty  and  gracefulness  of  person,  polished  manners, 
and  courtly  address,  were  the  accomplishments  on  which  she  bestowed 
her  favours.  She  acted  in  the  one  case  with  the  wisdom  of  a  queen,  in 
the  other  she  discovered  the  weakness  of  a  woman.  To  this  Leicester 
owed  his  grandeur.  Though  remarkable  neither  for  eminence  in  virtue 
nor  superiority  of  abilities,  the  queen's  partiality  distinguished  him  on 
every  occasion.  She  raised  him  to  the  highest  honours,  she  bestowed 
on  him  the  most  important  employments,  and  manifested  an  affection  so 
disproportionate  to  his  merit,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  that  age,  it  could  be 
accounted  for  only  by  the  power  of  planetary  influence.il 

The  high  spirit  of  the  Scottish  queen  could  not  well  bear  the  first  over- 
ture of  a  match  with  a  subject.  Her  own  rank,  the  splendour  of  her 
former  marriage,  and  the  solicitations  at  this  time  of  so  many  powerful 
princes,  crowded  into  her  thoughts,  and  made  her  sensibly  feel  how  hum- 
bling and  disrespectful  Elizabeth's  proposal  was.  She  dissembled,  how- 
ever, with  the  English  resident  ;  and  though  she  declared,  in  strong  terms, 
what  a  degradation  she  would  deem  this  alliance,  which  brought  along 
with  it  no  advantage  that  could  justify  such  neglect  of  her  own  dignity, 

*  Keith,  S4I.        f  Ibid.  344.       t  See  Append.  No.  VIII.        $  Keith,  351.       ||  Camden,  549. 


126  THE   HISTORY  [Book  III 

she  mentioned  the  earl  of  Leicester,  notwithstanding,  in  terms  full  of 
respect.* 

Elizabeth,  we  may  presume,  did  not  wish  that  the  proposal  should  be 
received  in  any  other  manner.  After  the  extraordinary  marks  she  had 
given  of  her  own  attachment  to  Leicester,  and  while  he  was  still  in  the 
very  height  of  favour,  it  is  not  probable  she  could  think  seriously  of 
bestowing  him  upon  another.  It  was  not  her  aim  to  persuade,  but  only  to 
amuse  Mary.t  Almost  three  years  were  elapsed  since  her  return  into  Scot- 
land ;  and  though  solicited  by  her  subjects,  and  courted  by  the  greatest 
princes  in  Europe,  she  had  hitherto  been  prevented  from  marrying,  chiefly 
by  the  artifices  of  Elizabeth.  If  at  this  time  the  English  queen  could  ha\e 
engaged  Mary  to  listen  to  her  proposal  in  favour  ot  Leicester,  her  power 
over  this  creature  of  her  own  would  have  enabled  her  to  protract  the 
negotiation  at  pleasure  ;  and,  by  keeping  her  rival  unmarried,  she  would 
have  rendered  the  prospect  of  her  succession  less  acceptable  to  the 
English. 

Leicester's  own  situation  was  extremely  delicate  and  embarrassing.  To 
gain  possession  of  the  most  amiable  woman  of  the  age,  to  carry  away  this 
prize  from  so  many  contending  princes,  to  mount  the  throne  ot  an  ancient 
kingdom,  might  have  flattered  the  ambition  of  a  subject  much  more  consi- 
derable than  him.  He  saw  all  these  advantages  no  doubt;  and,  in  secret, 
they  made  their  full  impression  on  him.  But,  without  offending  Elizabeth, 
he  durst  not  venture  on  the  most  distant  discovery  of  his  sentiments,  or 
lake  any  steps  towards  facilitating  his  acquisition  of  objects  so  worthy  of 
desire. 

On  the  other  hand,  Elizabeth's  partiality  towards  him,  which  she  was 
at  no  pains  to  conceal,!  might  inspire  him  with  hopes  of  attaining  the 
■supreme  rank  in  a  kingdom  more  illustrious  than  Scotland.  Elizabeth  had 
often  declared  that  nothing  but  her  resolution  to  lead  a  single  life,  and  his 
being  born  her  own  subject,  would  have  hindered  her  from  choosing  the 
earl  of  Leicester  for  a  husband.  Such  considerations  of  prudence  are, 
however,  often  surmounted  by  love  ;  and  Leicester  might  flatter  himself, 
that  the  violence  of  her  affection  would  at  length  triumph  both  over  the 
maxims  of  policy  and  the  scruples  of  pride.  These  hopes  induced  him, 
now  and  then,  to  conclude  the  proposal  of  his  marriage  with  the  Scottish 
queen  to  be  a  project  for  his  destruction ;  and  he  imputed  it  to  the  malice 
of  Cecil,  who,  under  the  specious  pretence  of  doing  him  honour,  intended 
10  ruin  him  in  the  good  opinion  both  of  Elizabeth  and  Mary.§ 

A  treaty  of  marriage,  proposed  by  one  queen,  who  dreaded  its  success , 
ustened  to  by  another,  who  was  secretly  determined  against  it  ;  and 
scarcely  desired  by  the  man  himself,  whose  interest  and  reputation  it  was 
calculated,  in  appearance,  to  promote  ;  could  not,  under  so  many  unfavour- 
able circumstances,  be  brought  to  a  fortunate  issue.  Both  Elizabeth  and 
Mary  continued,  however,  to  act  with  equal  dissimulation.  The  former, 
notwithstanding  her  fears  of  losing  Leicester,  solicited  warmly  in  his  behalf. 
The  laitc,  though  she  began  about  this  time  to  cast  her  eyes  upon  another 
subject  of  England,  did  not  at  once  venture  finally  to  reject  Elizabeth's 
favourite. 

The  person  towards  wnom  Mary  began  to  turn  her  thoughts  was  Henry 
Stewart  lord  Darnly,  eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Lennox.  That  nobleman, 
naving  been  driven  out  of  Scotland,  under  the  regency  of  the  duke  of 
(.  natelherault,  had  lived  in  banishment  for  twenty  years.  His  wife,  lady 
Margaret  Douglas,  was  Mary's  most  dangerous  rival  in  her  claim  upon  the 
English  succession.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Margaret,  the  eldest  sister 
of  Henry  VIII.  by  the  earl  of  Angus,  whom  that  queen  married  after  the 
death  of  her  husband  James  IV.     In  that  age,  the  right  and  order  of  suc- 

•  Keith,  «52  t  Melv.  104,  105  J  Ibid.  93,  94.  $  Ibid.  101. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  127 

cession  was  not  settled  with  the  same  accuracy  as  at  present.  Time,  and 
the  decision  of  almost  every  case  that  can  possibly  happen,  lave  at  last 
introduced  certainty  into  a  matter,  which  naturally  is  subject  to  all  the 
variety  arising  from  the  caprice  of  lawyers,  guided  by  obscure  and  often 
imaginary  analogies.  The  countess  of  Lennox,  though  born  of  a  second 
marriage,  was  one  degree  nearer  the  royal  blood  of  England  than  iVKry. 
She  was  the  daughter,  Mary  only  the  granddaughter  of  Margate'  This 
was  not  the  only  advantage  ever  Mary  which  the  countess  of  Lennox 
enjoyed.  She  was  born  in  England,  and,  by  a  maxim  of  law  in  that  coun- 
try, with  regard  to  private  inheritances,  "  whoever  is  not  born  in  England, 
or  at  least  of  parents  who,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  were  in  the  obeaience 
of  the  king  of  England,  cannot  enjoy  tyiy  inheritance  in  the  kingdom."* 
This  maxim,  Hales,  an  English  lawyer,  produced  in  a  treatise  which  he 
published  at  this  time,  and  endeavoured  to  apply  it  to  the  right  of  succes- 
sion to  the  crown.  In  a  private  cause  these  pretexts  might  have  given 
rise  to  a  long  and  doubtful  litigation  ;  where  a  crown  was  at  stake,  r.clj 
nice  disputes  and  subtilties  were  to  be  avoided  with  the  utmost  care.  11 
Darnly  should  happen  to  contract  an  alliance  with  any  of  the  powerful 
families  in  England,  or  should  publicly  profess  the  protestant  religion, 
these  plausible  and  popular  topics  might  be  so  urged  as  to  prove  fatal  to 
the  pretensions  of  a  foreigner  and  of  a  papist. 

Mary  was  aware  of  all  this  ;  and,  in  order  to  prevent  any  danger  from 
that  quarter,  had  endeavoured  to  cultivate  a  friendly  correspondence  with 
the  family  of  Lennox.  In  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
two,!  both  the  earl  and  the  lady  Margaret  were  taken  into  custody  by 
Elizabeth's  orders,  on  account  of  their  holding  a  secret  correspondence 
with  the  Scottish  queen. 

From  the  time  that  Mary  became  sensible  of  the  difficulties  which 
would  attend  her  marrying  a  foreign  prince,  she  entered  into  a  still  closer 
connexion  with  the  earl  of  Lennox,!  and  invited  him  to  return  into  Scot- 
land. This  she  endeavoured  to  conceal  from  Elizabeth  ;  but  a  transaction 
of  so  much  importance  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  that  discerning  prin- 
cess. She  observed  but  did  not  interrupt  it.  Nothing  could  fall  in  more 
perfectly  with  her  views  concerning  Scottish  affairs.  She  was  pleased  to 
see  the  pride  of  the  Scottish  queen  stoop  at  last  to  the  thoughts  of  taking 
a  subject  to  her  bed.  Darnly  was  in  no  situation  to  excite  her  jealousy  01 
her  fears  His  father's  estate  lay  in  England,  and  by  means  of  this  pledge 
she  hoped  to  keep  the  negotiation  entirely  in  her  own  hands,  to  play  the 
same  game  of  artifice  and  delay,  which  she  had  planned  out,  if  her  recom- 
mendation of  Leicester  had  been  more  favourably  received. 

As  before  the  union  of  the  two  crowns  no  subject  of  one  kingdom  couVI 
pass  into  the  other  without  the  permission  of  both  sovereigns;  no  sooner 
did  Lennox,  under  pretence  of  prosecuting  his  wife's  claim  upon  the  ear'- 
dom  of  Angus,  apply  to  Elizabeth  for  her  license  to  go  into  Scotland,  than 
he  obtained  it.  Together  with  it,  she  gave  him  letters,  warmly  recom- 
mending his  person  and  cause  to  Mary's  friendship  and  protection. §  Bui 
at  the  same  time,  as  it  was  her  manner  to  involve  all  her  transactions  with 
regard  to  Scotland  in  some  degree  of  perplexity  and  contradiction,  she 
warned  Mary,  that  this  indulgence  of  Lennox  might  prove  fatal  to  herself, 
as  his  return  could  not  fail  of  reviving  the  ancient  animosity  between  him 
and  the  house  of  Hamilton. 

This  admonition  gave  umbrage  to  Mary,  and  drew  from  her  an  angry 
'.eply,  which  occasioned  for  some  time  a  total  interruption  of  all  corres- 
pondence between  the  two  queens.il  Mary  was  not  a  little  alarmed  at 
this,  she  both  dreaded  the  effects  of  Elizabeth's  resentment,  and  felt  sen- 

*  Carte,  Hirt.  of  Eng.  vol.  iii.  482.  t  Camden,  389.  t  Ibid.  396.  $  Keith,  35S.  968- 

3  Ibid.  353.    M«lv.  83 


128  THE  HISTORY  LBook  Hi 

sib.y  the  disadvantage  of  being  excluded  from  a  free  intercourse  with  Eng 
land,  where  her  ambassadors  had  all  along;  carried  on,  with  some  success, 
secret  negotiations,  which  increased  the  number  of  ner  partisans,  and 
paved  her  way  towards  the  throne.  In  order  to  remove  the  causes  of  the 
present  difficulty,  Melvil  was  sent  express  to  the  court  of  England.  He 
found  it  no  difficult  matler  to  bring  about  a  reconcilement ;  and  soon  re- 
established the  appearance,  but  not  the  confidence,  of  friendship,  which 
was  all  that  had  subsisted  for  some  time  between  the  two  queens. 

During  this  negotiation,  Elizabeth's  professions  of  love  to  Mary,  and 
Melvil's  replies  in  the  name  of  his  mistress,  were  made  in  the  language  of 
the  warmest  and  most  cordial  friendship.  But  what  Melvil  truly  observes 
with  respect  to  Elizabeth,  may  be  extended  without  injustice  to  boll) 
queens.  "  There  was  neither  plain  dealing  nor  upright  meaning,  but  great 
dissimulation,  envy,  and  fear."* 

Lennox,  however,  in  consequence  of  the  license  which  he  had  obtained, 
set  out  for  Scotland,  and  was  received  by  the  queen,  not  only  with  the 
.espect  due  to  a  nobleman  so  nearly  allied  to  the  royal  family,  but  treated 
him  with  a  distinguished  familiarity  which  could  not  tail  of  inspiring  him 
with  more  elevated  hopes.  The  rumour  of  his  son's  marriage  to  the  queen 
began  to  spread  over  the  kingdom;  and  the  eyes  of  all  Scotland  were 
turned  upon  him  as  the  father  of  their  future  master.  The  duke  of  Cha- 
telherault  was  the  first  to  take  the  alarm.  He  considered  Lennox  as  the 
ancient  and  hereditary  enemy  of  the  house  of  Hamilton  ;  and,  in  his  gran- 
deur, saw  the  ruin  of  himself  and  his  friends.  But  the  queen  interposed 
her  authority  to  prevent  any  violent  rupture,  and  employed  all  her  influ- 
ence to  bring  about  an  accommodation  of  the  differences.! 

The  powerful  family  of  Douglas  no  less  dreaded  Lennox's  return,  from 
an  apprehension  that  he  would  wrest  the  earldom  of  Angus  out  of  their 
hands.  But  the  queen,  who  well  knew  how  dangerous  it  would  be  to  irri- 
tate Morton,  and  other  great  men  of  that  name,  prevailed  on  Lennox  to 
purchase  their  friendship  by  allowing  his  lady's  claim  upon  the  earldom 
of  Angus  to  drop. J 

After  these  preliminary  steps,  Mary  ventured  to  call  a  meeting  of  par- 
liament. [Dec]     The  act  of  forfeiture  passed  against  Lennox  in  the  year 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  forty-five  was  repealed,  and  he  was  pub 
licly  restored  to  the  honours  and  estate  of  his  ancestors.§ 

June  25,  Dec.  25.]  The  ecclesiastical  transactions  of  this  year  were  not 
considerable.  In  the  assemblies  of  the  church,  the  same  complaints  of 
the  increase  of  idolatry,  the  same  representations  concerning  the  poverty 
of  the  clergy  were  renewed.  The  reply  which  the  queen  made  to  these 
and  her  promises  of  redress,  were  more  satisfying  to  the  protectants  than 
any  they  had  hitherto  obtained.l'  But  notwithstanding  her  declarations  in 
their  favour,  they  could  not  help  harbouring  many  suspicions  concerning 
Mary's  designs  against  their  religion.  She  had  never  once  consented  to 
hear  any  preacher  of  the  reformed  doctrine.  She  had  abated  nothing  of 
her  bigoted  attachment  to  the  Romish  faith.  The  genius  of  that  supersti- 
tion, averse  at  all  times  from  toleration,  was  in  that  age  fierce  and  unrelent- 
ing. Mar}'  had  given  her  friends  on  the  continent  repeated  assurances  of 
her  resolution  to  re-esrablish  the  catholic  church. II  She  had  industriously 
avoided  every  opportunity  of  ratifying  the  acts  of  parliament  one  thousand 
live  hundred  and  sixty,  in  favour  of  the  reformation.  Even  the  protection 
v,  hich,  ever  since  her  return,  she  had  afforded  the  protectant  religion,  was 
merely  temporary,  and  declared,  by  her  own  proclamation,  to  be  of  force 
only  "till  she  should  take  some  final  order  in  the  matter  of  religion."** 
The  vigilant  zeal  of  the  preachers  was  inattentive  to  none  of  these  circum- 

*  Melv  104.        t  Keith,  259.        }  Ibid.  268.     N.ite  (*).        J  See  Append.  No.  IX  II  Keith. 

533  539        IT  Carte,  vol.  iiL  415.        **  Keith,  504.  510, 


OF    SCOTLAND.  129 

stances  The  coldness  of  their  principal  leaders,  who  were  at  this  time 
entirely  devoted  to  the  court,  added  to  their  jealousies  and  fears.  These 
they  uttered  to  the  people,  in  language  which  they  deemed  suitable  to  the 
necessity  of  the  times,  and  which  the  queen  reckoned  disrespectful  and 
insolent.  In  a  meeting  of  the  general  assembly.  Mailland  publicly  accused 
Knox  of  teaching  seditious  doctrine,  concerning  the  right  of  subjects  to 
resist  those  sovereigns  who  trespass  against  the  duty  which  they  owe  fo 
the  people.  Knox  was  not  backward  to  justify  what  he  had  taught ,  and 
upon  this  general  doctrine  of  resistance,  so  just  in  its  own  nature,  but  so 
delicate  in  its  application  to  particular  cases,  there  ensued  a  debate,  which 
admirably  displays  the  talents  and  character  of  both  the  disputants;  the 
acuteness  of  the  former,  embellished  with  learning,  but  prone  to  subtilty  , 
die  vigorous  understanding  of  the  latter,  delighting  in  bold  sentiments,  and 
superior  to  all  fear.* 

1565. j  Two  years  had  already  been  consumed  in  fruitless  negotiations 
concerning  the  marriage  of  the  Scottish  queen.  Mary  had  full  leisure  and 
opportunity  to  discern  the  fallacy  and  deceit  of  all  Elizabeth's  proceedings 
with  respect  to  it.  But,  In  order  to  set  the  real  intentions  of  the  English 
queen  in  a  clear  light,  and  to  bring  her  to  some  explicit  declaration  of  her 
sentiments,  Mary  at  last  intimated  to  Randolph  [Feb.  5],  that,  on  condition 
her  right  of  succession  to  the  crown  of  England  were  publicly  acknow- 
ledged, she  was  ready  to  yield  to  the  solicitations  of  his  mistress  in  behalf 
of  Leicester.!  Nothing  could  be  further  'ban  this  from  the  mind  and  inten- 
tion of  Elizabeth.  The  right  of  succession  was  a  mystery,  which,  during 
her  whole  reign,  her  jealousy  preserved  untouched  and  unexplained.  She 
had  promised,  however,  when  she  first  began  to  interest  herself  in  the 
marriage  of  the  Scottish  queen,  all  that  was  now  demanded.  How  to 
retreat  with  decency,  how  to  elude  her  former  offer,  was  on  that  account 
not  a  little  perplexing. 

The  facility  with  which  lord  Darnly  obtained  permission  to  visit  the 
court  of  Scotland,  was  owing,  in  all  probability,  to  that  embarrassment. 
From  the  time  of  Melvil's  embassy,  the  countess  of  Lennox  had  warmly 
solicited  this  liberty  for  her  son.  Elizabeth  was  no  stranger  to  the  ambi- 
tious hopes  with  which  that  young  nobleman  flattered  himself.  She  had 
received  repeated  advices  from  her  ministers,  of  the  sentiments  which  Man- 
began  to  entertain  in  his  favour.  J  It  was  entirely  in  her  power  to  prevent 
his  stirring  out  of  London.  In  the  present  conjuncture,  however,  nothing 
could  be  of  more  advantage  to  her  than  Darnly's  journey  into  Scotland. 
She  had  already  brought  one  actor  upon  the  stage,  who  under  her  manage- 
ment had,  for  a  long  time,  amused  the  Scottish  queen.  She  hoped,  no  less 
absolutely,  to  direct  the  motions  of  Darnly,  who  was  likewise  her  subject  • 
and  again  to  involve  Mary  in  all  the  tedious  intricacies  of  negotiation. 
These  motives  determined  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers  to  yield  to  the 
solicitations  of  the  countess  of  Lennox. 

But  this  deep  laid  scheme  was  in  a  moment  disconcerted.  Such  unex- 
pec  ted  events,  as  the  fancy  of  poets  ascribes  to  love,  are  sometimes  really 
produced  by  that  passion.  An  affair  which  had  been  the  object  of  so  many 
political  intrigues,  and  had  moved  and  interested  so  many  princes,  was  at 
last  decided  by  the  sudden  liking  of  two  young  persons.  Lord  Darnly 
was  at  this  time  in  the  first  bloom  and  vigour  of  youth.  In  beauty  and 
gracefulness  of  person  he  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries  ;  he  excelled 
eminently  in  such  arts  as  add  ease  and  elegance  to  external  form,  and 
which  enabled  it  not  only  to  dazzle  but  to  please.  Mary  was  of  an  age, 
and  of  a  temper,  to  feel  the  full  power  of  these  accomplishments  1  ho 
impression  which  Lord  Darnly  made  upon  her  was  visible  from  the  time 
of  their  first  interview  [Feb.  13].     The  whole  business  of  the  court  was  to 

*  Knox,  349  f  Keith,  269.  t  Ibid.  259.  261.  266. 

Vot    111—17 


130  THE   HISTORY  ["Book  III. 

amuse  and  entertain  this  illustrious  guest  ;*  and  in  all  those  scenes  of  gayety 
Darnly,  whose  qualifications  were  altogether  superficial  and  showy, 
appeared  to  great  advantage.  His  conquest  of  the  queen's  heart  became 
complete  ;  and  inclination  now  prompted  her  to  conclude  her  marriage,  the 
first  thoughts  of  which  had  been  suggested  by  considerations  merely  political. 

Elizabeth  contributed,  and  perhaps  not  without  design,  to  increase  the 
violence  of  this  passion.  Soon  after  Darnly's  arrival  in  Scotland,  she,  in 
return  to  that  message  whereby  Mary  had  signified  her  willingness  to  accept 
of  Leicester,  gave  an  answer  in  such  terms  as  plainly  unravelled  her  ori- 
ginal intention  in  that  intrigue.!  She  promised,  if  the  Scottish  queen's 
marriage  with  Leicester  should  take  place,  to  advance  him  to  great  honours  ; 
but,  with  regard  to  Mary's  title  to  the  English  succession,  she  would  neither 
suffer  any  legal  inquiry  to  be  made  concerning  it,  nor  permit  it  to  be  pub- 
licly recognised,  until  she  herself  should  declare  her  resolution  never  to 
marry.  Notwithstanding  Elizabeth's  former  promises,  Mary  had  reason  to 
expect  every  thing  contained  in  this  reply ;  her  high  spirit,  however,  could 
not  bear  with  patience  such  a  cruel  discovery  of  the  contempt,  the  artifice 
and  mockery,  with  which,  under  the  veil  of  friendship,  she  had  been  so  long 
abused.  She  burst  into  tears  of  indignation,  and  expressed,  with  the  utmost 
bitterness,  her  sense  of  that  disingenuous  craft  which  had  been  employed 
to  deceive  her.J 

The  natural  effect  of  this  indignation  was  to  add  to  the  impetuosity  with 
which  she  pursued  her  own  scheme.  Blinded  by  resentment  as  well  as 
by  love,  she  observed  no  defects  in  the  man  whom  she  had  chosen ;  and 
began  to  take  the  necessary  steps  towards  accomplishing  her  design,  with 
all  the  impatience  natural  to  those  passions. 

As  Darnly  was  so  nearly  related  to  the  queen,  the  canon  law  made  it 
necessary  to  obtain  the  pope's  dispensation  before  the  celebration  of  the 
marriage.  For  this  purpose  she  early  set  on  foot  a  negotiation  with 
the  court  of  Rome.§ 

She  was  busy,  at  the  same  time,  in  procuring  the  consent  of  the  French 
king  and  his  mother.  Having  communicated  her  design,  and  the  motives 
wnich  determined  her  choice,  to  Castelnau  the  French  ambassador,  she 
employed  him,  as  the  most  proper  person,  to  bring  his  court  to  fall  in  with 
her  views.  Among  other  arguments  to  this  purpose,  Castelnau  mentioned 
Mary's  attachment  to  Darnly,  which  he  represented  to  be  so  violent  and 
deep-rooted,  that  it  was  no  longer  in  her  own  power  to  break  off  the 
match. ||  Nor  were  the  French  ministers  backward  in  encouraging  Mary's 
passion.  Her  pride  would  never  stoop  to  an  alliance  with  a  subject  of 
France.  By  this  choice  they  were  delivered  from  the  apprehension  of  a 
match  with  any  of  the  Austrian  princes,  as  well  as  the  danger  of  too  close 
a  union  with  Elizabeth  ;  and  as  Darnly  professed  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gion, this  suited  the  bigoted  schemes  which  that  court  adopted. 

While  Mary  was  endeavouring  to  reconcile  foreign  courts  to  a  measure 
which  she  had  so  much  at  heart,  Darnly  and  his  father,  by  their  behaviour, 
were  raising  up  enemies  at  home  to  obstruct  it.  Lennox  had,  during  the 
former  part  of  his  life,  discovered  no  great  compass  of  abilities  or  political 
wisdom  ;  and  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  a  weak  understanding  and 
violent  passions.  Darnly  was  not  superior  to  his  father  in  understanding, 
and  all  his  passions  were  still  more  impetuous. H  To  these  he  added  that 
insolence,  which  the  advantage  of  external  form,  when  accompanied  with 
no  quality  more  valuable,  is  apt  to  inspire.  Intoxicated  with  the  queen's 
favour,  he  began  already  to  assume  the  haughtiness  of  a  king,  and  to  pu' 
an  that  imperious  air,  which  majesty  itself  can  scarcely  render  tolerable. 

It  vn  as  by  the  advice,  or  at  least  with  the  consent  of  Murray  and  hb 

•  Kmi.  369.         t  Keith,  Append.  158.  t  Ibid.  Append.  150  t  Cuad  390.  fl  Cu 

Crin,  464.        IT  Keith,  978, 973. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  131 

Earty,  that  Lennox  had  been  invited  into  Scotland  :*  and  yet,  no  sooner  did 
e  acquire  a  firm  footing  in  that  kingdom  than  he  began  to  enter  into  secret 
cabals  with  those  noblemen  who  were  known  to  be  avowed  enemies  to 
Murray,  and,  with  regard  to  religion,  to  be  either  neutrals,  or  favourers  ol 
popery. t  Darnly,  still  more  imprudent,  allowed  some  rash  expressions 
toncerning  those  favours  which  the  queen's  bounty  had  conferred  upon 
Murray  to  escape  him.  J 

But,  above  all  these,  the  familiarity  which  Darnly  cultivated  with  David 
Rizio,  contributed  to  increase  the  suspicion  and  disgust  of  the  nobles. 

The  low  birth  and  indigent  condition  of  this  man  placed  him  in  a  sta 
tion  in  which  he  ought  naturally  to  have  remained  unknown  to  posterity 
But  what  fortune  called  him  to  act  and  to  suffer  in  Scotland,  obliges  his- 
tory to  descend  from  its  dignity,  and  to  record  his  adventures.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  musician  in  Turin,  and  having  accompanied  the  PiedmontQse 
ambassador  into  Scotland,  gained  admission  into  the  queen's  family  by  his 
skill  in  music.  As  his  dependent  condition  had  taught  him  suppleness  ol 
spirit  and  insinuating  manners,  he  quickly  crept  into  the  queen's  favour,  and 
(her  French  secretary  happening  to  return  at  that  time  into  his  own 
country)  was  preferred  by  her  to  that  office.  He  now  began  to  make  a 
figure  in  court,  and  to  appear  as  a  man  of  consequence.  The  whole  train 
of  suitors  and  expectants,  who  have  an  extreme  sagacity  in  discovering  the 
paths  which  lead  most  directly  to  success,  applied  to  him.  His  recom- 
mendations were  observed  to  have  great  influence  over  the  queen,  and  he 
grew  to  be  considered  not  only  as  a  favourite,  but  as  a  minister.  Nor  was 
Rizio  careful  to  abate  that  envy  which  always  attends  such  an  extraordi 
nary  and  rapid  change  of  fortune.  He  studied,  on  the  contrary,  to  display 
the  whole  extent  of  his  favour.  He  affected  to  talk  often  and  familiarly 
with  the  queen  in  public.  He  equalled  the  greatest  and  most  opulent  sub- 
jects, in  richness  of  dress,  and  in  the  number  of  his  attendants.  He  dis- 
covered, in  all  his  behaviour,  that  assuming  insolence  with  which  unmerited 
prosperity  inspires  an  ignoble  mind.  It  was  with  the  utmost  indignation 
that  the  nobles  beheld  the  power,  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
they  tolerated  the  arrogance  of  this  unworthy  minion.  Even  in  the  queen's 
presence  they  could  not  forbear  treating  him  with  marks  of  contempt. 
Nor  was  it  his  exorbitant  power  alone  which  exasperated  the  Scots. 
They  considered  him,  and  not  without  reason,  as  a  dangerous  enemy  to 
the  protestant  religion,  and  suspected  that  he  held,  for  this  purpose,  a  secret 
correspondence  with  the  court  of  Rome. 6 

It  was  Darnly's  misfortune  to  fall  under  the  management  ol  tnis  man, 
who,  by  flattery  and  assiduity  easily  gained  on  his  vanity  and  inexperi- 
ence. All  Rizio's  influence  with  the  queen  was  employed  in  his  behalf> 
and  contributed,  without  doubt,  towards  establishing  him  more  firmly  in 
her  aifections.il  But  whatever  benefit  Darnly  might  reap  from  his  patron- 
age, it  did  not  counterbalance  the  contempt,  and  even  infamy,  to  which  he 
was  exposed  on  account  of  his  familiarity  with  such  an  upstart. 

Though  Darnly  daily  made  progress  in  the  queen's  affection,  she  con 
ducted  herself,  however,  with  such  prudent  reserve,  as  to  impose  on  Ran- 
dolph, the  English  resident,  a  man  otherwise  shrewd  and  penetrating.  It 
appears  from  his  letters  at  this  period,  that  he  entertained  not  the  leasV 
suspicion  of  the  intrigue  which  was  carrying  on ;  and  gave  his  couri 
repeated  assurances,  that  the  Scottish  queen  had  no  design  of  marrying 
Darnly. H  In  the  midst  of  this  security,  Mary  despatched  Maitland  to  sig- 
nify her  intention  to  Elizabeth,  and  to  solicit  her  consent  to  the  marriage 
with  Darnly.  This  embassy  was  the  first  thing  that  opened  the  eyes  o 
Randolph. 

*  Knox,  367.    Keith,  274.  T  Keith,  272.  X  rbid  274.  $  Buchan  34a    Melv  NT. 

Melv   111.  "I   Keith,  273,  and  Append.  159. 


32  THE   HISTORY  |_Book  III. 

April  18.]  Elizabeth  affected  the  greatest  surprise  at  this  sudden  reso- 
lution of  the  Scottish  queen,  but  without  reason.  The  train  was  laid  by 
herself,  and  she  had  no  cause  to  wonder  when  it  took  effect.  She  expressed 
at  the  same  time  her  disapprobation  of  the  match  in  the  strongest  terms ; 
and  pretended  to  foresee  many  dangers  and  inconveniences  arising  from  it 
fo  both  kingdoms.  But  this  too  was  mere  affectation.  Mary  had  often 
and  plainly  declared  her  resolution  to  marry.  It  was  impossible  she  could 
make  any  choice  more  inoffensive.  The  danger  of  introducing  a  foreign 
interest  into  Britain,  which  Elizabeth  had  so  justly  dreaded,  was  entirely 
avoided.  Darnly,  though  allied  to  both  crowns,  and  possessed  of  lands  in 
both  kingdoms,  could  be  formidable  to  neither.  It  is  evident  from  all  these 
circumstances,  that  Elizabeth's  apprehensions  of  danger  could  not  possibly 
be  serious;  and  that  in  all  her  violent  declarations  against  Darnly,  there 
was  much  more  of  grimace  than  of  reality.* 

There  were  not  wanting,  however,  political  motives  of  much  weight  to 
induce  that  artful  princess  to  put  on  the  appearance  of  great  displeasure 
Mary,  intimidated  by  this,  might  perhaps  delay  her  marriage;  which 
Elizabeth  desired  to  obstruct  with  a  weakness  that  little  suited  the  dignity 
of  her  mind  and  the  elevation  of  her  character.  Besides,  the  tranquillity 
of  her  own  kingdom  was  the  great  object  of  Elizabeth's  policy;  and,  by 
declaring  her  dissatisfaction  with  Mary's  conduct,  she  hoped  to  alarm  th;;t 
party  in  Scotland  which  was  attached  to  the  English  interest,  ai  d  to 
encourage  such  of  the  nobles  as  secretly  disapproved  the  match,  openly  to 
oppose  it.  The  seeds  of  discord  would  by  this  means  be  scattered 
through  that  kingdom.  Intestine  commotions  might  arise.  Amidst  these, 
Mary  could  form  none  of  those  dangerous  schemes  to  which  the  union  ot 
her  people  might  have  prompted  her.  Elizabeth  would  become  the 
umpire  between  the  Scottish  queen  and  her  contending  subjects;  and 
England  might  look  on  with  security,  while  a  storm  which  she  had  raised, 
wasted  the  only  kingdom  which  could  possibly  disturb  its  peace. 

May  1.]  In  prosecution  of  this  scheme,  she  laid  before  her  privy  council 
the  message  from  the  Scottish  queen,  and  consulted  them  with  regard  to 
the  answer  she  should  return.  Their  determination,  it  is  easy  to  conceive, 
was  perfectly  conformable  to  her  secret  views.  They  drew  up  a  remon- 
strance against  the  intended  match,  full  of  the  imaginary  dangers  with 
which  that  event  threatened  the  kingdom.!  Nor  did  she  think  it  enough 
to  signify  her  disapprobation  of  the  measure,  either  by  Maitland,  Mary's 
ambassador,  or  by  Randolph,  her  own  resident  in  Scotland :  in  order  to  add 
more  dignity  to  the  farce  which  she  chose  to  act,  she  appointed  sir  Nicho- 
las Throgmorton  her  ambassador  extraordinary.  She  commanded  him  to 
declare,  in  the  strongest  terms,  her  dissatisfaction  with  the  step  which 
Mary  proposed  to  take  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  produce  the  determina- 
tion of  the  privy  council  as  an  evidence  that  the  sentiments  of  the  nation 
were  not  different  from  her  own.  Not  long  after  she  confined  the  countess 
of  Lennox  as  a  prisoner,  first  in  her  house,  and  then  sent  her  to  the  Tower.  J 

Intelligence  of  all  this  reached  Scotland  before  the  arrival  of  the  English 
ambassador.  In  the  first  transports  of  her  indignation,  Mary  resolved  no 
longer  to  keep  any  measures  with  Elizabeth  ;  and  sent  orders  to  Maitland, 
who  accompanied  Throgmorton,  to  return  instantly  to  the  English  court, 
and  in  her  name  to  declare  to  Elizabeth  that,  after  having  been  amused  so 
long  to  so  little  purpose ;  after  having  been  fooled  and  imposed  on  so 
grossly  by  her  artifices;  she  was  now  resolved  to  gratify  her  own  inclina- 

•  Even  the  historians  of  that  age  acknowledge,  that  the  marriage  of  the  Scottish  queen  with  a 
subject  was  far  from  being  disagreeable  to  Elizabeth.  Knox,  369.  373.  Buchan.  339.  Castelnau, 
who  at  tha"  time  was  well  acquainted  with  the  intrigues  of  both  the  British  courts,  asserts,  upon 
grounds  of  great  probability,  that  the  match  was  wholly  Elizabeth's  own  work;  Casteln.  462,  and 
that  she  rejoiced  at  the  accomplishment  of  it,  appears  fiom  the  letters  of  her  own  ambassador! 
Keith,  280.  288. 

t  Keith,  274.    See  Append.  No  X.  \  Ibid.  Append    161. 


OF  SCOTLAND  13* 

tion,  and  to  ask  no  other  consent  but  that  of  her  own  subjects,  in  the  choice 
of  a  husband.  Maitland,  with  his  usual  sagacity,  foresaw  all  the  effects  of 
such  a  rash  and  angry  message,  and  ventured  rather  to  incur  the  displeasure 
of  his  mistress,  by  disobeying  her  commands,  than  to  be  made  the  instru- 
ment of  tearing  asunder  so  violently  the  few  remaining  ties  which  still 
'inked  together  the  two  queens.* 

Mary  herself  soon  became  sensible  of  her  error.  She  received  the  Eng. 
lish  ambassador  with  respect;  justified  her  own  conduct  with  decency; 
and  though  unalterable  in  her  resolution,  she  affected  a  wonderful  solicitude 
to  reconcile  Elizabeth  to  the  measure;  and  even  pretended  out  of  com- 
plaisance towards  her,  to  put  off  the  consummation  of  the  marriage  for 
some  months.!  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  want  of  the  pope's  dis- 
pensation, and  the  prospect  of  gaining  the  consent  of  her  own  subjects, 
were  the  real  motives  of  this  delay. 

This  consent  Mary  laboured  with  the  utmost  industry  to  obtain.  The 
Earl  of  Murray  was  the  person  in  the  kingdom,  whose  concurrence  was  of 
the  greatest  importance ;  but  she  had  reason  to  fear  that  it  would  not  be 
procured  without  extreme  difficulty.  From  the  time  of  Lennox's  return 
into  Scotland,  Murray  perceived  that  the  queen's  affections  began  gradu- 
ally to  be  estranged  from  him.  Darnly,  Athol,  Rizio,  all  the  court  favour- 
ites, combined  against  him.  His  ambitious  spirit  could  not  brook  this  dimi- 
nution of  his  power,  which  his  former  services  had  so  little  merited.  He 
retired  into  the  country,  and  gave  way  to  rivals  with  whom  he  was  unable 
to  contend.];  The  return  of  the  earl  of  Bothwell,  his  avowed  enemy,  who 
had  been  accused  of  a  design  upon  his  life,  and  who  had  resided  for  some 
time  in  foreign  countries,  obliged  him  to  attend  to  his  own  safety.  No 
entreaty  of  the  queen  could  persuade  him  to  a  reconcilement  with  that 
nobleman.  He  insisted  on  having  him  brought  to  public  trial,  and  pre- 
vailed, by  his  importunity,  to  have  a  clay  fixed  for  it.  Bothwell  durst  not 
appear  in  opposition  to  a  man,  who  came  to  the  place  of  trial  attended  by 
five  thousand  of  his  followers  on  horseback.  He  was  once  more  con- 
strained to  leave  the  kingdom ;  but,  by  the  queen's  command,  the  sentence 
of  outlawry,  which  is  incurred  by  nonappearance,  was  not  pronounced 
against  him.§ 

Mary,  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  of  how  much  importance  it  was  to  gain 
a  subject  so  powerful  and  so  popular  as  the  earl  of  Murray,  invited  hirn 
back  to  court  [May  8],  and  received  him  with  many  demonstrations  of 
respect  and  confidence.  At  last  she  desired  him  to  set  an  example  to  her 
other  subjects  by  subscribing^  a  paper  containing  a  formal  approbation  of 
her  marriage  with  Darnly.  Murray  had  many  reasons  to  hesitate,  and  even 
to  withhold  his  assent.  Darnly  had  not  only  undermined  his  credit  with  the 
queen,  but  discovered,  on  every  occasion,  a  rooted  aversion  to  his  person 
By  consenting  to  his  elevation  to  the  throne,  he  would  give  him  such  an 
accession  of  dignity  and  power  as  no  man  willingly  bestows  on  an  enemy. 
The  unhappy  consequences  which  might  follow  upon  a  breach  with  Eng- 
land, were  likewise  of  considerable  weight  with  Murray.  He  had  always 
openly  preferred  a  confederacy  with  England,  before  the  ancient  alliance 
with  France.  By  his  means,  chiefly,  this  change  in  the  system  of  national 
>ei!tics  had  been  brought  about.  A  league  with  England  had  been  estab- 
if-hed  :  and  he  could  not  think  of  sacrificing,  to  a  rash  and  youthful  passion, 
an  (tiitance  of  so  much  utility  to  the  kingdom  ;  and  which  he  and  the  other 
nobles  were  bound  by  every  obligation  to  maintain. ||  Nor  was  the  interest 
of  religion  forgotten  on  this  occasion.  Mary,  though  surrounded  by  pro- 
tectant counsaUors,  had  found  means  to  hold  a  dangerous  correspondence 
with  foreign  embolics.     She  had  even  courted  the  pope's  protection,  who 

•  Keith,  -ipp^nd.  160.  T  Keith,  278.  i  Ibid.  272.  274.    Append.  159  $  Ibid.  160 

llul.  169 


B 


134  THEHISTORY  [Book  III. 

rial  sent  her  a  subsidy  of  eight  thousand  crowns.*  Though  Mary  haa 
hi'herto  endeavoured  to  bridle  the  zeal  of  the  reformed  clergy,  and  to  set 
thtj  queen's  conduct  in  the  most  favourable  light,  yet  her  obstinate  adher- 
ence to  her  own  religion  could  not  fail  of  alarming  him  ;  and  by  her  reso- 
Iuli.;n  to  marry  a  papist,  the  hope  of  reclaiming  her,  by  a  union  with  a 
protestant,  was  for  ever  cut  off.t  Each  of  these  considerations  had  its  influ- 
ence on  Murray,  and  all  of  them  determined  him  to  decline  complying  al 
that  lime  with  the  queen's  request. 

The  convention  of  nobles,  which  was  assembled  a  few  days  after 
[May  14],  discovered  a  greater  disposition  to  gratify  the  queen.  Many  01 
them,  without  hesitation,  expressed  their  approbation  of  the  intended 
match ;  but  as  others  were  startled  at  the  same  dangers  which  had 
alarmed  Murray,  or  were  influenced  by  his  example  to  refuse  their  consent, 
another  convention  was  appointed  at  Perth,  in  order  to  deliberate  more  fully 
concerning  this  matter.]; 

Meanwhile  Mary  gave  a  public  evidence  of  her  own  inclination,  by 
conferring  upon  Darnly  titles  of  honour  peculiar  to  the  royal  family. 
The  opposition  she  had  hitherto  met  with,  and  the  many  contrivances 
employed  to  thwart  and  disappoint  her  inclination,  produced  their 
usual  effect  on  her  heart,  they  confirmed  her  passion,  and  increased  its 
violence.  The  simplicity  of  that  age  imputed  an  affection  so  excessive  to 
the  influence  of  witchcraft. §  It  was  owing,  however,  to  no  other  charm 
than  the  irresistible  power  of  youth  and  beauty  over  a  young  and  tender 
heart.  Darnly  grew  giddy  with  his  prosperity.  Flattered  by  the  love  ot 
a  queen,  and  the  applause  of  many  among  her  subjects,  his  natural  haughti- 
ness and  insolence  became  insupportable,  and  he  could  no  longer  bear 
advice,  far  less  contradiction.  Lord  Ruthven  happening  to  be  the  first 
person  who  informed  him  that  Maiy,  in  order  to  sooth  Elizabeth,  had  de- 
layed for  some  time  creating  him  duke  of  Albany,  he,  in  a  frenzy  of  rage, 
drew  his  dagger,  and  attempted  to  stab  him.||  It  required  all  Mary's 
attention  to  prevent  his  falling  under  that  contempt  to  which  such  beha- 
viour deservedly  exposed  him. 

In  no  scene  of  life  was  ever  Mary's  own  address  more  remarkably  dis- 
played. Love  sharpened  her  invention,  and  made  her  study  every  method 
of  gaining  her  subjects.  Many  of  the  nobles  she  won  by  her  address,  and 
more  by  ner  promises.  On  some  she  bestowed  lands,  to  others  she  gave 
new  titles  of  honour.  11  She  even  condescended  to  court  the  protestant 
clergy ;  and  having  invited  three  of  their  superintendents  to  Stirling,  she 
declared,  in  strong  terms,  her  resolution  to  prot<  ct  their  religion,  expressed 
her  willingness  to  be  present  at  a  conference  upon  the  points  in  doctrine 
which  were  disputed  between  the  protestants  and  papists,  and  went  so  far 
as  to  show  some  desire  to  hear  such  of  their  preachers  as  were  most  remark- 
able for  their  moderation.**  B\  these  arts  the  queen  gained  wonderfully 
upon  the  people,  who,  unless  their  jealousy  be  raised  by  repeated  inju- 
ries, are  always  ready  to  view  the  actions  of  their  sovereign  with  an  indul- 
gent eye. 

On  the  other  hand,  Murray  and  his  associates  were  plainly  the  dupes  of 
Elizabeth's  policy.  She  talked  in  so  high  a  strain  of  her  displeasure  at  the 
intended  match  ;  she  treated  lady  Lennox  with  so  much  rigour ;  she  wrote 
to  the  Scottish  queen  in  such  high  terms  ;  she  recalled  the  earl  of  Lennox 
and  his  son  in  such  a  peremptory  manner,  and  with  such  severe  denuncia 
tions  of  her  vengeance  if  they  should  presume  to  disobey  ;tt  that  all  these 
expressions  of  aversion  fully  persuaded  them  of  her  sincerity.  This  bel  e 
fortified  their  scruples  with  respect  to  the  match,  and  encouraged  them  tc 
oppose  it.     They  began  with  forming  among  themselves  bonds  of  con- 

*  Keith,  <■&>$     Melv.  114.         f  Keith,  Append.  160.         J  Keith,  283.     Knox,  373.        $  KMtt, 
«83         ||  Ibia  Append.  160        IT  Ibid  883         **  Knox,  373.        Tt  Keith,  285,  28». 


OF  SCOTLAND.  135 

tederac  v  't  «■•■  jtual  defence  ;  they  entered  into  a  secret  correspondence 
with  the  Go^'^r*  resident,  in  order  to  secure  Elizabeth's  assistance  when  it 
should  become  needful;*  they  endeavoured  to  till  the  nation  wiih  such 
apprehensions  of  danger  as  might  counterbalance  the  influence  of  lb"St  arts 
which  the  queen  had  employed. 

Besides  these  intrigues,  there  were  secretly  carried  on,  by  botr  parties") 
dark  designs  of  a  more  criminal  nature,  and  more  suited  to  the  spirit  01  th# 
^ge.  Darnly,  impatient  of  that  opposition,  which  he  imputed  wholly  to 
Murray,  and  resolving  at  any  rate  to  get  rid  of  such  a  powerful  enemy, 
formed  a  plot  to  assassinate  him  during  the  meeting  of  the  convention  at 
Perth.  Murray,  on  his  part,  despairing  of  preventing  the  marriage  by  any 
other  means,  had,  together  with  the  duke  of  Chatelherault  and  the  earl  ot 
Argyll,  concerted  measures  for  seizing  Darnly,  and  carrying  him  a  prisoner 
into  England. 

If  either  of  these  conspiracies  had  taken  effect,  this  convention  might 
have  been  attended  with  consequences  extremely  tragical ;  but  both  were 
rendered  abortive  by  the  vigilance  or  good  fortune  ot  those  against  whom 
they  were  formed.  Murray,  being  warned  of  his  danger  by  some  retainers 
to  the  court,  who  still  favoured  his  interest,  avoided  the  blow  by  not  going 
to  Perth.  Mary,  receiving  intelligence  of  Murray's  enterprise,  retired  with 
the  utmost  expedition,  along  with  Darnly,  to  the  other  side  of  Forth. 
Conscious,  on  both  sides,  of  guilt,  and  inflamed  with  resentment,  it  was 
impossible  they  could  either  forget  the  violence  which  themselves  had 
meditated,  or  tbrgive  the  injuries  intended  against  them.  From  that 
moment  all  hope  of  reconcilement  was  at  an  end,  and  their  mutual  enmity 
burst  out  with  every  symptom  of  implacable  hatred.! 

«  Keith,  289.  292.  298. 

t  The  reality  of  these  two  opposite  conspiracies  has  (riven  occasion  to  many  disputes  and  much 
contradiction.  Some  deny  that  any  design  was  formed  against  the  life  of  Murray ;  others  call  in 
question  the  truth  of  the  conspiracy  against  Darnly.  There  seems,  however,  to  be  plausible  reasons 
for  believing  that  there  is  some  foundation  for  what  has  been  asserted  with  regard  to  both ;  though 
the  zeal  and  credulity  of  party-writers  have  added  to  each  many  exaggerated  circumstances.  The 
following  arguments  render  it  probable  that  some  violence  was  intended  against  Murray : 

I.  1.  This  is  positively  asserted  by  Buchanan,  341.  2.  The  English  resident  writes  to  Cecil,  that 
Murray  was  assuredly  informed  that  a  design  was  formed  of  murdering  him  at  Perth,  and  mentions 
various  circumstances  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the  crime  was  to  be  committed.  If  the 
whole  had  been  a  fiction  of  his  own,  or  of  Murray,  it  is  impossible  that  he  could  have  written  in 
this  strain  to  such  a  discerning  minister.  Keith,  287.  3.  Murray  himself  constantly  and  publicly 
persisted  in  affirming  that  such  a  design  was  formed  against  his  life.  Keith,  App.  108.  He  was 
required  by  the  queen  to  transmit  in  writing  an  account  of  the  conspiracy  which  he  pretended  had 
been  formed  against  his  life.  This  he  did  accordingly:  but,  "  when  it  was  brought  to  Her  Majesty 
by  her  servants  sent  for  that  purpose,  it  appears  be  Her  Highness  and  her  council,  that  his  purgation 
in  that  behalf  was  not  so  sufficient  as  the  matter  required."  Keith,  App.  109.  He  was  therefore 
summoned  to  appear  within  three  days  before  the  queen  in  Holyrood-house;  and,  in  order  to  en 
courage  him  to  do  so,  a  safe  conduct  was  offered  to  him.  Ibid.  Though  he  had  once  consented  to 
appear,  he  afterwards  declined  to  do  so.  But  whoever  considers  Murray's  situation,  and  the  cha- 
racter of  those  who  directed  Mary's  councils  at  that  time,  will  hardly  deem  it  a  decisive  proof  of 
his  guilt,  that  he  did  not  choose  to  risk  his  person  on  such  security.  4.  The  furious  passions  of 
Darnly,  the  fierceness  of  his  resentment,  which  scrupled  at  no  violence,  and  the  manners  of  the  age, 
render  the  imputations  of  such  a  crime  less  improbable. 

II.  That  Murray  and  his  associates  had  resolved  to  seize  Darnly,  on  his  return  from  Perth,  appears 
with  still  greater  certainty;  1.  From  the  express  testimony  of  Melvil,  112;  although  Buchanan,  p. 
341,  and  Knox,  p.  377,  affect,  without  reason,  to  represent  this  as  an  idle  rumour.  2.  The  question 
was  put  to  Randolph,  Whether  the  governor  of  Berwick  would  receive  Lennox  and  his  son,  if  they 
were  delivered  at  that  place  7  His  answer  was,  "  that  they  would  not  refuse  their  own,  i.  e.  their 
own  subjects,  in  whatsoever  sort  they  came  unto  us,  i.  e.  whether  they  returned  to  England  volun- 
tarily, as  they  had  been  required,  or  were  brought  thither  by  force."  This  plainly  shows,  that  some 
Buch  design  was  in  hand,  and  Randolph  did  not  discourage  it  by  the  answer  which  he  gave.  Keith, 
290.  3.  The  precipitation  with  which  the  queen  retired,  and  the  reason  she  gave  for  this  sudden 
flight,  are  mentioned  by  Randolph.  Keith,  291.  4.  A  great  part  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  and  among 
these  the  earls  of  Argyll  and  Rothes,  who  were  themselves  privy  to  the  design,  assert  the  reality  of 
Jhe  conspiracy.  Good.  vol.  ii.  358. 

All  these  circumstances  rendered  the  truth  of  both  conspiracies  probable.  But  we  may  observe 
how  far  this  proof,  though  drawn  from  public  records,  falls  short. on  both  sides,  of  legal  and  formal 
evidence.  Buchanan  and  Randolph,  in  their  accounts  of  the  conspiracy  against  Murray,  differ 
widely  in  almost  every  circumstance.  The  accou.its  of  the  attempt  upon  Darnly  are  not  more  eon- 
•islent.  Melvil  alleges,  that  the  design  of  the  conspirators  was  to  carry  Darnly  a  prisoner  into  Eng- 
land; the  proposal  made  to  Randolph  agrees  with  this.  Randolph  says,  that  they  intended  to  carry 
tne  queen  to  St.  Andrew's,  and  Darnly  tocpstle  Campbell.  The  lords,  in  their  declaration,  affirm 
the  design  of  the  conspirators  to  have  been  to  murder  Darnly  and  his  father,  to  confine  the  queec 


136  THE  HISTORY  [Book  III. 

On  Mary's  return  to  Edinburgh,  she  summoned  her  vassals  by  proclama- 
tion, and  solicited  them  by  her  letters  to  repair  thither  in  arms,  for  the 
protection  of  her  person  against  her  foreign  and  domestic  enemies.*  She 
was  obeyed  with  all  the  promptness  and  alacrity  with  which  subjects  run 
to  defend  a  mild  and  popular  administration.  This  popularity,  however, 
she  owed  in  a  great  measure  to  Murray,  who  had  directed  her  administra 
tion  with  great  prudence.  But  the  crime  of  opposing  her  marriage  obli- 
terated the  memory  of  his  former  services  ;  and  Mary,  impatient  of  contra- 
diction, and  apt  to  consider  those  who  disputed  her  will  as  enemies  to  her 
person,  determined  to  let  him  feel  the  whole  weight  of  her  vengeance. 
For  this  purpose  she  summoned  him  to  appear  before  her  upon  a  short 
warning,  to  answer  to  such  things  as  should  be  laid  to  his  charge. t  At 
this  very  time,  Murray  and  the  lords  who  adhered  to  him  were  assembled 
at  Stirling,  to  deliberate  what  course  they  should  hold  in  such  a  difficult 
conjuncture.  But  the  current  of  popular  favour  ran  so  strongly  against 
them,  and,  notwithstanding  some  fears  and  jealousies,  there  prevailed  in 
the  nation  such  a  general  disposition  to  gratify  the  queen  in  a  matter  which 
so  nearly  concerned  her,  that,  without  coming  to  any  other  conclusion  than 
to  implore  the  queen  of  England's  protection,  they  put  an  end  to  their 
ineffectual  consultations,  and  returned  every  man  to  his  own  house. 

Together  with  this  discovery  of  the  weakness  of  her  enemies,  the  con- 
fluence of  her  subjects  from  all  corners  of  the  kingdom  afforded  Mary  an 
agreeable  proof  of  her  own  strength.  While  the  queen  was  in  this  pros- 
perous situation,  she  determined  to  bring  to  a  period  an  affair  which  had 
so  long  engrossed  hei  heart  and  occupied  her  attention.  On  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  July  she  married  lord  Darnly.  The  ceremony  was  performed  in 
the  queen's  chapel,  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Romish  church  ;  the  pope's 
bull  dispensing  with  their  marriage  having  been  previously  obtained. J 
She  issued  at  the  same  time  proclamations,  conferring  the  title  of  king  of 
the  Scots  upon  her  husband,  and  commanding  that  henceforth  all  writs  at 
law  should  run  in  the  joint  names  of  king  and  queen. §  Nothing  can  be  a 
stronger  proof  of  the  violence  of  Mary's  love,  or  the  weakness  of  her  coun- 
sels, than  this  last  step.  Whether  she  had  any  right  to  choose  a  husband 
without  consent  of  parliament,  was,  in  that  age,  a  matter  of  some  dispute  ;|| 
that  she  had  no  right  to  confer  upon  him,  by  her  private  authority,  the  title 
and  dignity  of  king,  or  by  a  simple  proclamation  to  raise  her  husband  to 
be  the  master  of  her  people,  seems  to  be  beyond  all  doubt.  Francis  II., 
indeed,  bore  the  same  title.  It  was  not,  however,  the  gift  of  the  queen, 
but  of  the  nation;  and  the  consent  of  parliament  was  obtained  before  he 
ventured  to  assume  it.  Darnly's  condition,  as  a  subject,  rendered  it  still 
more  necessary  to  have  the  concurrence  of  the  supreme  council  in  his  favour. 
Such  a  violent  and  unprecedented  stretch  of  prerogative,  as  the  substituting 
a  proclamation  in  place  of  an  act  of  parliament,  might  have  justly  alarmed 
the  nation.  But  at  that  time  the  queen  possessed  so  entirely  the  confidence 
of  her  subjects,  that  notwithstanding  all  the  clamours  of  the  malecontents, 
no  symptoms  of  general  discontent  appeared  on  that  account. 

Even  amidst  that  scene  of  joy  which  always  accompanies  successful 

In  Lochleven  during  life,  and  to  iisurplhe  government.  To  believe  implicitly  whatever  they  find  in 
an  ancient  paper  is  a  folly  to  which,  in  every  age,  antiquaries  are  extremely  prone.  Ancient  papers, 
however,  often  contain  no  more  than  the  slanders  of  a  party,  and  the  he  of  tlie  day.  The  declara- 
tion of  tbe  nobles  referred  to  is  of  this  kind;  it  is  plainly  rancorous,  anil  written  in  the  very  heat 
of  faction.  Many  things  asserted  in  it  are  evidently  false  or  exaggerated.  Lot  Murray  and  his  con- 
federates be  as  ambitious  as  we  can  suppose,  they  must  have  had  some  pretences,  and  plausible 
ones  too,  before  they  could  venture  to  imprison  their  sovereign  for  life,  and  to  seize  the  reins  of 
government;  but,  at  that  time,  the  queen's  conduct  had  afforded  no  colourable  excuse  for  proceeding 
to  such  extremities.  It  is  likewise  remarkable,  that  in  all  the  proclamations  against  Murray,  ot 
which  so  many  are  published  in  Keith.  Appendix,  108,  &c.  neither  the  vioieiu  attempt  upon  Darnly 
nor  that  which  he  is  alleged  to  have  formed  against  the  queen  nense!:,  is  ever  once  mentioned. 

*  Keith,  298.  t  Ibid.  Append.  108.  $  Keith,  302.  $  Anderson,  i.  S3.    See  Append 

Vo.  XI  II  Buchan.  341 


OF    SCOTLAND.  137 

,ove,  Mary  did  not  suffer  the  course  of  her  vengeance  against  the  mah  con- 
tent nobles  to  be  interrupted.  Three  days  after  the  marriage,  Murray 
was  again  summoned  to  court,  under  the  severest  penalties,  and,  upon  his 
non-appearance,  the  rigour  of  justice  took  place,  and  he  was  declared  an 
outlaw.*  At  the  same  time  the  queen  set  at  liberty  lord  Gordon,  who, 
ever  since  his  father's  insurrection  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-two,  had  been  detained  a  prisoner;  she  recalled  the  earl  ol 
Sutherland,  who,  on  account  of  his  concern  in  that  conspiracy,  had  fled  into 
Flanders  ;  and  she  permitted  Bothwell  to  return  again  into  Scotland.  The 
first  and  last  of  these  were  among  the  most  powerful  subjects  in  the  king- 
dom, and  all  of  them  animated  with  implacable  hatred  to  Murray,  whom 
they  deemed  the  enemy  of  their  families  and  the  author  of  their  own 
sufferings.  This  common  hatred  became  the  foundation  of  the  strictest 
union  with  the  queen,  and  gained  them  an  ascendant  over  all  her  councils. 
Murray  himself  considered  this  confederacy  with  his  avowed  enemies,  as 
a  more  certain  indication  than  any  measure  she  had  yet  taken,  of  her  inexo- 
rable resentment. 

The  malecontents  had  not  yet  openly  taken  up  arms.j  But  the  queen 
having  ordered  her  subjects  to  march  against  them,  they  were  driven  to  the 
last  extremity.  They  found  themselves  unable  to  make  head  against  the 
numerous  forces  which  Mary  had  assembled ;  and  fled  into  Argyleshire, 
in  expectation  of  aid  from  Elizabeth,  to  whom  they  had  secretly  despatched 
a  messenger  in  order  to  implore  her  immediate  assistance.! 

Meanwhile  Elizabeth  endeavoured  to  embarrass  Mary  by  a  new  decla 
ration  of  disgust  a'  her  conduct.  She  blamed  both  her  choice  of  lord 
Darnly,  and  the  precipitation  with  which  she  had  concluded  the  marriage. 
She  required  Lennox  and  Darnly,  whom  she  still  called  her  subjects,  to 
return  into  England  ;  and  at  the  same  time  she  warmly  interceded  in  behalf 
of  Murray,  whose  behaviour  she  represented  to  be  not  only  innocent  but 
laudable.  This  message,  so  mortifying  to  the  pride  of  the  queen,  and  so 
full  of  contempt  for  her  husband,  was  rendered  still  more  insupportable  by 
the  petulant  and  saucy  demeanour  of  Tamworth,  the  person  who  delivered 
it.§  Mary  vindicated  her  own  conduct  with  warmth,  but  with  great 
strength  of  reason  ;  and  rejected  the  intercession  in  behalf  of  Murray, 
not  without  signs  of  resentment  at  Elizabeth's  pretending  to  intermeddle 
in  the  internal  government  of  her  kingdom. || 

She  did  not,  on  that  account,  intermit  in  the  least  the  ardour  with  which 
she  pursued  Murray  and  his  adherents.  11  They  now  appeared  openly  in 
arms  ;  and,  having  received  a  small  supply  in  money  from  Elizabeth,** 
were  endeavouring  to  raise  their  followers  in  the  western  counties.  But 
Mary's  vigilance  hindered  them  from  assembling  in  any  considerable  body. 
All  her  military  operations  at  that  time  were  concerted  with  wisdom, 
executed  with  vigour,  and  attended  with  success.  In  order  to  encourage 
her  troops,  she  herself  marched  along  with  them,  rode  with  loa  led  pistols,|f 
and  endured  all  the  fatigues  of  war  with  admirable  fortitude.  Her  alacrity 
inspired  her  forces  with  an  invincible  resolution,  which,  together  with  their 
superiority  in  number,  deterred  the  malecontents  from  facing  them  in  the 
field :  but,  having  artfully  passed  the  queen's  army,  they  marched   with 

•  Keith,  309,  310. 

T  After  their  fruitless  consultation  in  Stirling,  the  lords  retired  to  their  own  houses.  Keith,  304. 
Murray  wasstill  at  St.  Andrew's  on  July  22.  Keith,  306.  By  the  places  ol"  rendezvous,  appointed 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  comities,  August  4,  it  appears  that  the  queen's  intention  was  to 
march  into  Fife,  the  county  in  which  Murray,  Rothes.  Kirkaldy,  and  other  chiefs  of  the  malecon- 
tents, resided.  Keith,  310.  Their  flight  into  the  west,  Keith,  312,  prevented  this  expedition,  and 
the  former  rendezvous  was  altered.    Keith,  310. 

}  Keith,  312.     Knox,  380.  §  Camd.  398.  ||  Keith,  Append.  99. 

V  The  most  considerable  persons  who  joined  Murray  were,  l;e  duke  of  Chatelherault,  the  earl« 
rf  Argyll,  Glencairn,  Rothes,  lord  Boyd  and  Ochiltree;  the  lairds  of  Grange,  Cunningham  head, 
Salcomie,  Carmylie,  Lawers,  Bar,  Dreghorn,  Pitarow,  Comptroller,  and  the  Tutor  of  Pictur. 
Knox,  382. 

**  Knox,  380  tt  Keith,  Append.  164 

Vol   HI.— 18 


138  THE  HISTORY  [Book  HI. 

great  rapidity  to  Edinburgh,  and  endeavoured  to  rouse  the  inhabitants  of 
that  city  to  arms.  [Aug.  31.]  The  queen  did  not  suffer  thein  to  remain 
icmg  unmolested  ;  ana  on  her  approach  they  were  forced  to  abandon  that 
place,  and  retire  in  confusion  towards  the  western  borders.* 

As  it  was  uncertain,  tor  some  time,  what  route  they  had  taken,  Mary  em 
ployed  that  interval  in  providing  for  the  security  of  the  counties  in  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom.  She  seized  the  places  of  strength  which  belonged 
to  the  rebels  ;  and  obliged  the  considerable  barons  in  thos«  shires  which 
Mie  most  suspected,  to  join  in  associations  for  her  defence.!  Having  thus 
left  all  the  country  behind  her  in  tranquillity,  she,  with  an  army  eighteen 
thousand  strong,  marched  towards  Dumfries,  where  the  rebels  then  were. 
During  their  retreat,  they  had  sent  letters  to  the  queen  from  almost  every 
place  where  they  halted,  full  of  submission,  and  containing  various  over- 
tures towards  an  accommodation.  But  Mary,  who  determined  not  to  let 
slip  such  a  favourable  opportunity  of  crushing  the  mutinous  spirit  of  her 
subjects,  rejected  them  with  disdain.  As  she  advanced,  the  malecontents 
retired ;  and  having  received  no  effectual  aid  from  Elizabeth,!  they 
despaired  of  any  other  means  of  safety,  fled  into  England  [Oct.  20],  and 
put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  earl  of  Bedford,  warden  of 
the  marches. 

Nothing  which  Bedford's  personal  friendship  for  Murray  could  supply 
was  wanting  to  render  their  retreat  agreeable.  But  Elizabeth  herself 
treated  them  with  extreme  neglect.  She  had  fully  gained  her  end,  and, 
by  their  means,  had  excited  such  discord  and  jealousies  among  the  Scots 
a*  would,  in  all  probability,  long  distract  and  weaken  Mary^  councils. 
Her  business  now  was  to  save  appearances,  and  tojustify  herself  to  the 
ministers  of  France  and  Spain,  who  accused  her  of  fomenting  the  troubles 
in  Scotland  by  her  intrigues.  The  expedient  she  contrived  for  her  vindi- 
cation strongly  displays  her  own  character,  and  the  wretched  condition  of 
exiles,  who  are  obliged  to  depend  on  a  foreign  prince.  Murray,  and 
Hamilton,  Abbot  of  Kilwinning,  being  appointed  by  the  other  fugitives 
to  wait  on  Elizabeth,  instead  of  meeting  with  that  welcome  reception  which 
was  due  to  men  who,  out  of  confidence  in  her  promises,  and  in  order  to 
forward  her  designs,  had  hazarded  their  lives  and  fortunes,  could  not  even 
obtain  the  favour  of  an  audience,  until  they  had  meanly  consented  to 
acknowledge,  in  the  presence  of  the  French  and  Spanish  ambassadors,  that 
Elizabeth  had  given  them  no  encouragement  to  take  arms.  No  sooner  did 
they  make  this  declaration  than  she  astonished  them  with  this  reply  :  "  You 
have  declared  the  truth ;  I  am  far  from  setting  an  example  of  rebellion  to 
my  own  subjects,  by  countenancing  those  who  rebel  against  their  lawful 
prince.  The  treason  of  which  you  have  been  guilty  is  detestable  ;  and  as 
traitors  I  banish  you  from  my  presence. "§  Notwithstanding  this  scene  of 
farce  and  of  falsehood,  so  dishonourable  to  all  the  persons  who  acted  a  part 
in  it,  Elizabeth  permitted  the  malecontents  peaceably  to  reside  in  her 
dominion.1',  supplied  them  secretly  with  money,  and  renewed  her  interces 
sion  with  the  Scottish  queen  in  their  favour.H 

The  advan'age  she  had  gained  over  them  did  not  satisfy  Mary ;  she 
lesolved  to  follow  the  blow,  and  to  prevent  a  party  which  she  dreaded 
from  ever  recovering  any  footing  in  the  nation.  With  this  view,  she  called 
a  meeting  of  parliament ;  and,  in  order  that  a  sentence  of  forfeiture  might 
be  legally  pronounced  against  the  banished  lords,  she  summoned  them,  by 
public  proclamation,  to  appear  before  it. If 

Dec.  1.]  The  duke  of  Chatelherault.onhis  humble  application,  obtained 
a  separate  pardon;  but  not  without  difficulty,  as  the  king  violently  opposed 
it.  He  was  obliged,  however,  to  le  ave  the  kingdom,  and  to  reside  for  some 
time  in  France.** 

*  Keith,  S'5.  t  Ibid.  1 13.  }  See  Append.  No.  XU-  XHI.  t  Melv.  1W 

|j  Kno*-38y,  r  Keith,  320  **  Knox,  389. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  13» 

The  numerous  forces  which  Mar)  Drought  into  the  field,  the  vigour  with 
which  she  acted,  and  the  length  of  time  she  kept  them  in  arms,  resemble 
the  efforts  of  a  prince  with  revenues  much  more  considerable  than  those 
which  she  possessed.  But  armies  were  then  levied  and  maintained  by 
princes  at  small  charge.  The  vassal  followed  his  superior,  and  the  superior 
attended  the  monarch,  at  his  own  expense.  Six  hundred  horsemen,  how- 
ever, and  three  companies  of  foot,  besides  her  guards,  received  regular  pay 
from  the  queen.  This  extraordinary  charge,  together  with  the  disburse- 
ments occasioned  by  her  marriage,  exhausted  a  treasury  which  was  fai 
from  being  rich.  In  this  exigency,  many  devices  were  fallen  upon  (or 
raising  money.  Fines  were  levied  on  the  towns  of  St.  Andrew's,  Perth, 
and  Dundee,  which  were  suspected  of  favouring  the  malecontents.  An 
unusual  tax  was  imposed  on  the  boroughs  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  and  a 
great  sum  was  demanded  of  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  by  way  of  loan. 
This  unprecedented  exaction  alarmed  the  citizens.  They  had  recourse 
to  delays,  and  started  difficulties,  in  order  to  evade  it.  These  Mary 
construed  to  be  acts  of  avowed  disobedience,  and  instantly  committed 
several  of  them  to  prison.  But  this  severity  did  not  subdue  the  undaunted 
spirit  of  liberty  which  prevailed  among  the  inhabitants.  The  queen  was 
obliged  to  mortgage  to  the  city  the  superiority  of  the  town  of  Leith,  by 
which  she  obtained  a  considerable  sum  of  money.*  The  thirds  of  ecclesi- 
astical benefices  proved  another  source  whence  the  queen  derived  some 
supply.  About  this  time  we  find  the  protestant  clergy  complaining  more 
bitterly  than  ever  of  their  poverty.  The  army,  it  is  probable,  exhausted 
a  great  part  of  that  fund  which  was  appropriated  for  their  maintenance. f 

The  assemblies  of  the  church  were  not  unconcerned  spectators  of  the 
commotions  of  this  turbulent  year.  In  the  meeting  held  the  twenty-fourth 
of  June,  previous  to  the  queen's  marriage,  several  of  the  malecontent 
nobles  were  present,  and  seem  to  have  had  great  influence  on  its  decisions. 
The  high  strain  in  which  the  assembly  addressed  the  queen  can  be  imputed 
only  to  those  fears  and  jealousies  with  regard  to  religion,  which  they 
endeavoured  to  infuse  into  the  nation.  The  assembly  complained,  with 
some  bitterness,  of  the  stop  which  had  been  put  to  the  progress  of  the 
reformation  by  the  queen's  arrival  in  Scotland;  they  required  not  only 
the  total  suppression  of  the  popish  worship  throughout  the  kingdom,  but 
even  in  the  queen's  own  chapel  ;  and,  besides  the  legal  establishment  ot 
the  protestant  religion,  they  demanded  that  Mary  herself  should  publicly 
embrace  it.  The  queen,  after  some  deliberation,  replied,  that  neither  her 
conscience  nor  her  interest  would  permit  her  to  take  such  a  step.  The 
former  would  for  ever  reproach  her  for  a  change  which  proceeded  from 
no  inward  conviction  ;  the  latter  would  suffer  by  the  offence  which  her 
apostacy  must  give  to  the  king  of  France,  and  her  other  allies  on  the 
continent.^ 

It  is  remarkable,  that  the  prosperous  situation  of  the  queen's  aff.iirs  during 
this  year,  began  to  work  some  change  in  favour  of  her  religion.  The  earls 
of  Lennox,  Athol,  and  Cassils,  openly  attended  mass;  she  herself  afforded 
the  catholics  a  more  avowed  protection  than  formerly ;  and,  by  her  per 
mission,  some  of  the  ancient  monks  ventured  to  preach  publicly  to  the 
people.§ 

•  Knox,  383.  386  T Maiti.  Hurt  of  Edinburgh,  27.  I  Knox,  376  $  Ibid.  38D.  300 


140  THE    HISTORY  f Book  IV 


BOOR   IV. 

1566.]  As  the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  parliament  approached, 
Mary  and  her  ministers  were  employed  in  deliberating  concerning  the 
course  which  it  was  most  proper  to  hold  with  regard  to  the  exiled  nobles. 
Many  motives  prompted  her  to  set  no  bounds  to  the  rigour  of  justice. 
The  malecontents  had  laboured  to  defeat  a  scheme,  which  her  interest  con- 
spired with  her  passions  in  rendering  dear  to  her ;  they  were  the  leaders: 
of  a  party  whose  friendship  she  had  been  obliged  to  court,  while  she  held 
their  principles  in  abhorrence  ;  and  they  were  firmly  at'ached  to  a  rival, 
whom  she  had  good  reason  both  to  fear  and  to  hate. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  several  weighty  considerations  might  be  urged. 
The  noblemen  whose  fate  was  in  suspense,  were  among  the  most  powerful 
subjects  in  the  kingdom  ;  their  wealth  great,  their  connexions  extensive, 
and  their  adherents  numerous.  They  were  now  at  her  mercy,  the  objects 
of  compassion,  and  suing  for  pardon  uilh  the  most  humble  submission. 

In  those  circumstances,  an  act  of  clemency  would  exalt  the  queen's  cha- 
racter, and  appear  no  less  splendid  among  foreigners  than  acceptable  to 
her  own  subjects.  Mary  herseif,  though  highly  incensed  was  not  inexora- 
ble ;  but  the  king's  rage  was  implacable  and  unrelenting.  They  were 
solicited  in  behalf  of  the  fugitives  from  various  quarters.  Morton,  Ruthven, 
Maitland,  and  all  who  had  been  members  of  the  congregation,  were  not 
forgetful  of  their  ancient  union  with  Murray  and  his  fellow-sufferers  ;  nor 
neglectful  of  their  safety,  which  they  deemed  of  great  importance  to  the 
kingdom.  Meivil,  who  at  that  time  possessed  the  queen's  confidence, 
seconded  their  solicitations.  And  Murray,  having  stooped  so  low  as  to 
court  Rizio,  that  favourite,  who  was  desirous  of  securing  his  protection 
against  the  king,  whose  displeasure  he  had  latefy  incurred,  seconded  the 
intercessions  of  his  other  friends  with  the  whole  of  his  influence.*  The 
interposition  of  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton,  who  had  lately  been  Elizabeth's 
ambassador  in  Scotland,  in  behalf  ol"  the  exiles,  was  of  more  weight  than 
all  these,  and  attended  with  more  success.  Throgmorton,  out  of  enmity 
to  Cecil,  had  embarked  deeply  in  all  the  intrigues  which  were  carried  on 
at  the  English  court,  in  order  to  undermine  the  power  and  credit  of  that 
minister.  He  espoused,  for  this  reason,  the  cause  of  the  Scottish  queen, 
towards  whose  title  and  pretensions  the  other  was  known  to  bear  little 
favour;  and  ventured,  in  the  present  critical  juncture,  to  write  a  letter  to 
Mary,  containing  the  most  salutary  advices  with  regard  to  her  conduct. 
He  recommended  the  pardoning  ot  the  earl  of  Murray  and  hi  associates, 
as  a  measure  no  less  prudent  than  popular.  ''An  action  of  tins  nature, 
says  he,  "  the  pure  effect  of  your  majesty's  generosity,  •will  spread  the 
fame  of  your  lenity  and  moderation,  and  engage  the  English  to  look 
towards  your  accession  to  the  throne,  not  only  without  prejudice,  but  with 
desire.  By  the  same  means,  a  perfect  harmony  will  be  restored  among 
your  own  subjects,  who,  if  any  rupture  should  happen  with  England,  vrifi 
serve  you  with  that  grateful  zeal  which  your  clemency  cannot  fill  o) 
inspiring.!" 

These  prudent  remonstrances  of  Throgmorton,  to  which  his  reputation 
for  wisdom  and  known  attachment  to  the  queen  added  gre^.'  authority, 
made  a  deep  impression  on  her  spirit.  Her  courtiers  cultiva*'  "  rh-'?  happy 
disposition,  and  prevailed  on  her,  notwithstanding  the  k:,t\  .:;Oxible 
temper,  to  sacrifice  her  own  private  resentment  to  the  inte  ^-.  -c.  of  her 
subjects  and  the  wishes  of  her  friends. J     With  this  view  the  p  .Wiament, 

•  Melr.  135.  t  Ibid.  119  1  Ibid.  134. 


i) 


OF  SCOTLAND.  U\ 

which  had  been  called  to  meet  on  the  4th  oi  February,  was  prorogued  tc 
\he  7th  of  April  ;*  and  in  the  mean  time  .she  was  busy  in  considering  the 
manner  and  lorm  in  which  she  should  extend  her  favour  to  die  lords  who 
were  under  disgrace. 

Though  Mary  discovered  on  this  occasion  a  mind  naturally  prone  to 
humanity  and  capable  of  forgiving,  she  wanted  firmness,  however,  to 
resisl  the  influence  which  was  Fatally  employed  to  disappoint  the  effects  of 
\his  amiable  disposition.  About  this  time,  and  at  no  great  distance  from 
each  other,  two  envoys  arrived  from  the  French  king.  The  former  was 
intrusted  with  matters  of  mere  ceremony  alone  ;  he  congratulated  the 
q  .'.  en  on  her  marriage,  and  invested  the  king  with  the  ensigns  of  the  order 
oi  St.  Michael.  The  instructions  of  the  latter  related  to  matters  of  more 
importance,  and  produced  greater  effects.! 

An  interview  between  Charles  IX.  and  his  sister  the  queen  of  Spain  haa 
been  often  proposed;  and  after  many  obstacles  arising  from  the  opposition 
of  political  interest,  was  at  last  appointed  at  Bayonne.  Catherine  of 
Medici's  accompanied  her  son  :  the  duke  of  Alva  attended  bis  mistress. 
Amidst  the  scenes  of  public  pomp  and  pleasure,  which  seemed  to  be  the 
sole  occupation  of  both  courts,  a  scheme  was  formed,  and  measures  con- 
certed, for  exterminating  the  Hugonots  in  France,  the  protestants  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  for  suppressing  the  reformation  throughout  all  Europe.} 
The  active  policy  of  pope  Pius  IV.  and  the  zeal  of  the  cardinal  of  Lorrain, 
confirmed  and  encouraged  dispositions  so  suitable  to  the  genius  of  the 
Romish  religion,  and  so  beneficial  to  their  own  order. 

It  was  an  account  of  this  holy  league  which  the  second  French  envoy 
brought  to  Mary,  conjuring  her  at  the  same  time,  in  the  name  of  the  king 
of  France  and  the  cardinal  of  Lorrain,  not  to  restore  the  leadeis  of  the 
protestants  in  her  kingdom  to  power  and  favour,  at  the  very  time  when  the 
Catholic  princes  were  combined  to  destroy  that  sect  in  all  die  countries  ot 
Europe.§ 

Popery  is  a  species  of  false  religion,  remarkable  for  the  strong  possession 
it  takes  of  the  heart.  Contrived  by  men  of  deep  insight  in  the  human 
character,  and  improved  by  the  experience  and  observation  of  many  suc- 
cessive ages,  it  arrived  at  last  to  a  degree  ot  perfection  which  no  formei 
system  of  superstition  had  ever  attained.  There  is  no  power  in  the 
understanding,  and  no  passion  in  the  heart,  to  which  it  does  not  preseu 
objects  adapted  to  rouse  and  to  interest  them.  Neither  the  love  of  plea 
sine  which  at  that  time  prevailed  in  the  court  of  France,  nor  the  pursuits 
of  ambition  which  occupied  the  court  of  Spain,  had  secured  them  from  the 
dominion  of  bigotry.  Laymen  and  courtiers  were  agitated  with  that 
furious  and  unmerciful  zeal  which  is  commonly  considered  as  peculiar  to 
ecclesiastics;  and  kings  and  ministers  thought  themselves  bound  in  con- 
science to  extirpate  the  protectant  doctrine.  Mary  herself  was  deeply 
tinctured  with  all  die  prejudices  of  popery ;  a  passionate  attachment  to  that 
superstition  is  visible  in  ever)'  part  ol  her  character,  and  runs  through  all 
Ihe  scenes  of  her  life  ;  she  was  devoted  too  with  th=  urmost  submission 
to  the  princes  of  Lorrain,  her  uncles;  and  had  beeh  accustomed  from  hei 
infancy  to  listen  to  all  their  advices  with  a  filial  respect.  The  prospect 
of  restoring  the  public  exercise  of  her  own  religion,  die  pleasure  of  com- 
plying with  her  uncles,  and  the  hopes  of  gratifying  the  1'iench  monarch, 
wnom  the  present  situation  of  her  affairs  in  England  made  i(  necessary  to 
jourt,  counterbalanced  all  the  prudent  considerations  which  had  formerly 
weighed  with  her.  She  instantly  joined  the  confederacy,  which  liad  been 
formed  for  the  destruction  of  the  protestants,  and  altered  the  whole  plan  ol 
ler  conduct  with  regard  to  Murray  and  his  adherents.  || 

*  Good  vol.  i.  224.  \  Keith,  325,  Append.  167.  t  Thuan.  lib.  37.  $  Melv.    96. 

i  See  Append.  No  XIV. 


142  THE   HISTORY  Book  IV 

To  this  iatal  resolution  may  be  imputed  all  the  subsequent  calamities  o 
Mary's  life.  Ever  since  her  return  into  Scotland,  fortune  may  be  said  tc 
have  been  propitious  to  her  rather  than  adverse;  and  if  her  prosperity  did 
not  rise  to  any  grea  height,  it  had,  however,  suffered  no  considerable  inter- 
ruption. A  thick  and  settled  cloud  of  adversity,  with  few  gleams  of  hope, 
and  none  of  real  enjoyment,  covers  the  remainder  of  her  days. 

The  effects  of  the  new  system  which  Mary  had  adopted  were  soon 
visible.  The  time  of  the  prorogation  of  parliament  was  shortened ;  and 
by  a  new  proclamation  the  12th  of  March  was  fixed  for  its  meeting.* 
M.iry  resolved,  without  any  further  delay,  to  proceed  to  the  attainder  o) 
the  rebel  lords,  and  at  the  same  time  determined  to  take  some  steps 
towards  the  re-establishment  of  the  Romish  religion  in  Scotland.!  The 
lords  of  the  Articles  were  chosen,  as  usual,  to  prepare  the  business  which 
was  to  come  before  the  parliament.  They  were  all  persons  in  whom  the 
queen  could  confide,  and  bent  to  promote  her  designs.  The  ruin  of  Mur- 
ray and  his  party  seemed  now  inevitable,  and  the  danger  of  the  reformed 
church  imminent,  when  an  event  unexpectedly  happened  which  saved  both. 
If  we  regard  either  the  barbarity  of  that  age,  when  such  acts  of  violence 
were  common,  or  the  mean  condition  of  the  unhappy  person  who  suffered, 
the  event  is  little  remarkable;  but  if  we  reflect  upon  the  circumstances 
with  which  it  was  attended,  or  upon  the  consequences  which  followed  it, 
it  appears  extremely  memorable ;  and  the  rise  and  progress  of  it  deserve 
to  be  traced  with  great  care. 

Darnly's  external  accomplishments  had  excited  that  sudden  and  violeni 
passion  which  raised  him  to  the  throne.  But  the  qualities  of  his  mind  cor- 
responded ill  with  the  beauty  of  his  person.  Of  a  weak  understanding, 
and  without  experience,  conceited,  at  the  same  time,  of  his  own  abilities, 
and  ascribing  his  extraordinary  success  entirely  to  his  distinguished  merit ; 
all  the  queen's  favour  made  no  impression  on  such  a  temper.  All  her  gen- 
tleness could  not  bridle  his  imperious  and  ungovernable  spirit.  All  her 
attention  to  place  about  him  persons  capable  of  directing  his  conduct, 
could  not  preserve  him  from  rash  and  imprudent  actions.];  Fond  of  all  the 
amusements,  and  even  prone  to  all  the  vices  of  youth,  he  became  by  degrees 
careless  of  her  person,  and  a  stranger  to  her  company.  To  a  woman,  and 
a  queen,  such  behaviour  was  intolerable.  The  lower  she  had  stooped  ir 
order  to  raise  him,  his  behaviour  appeared  the  more  ungenerous  and  crimi- 
nal ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of  her  first  affection  was  the  violence 
with  which  her  disappointed  passion  now  operated.  A  few  months  aftei 
the  marriage  their  domestic  quarrels  began  to  be  observed.  The  extrava- 
gance of  Darnly's  ambition  gave  rise  to  these.  Instead  of  being  satisfied 
with  a  share  in  the  administration  of  government,  or  with  the  title  of  king, 
which  Mary,  by  an  unprecedented  stretch  of  power  had  conferred  on  him, 
he  demanded  the  crown  matrimonial  with  most  insolent  importunity. § 
Though  Mary  alleged  that  this  gift  was  beyond  her  power,  and  that  the 
authority  of  parliament  must  be  interposed  to  bestow  it,  lie  wanted  either 

*  Keith,  3-26. 

t  It  is  not  on  the  authority  of  Knox  alone,  that  we  charge  the  queen  with  the  design  of  re-esta 
hiisliius  ilie  Rinnan  Catholic  religion,  or  at  least  of  exempting  the  professors  of  itfrom  the  rigour  of 
those  penal  laws  to  which  they  were  subjected.  He  indeed  asserts  that  the  altars,  which  would 
have  been  erected  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles,  wen:  already  provided,  394.  1.  Mary  herself,  in  a  letter 
to  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  her  ambassador  in  France,  acknowledges,  'thai  in  that  parliament 
she  intended  to  have  done  some  good,  with  respect  to  restoring  the  old  religion."  Keith,  331.  2. 
The  spiritual  lords,  i.  e.  the  polish  ecclesiastics,  had,  by  her  authority,  resumed  their  ancient  place  in 
that  assembly'.  Ibid.  3.  3he  had  joined  the  confederacy  at  Bay  onne.  Keith,  Append  167.  4.  She 
allowed  mass  to  be  celebrated  in  different  parts  jf  the  kingdom,  ibid. ;  and  declared  that  she  would 
have  mas.  free  for  all  men  that  would  hear  it.  Good.  vol.  i.  274.  5.  Blackwood,  who  was  fur- 
Dished  by  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow  with  materials  for  writing  his  Martyre  de  Marie,  affirms,  that 
the  queen  intended  to  have  procured,  in  this  parliament,  if  not  the  re-establishment  of  the  catholic 
religion,  at  least  something  for  the  ease  of  catholics.    Jebb,  vol.  ii.  204.  %  Good,  vol.  i.  222. 

$  Keith,  329.     Id.  App.  165,  166.     Knox,  401      The  eagerness  of  the  king  to  obtain  the  crown 
atrim.mial  is  not  surpiising,  when  the  extent  of  the  powers  which  that  title  conveyed,  as  explain 
6<J  in  the  text  and  note,  p.  69,  is  taken  into  consideration. 


O  F   S  C  O  T  L  A  N  u  143 

jnderstanding  to  comprehend,  or  temper  to  admit  so  just  a  defence  ;  and 
often  renewed  and  urged  his  request. 

Rizio,  whom  the  king  had  at  first  taken  into  great  confidence,  did  not 
humour  him  in  these  follies.  By  this  he  incurred  Henry's  displeasure  ;  and 
as  it  was  impossible  for  Mary  to  behave  towards  her  husband  with  the 
same  affection  which  distinguished  the  first  and  happy  days  of  their  union, 
he  imputed  this  coldness,  not  to  his  own  behaviour,  which  had  so  well 
merited  it,  but  to  the  insinuations  of  Kizio.  Mary's  own  conduct  confirmed 
and  strengthened  these  suspicions.  She  treated  tliis  stranger  with  a  fami- 
liarity, and  admitted  him  to  a  share  in  her  confidence,  to  which  neither  his 
first  condition  nor  the  office  she  had  lately  bestowed  on  him  gave  him  any 
title.  He  was  perpetually  in  her  presence,  intermeddled  in  every  business, 
and,  together  with  a  few  favourites,  was  the  companion  of  all  her  private 
advisements.  The  haughty  spirit  of  Darnly  could  not  bear  the  intrusion 
of  such  an  upstart ;  and  impatient  of  any  delay,  and  unrestrained  by  any 
scruple,  he  instantly  resolved  to  get  rid  of  him  by  violence. 

At  the  same  time  another  design,  which  took  its  rise  from  very  different 
motives,  was  carrying  on  against  the  life  of  Rizio.  Morton,  Ruthven, 
Lindsay,  and  Maitland,  were  the  contrivers  of  it.  In  all  former  commo- 
tions they  had  been  strictly  united  with  Murray,  though  in  the  late  insur- 
rection they  had  deserted  him  for  various  reasons.  Morton  was  nearly 
allied  to  the  family  of  Angus  ;  and,  during  the  minority  of  the  present  earl, 
acted  as  chief  of  the  name  of  Douglas.  Ruthven  was  married  to  the 
king's  aunt.  Lindsay's  wife  was  of  the  same  blood.  All  these  had  warmly 
concurred  with  the  queen  in  promoting  a  marriage  which  did  so  much 
honour  to  die  house  of  Douglas,  and  naturally  expected  that,  under  a  king 
of  their  own  blood,  the  chief  management  of  affairs  would  be  committed 
to  them.  Maitland,  with  his  usual  sagacity,  foresaw  that  Murray's  oppo- 
sition to  the  match  would  prove  dangerous  and  ineffectual ;  but  whoever 
rul*>d  at  court,  he  hoped,  by  his  dexterity  and  talents,  to  render  himself 
necessary  and  of  importance.  They  were  all  equally  disappointed  in  their 
expectations.  The  king's  headstrong  temper  rendered  him  incapable  of 
advice.  The  queen  could  not  help  distrusting  men  who  had  been  so  long 
and  so  intimately  connected  with  Murray,  and  gave  herself  up  entirely  to 
such  counsellors  as  complied  with  all  her  inclinations.  The  return  of  that 
nobleman  and  his  followers  was  therefore  the  only  event  which  would  re- 
store Morton,  Maitland,  and  their  associates,  to  their  former  ascendant  over 
the  queen's  councils.  For  this  reason,  nothing  could  be  more  mortifying 
to  them  than  the  resolution  which  Maiy  had  taken  to  treat  the  exiles  with 
rigour.  This  they  imputed  to  Rizio,  who,  after  he  had  engaged  to  aid 
Murray  with  all  his  interest,  was  now  the  most  active  instrument  in  pro- 
moting the  measures  which  were  concerted  for  the  ruin  of  that  nobleman. 
This  officious  zeal  completed  the  disgust  which  they  had  conceived  against 
him,  and  inspired  them  with  thoughts  of  vengeance  in  no  wise  suitable  to 
justice,  to  humanity,  or  to  their  own  dignity. 

While  they  were  ruminating  upon  their  scheme,  the  king  communicated 
his  resolution  to  be  avenged  of  Rizio  to  lord  Ruthven,  and  implored  his 
assistance,  and  that  of  his  friends,  towards  the  execution  of  this  design 
Nothing  could  be  more  acceptable  to  them  than  this  overture.  They  saw 
at  once  all  the  advantages  they  would  reap  by  the  concurrence  of  such  an 
associate.  Their  own  private  revenge  upon  Rizio  would  pass,  they  hoped, 
for  an  act  of  obedience  to  the  king;  and  they  did  not  despair  of  obtaining 
the  restoration  of  their  banished  friends,  and  security  for  the  protestant 
religion,  as  the  price  of  their  compliance  with  his  will. 

But  as  Henry  was  no  less  fickle  than  rash,  they  hesitated  for  some  time, 
and  determined  to  advance  no  further,  without  taking  every  possible  pre- 
caution for  their  own  safety.  They  did  not,  in  the  mean  time,  suffer  the 
king's  resentment  to  abate      Morton,  who  was  inferior  to  no  man  of  that 


144  THE  HISTORY  [Book  IV 

intriguing  age  in  all  the  arts  of  insinuation  and  address,  took  the  young 
prince  under  his  management.  He  wrought  upon  hi*  miing  passion,  am- 
bition, to  obtain  the  matrimonial  crown.  He  represented  Rizio's  credit 
with  the  queen  to  be  the  chiel'  and  only  obstacle  to  bis  success  in  that 
demand.  This  minion  alone,  he  said,  possessed  her  confidence  ;  and  out 
of  complaisance  to  him,  her  subjects,  her  nobility,  and  even  her  husband, 
were  excluded  from  any  participation  of  her  secret  councils.  Under  the 
appearance  of  a  confidence  merely  political,  he  insinuated,  and  the  king 
perhaps  believed,  that  a  familiarity  of  a  quite  different  and  very  criminal 
nature  might  be  concealed.*  Such  various  and  complicated  passions  raged 
in  the  king's  bosom  with  the  utmost  fury.  He  became  more  impatient 
than  ever  of  any  delay,  and  even  threatened  to  strike  the  intended  blew 
with  his  own  hand.  At  last,  preliminaries  were  settled  on  both  sides,  and 
articles  for  their  mutual  security  agreed  upon.  The  king  engaged  to  pre- 
vent the  attainder  of  the  banished  lords,  to  consent  to  their  return  into 
Scotland,  to  obtain  for  them  an  ample  remission  of  all  their  crimes,  and  to 
support,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  the  religion  which  was  now  established 
in  the  kingdom.  On  their  parts,  they  undertook  to  procure  the  crown 
matrimonial  for  Henry,  to  secure  his  right  of  succession  it  the  queen  should 
die  before  him  without  issue,  and  to  defend  that  right  to  the  uttermost 
against  whatever  person  should  presume  to  dispute  it  ;  and  it  either  Rizio 
or  any  other  person  should  happen  to  be  killed  in  prosecuting  the  design, 
the  king  promised  to  acknowledge  himseif  to  be  the  author  of  the  enter- 
prise, and  to  protect  those  who  were  embarked  in  it.j 

Nothing  now  remained  but  to  concert  the  plan  of  operation,  to  choose 
the  actors,  and  to  assign  them  their  parts  in  perpetrating  this  detestable 
crime.  Every  circumstance  here  paints  and  characterize*  the  manners  and 
men  of  that  age,  and  fills  us  with  horror  at  both.  The  place  chosen  for 
committing  such  a  deed  was  the  queen's  bedchamber.  Though  Mary  was 
now  in  the  sixth  month  of  her  pregnancy,  and  though  Rizio  might  have 
been  seized  elsewhere  without  any  diilicuity.  the  king  pitched  upon  this 
place  that  he  might  enjoy  the  malicious  pleasure  of  reproaching  Rizio  with 
his  crimes  before  the  queen's  face.  The  earl  of  M>  rton,  the  lord  high 
chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  undertook  to  direct  an  enterprise,  cairied  on  in 
defiance  of  all  the  laws  of  which  he  was  bound  to  be  the  guardian.  The 
lord  Ruthven,  who  had  been  confined  to  his  bed  for  three  months  by  a  very 
dangerous  distemper,  and  who  was  still  so  feeble  that  he  could  hardly 
wall,  or  bear  the  weight  of  his  own  armour,  was  intrusted  with  the  exe- 
cutive part ;  and  while  he  himself  needed  to  be  supported  by  two  men. 
he  came  abroad  to  commit  a  murder  in  the  presence  of  his  sovereign. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  Morton  entered  the  court  of  the  palace  with  a 
hundred  and  sixty  men  :  and  without  noise,  or  meeting  with  any  resist- 
ance, seized  all  the  gates.     While  the  queen  was  at  supper  with  the 

*  Of  all  our  historians,  Buchanan  alone  avowedly  accuses  Mary  of  a  criminal  love  for  Rizio, 
111).  34-1.  Knox  slightly  insinuates  that  such  a  suspicion  was  entertained,  391.  Melvil,  in  a  con- 
versation with  the  queen,  intimates  that  he  was  afraid  her  familiarity  with  Rizio  might  be  liable  to 
misconstruction,  110.  The  king  himself  seems,  both  by  Melvil's  account,  and  ty  his  expostulation 
with  the  queen,  which  Ruthven  mentions,  to  have  given  credit  to  these  suspicions.  Melv.  121 
Keith,  Append.  123,  124.  That  the  king's  suspicions  were  strong,  is  likewise  evident  from  the 
paper  published,  Append.  No.  XV.  But  in  opposition  to  these  suspicions,  and  they  are  nothii  g 
mure  we  may  observe  that  Raulet,  the  queen's  Frew;,/  secretary,  was  dismissed  from  her  servic  ;, 
and  Rizio  advanced  to  that  office,  in  December,  15154  Keith,  268.  It  was  in  consequence  of  th  s 
preferment,  that  he  acquired  his  great  credil  with  the  queen.  Melv.  107.  Dandy  arrived  in  Scot- 
land about  two  months  after.  Keith,  269.  The  queen  immediately  conceived  for  hiiu  a  passim, 
which  had  all  the  symptoms  of  genuine  and  violent  love  Rizio  a;ded  this  passion,  and  promote  1 
the  marriage  with  all  his  interest.  Melv. Ill  During  sorre  months  after  the  marriage,  the  queen  < 
fondness  for  Darnly  continued.  She  soon  proved  with  child.  From  this  enumeration  of  circuaf- 
stances,  it  appears  almost  impossible  that  the  queen,  unlef  -  we  suppose  her  to  have  been  a  womt.ii 
utterly  abandoned,  could  carry  on  any  criminal  intrigue  Willi  Rizio.  But  the  silence  of  Randolph 
the  English  resident,  a  man  abundantly  ready  to  mention  a.d  to  aggravate  Mary's  faults,  and  who 
does  not  once  insinuate  that  her  confidence  in  Rizio  concealed  any  thing  criminal,  is  in  itself  a  mif- 
ficient  vindication  of  her  innocence.  t  Good,  vol.  i.  266. 


OV    SCOTLAND.  145 

countess  of  Argyll,  R'lio,  and  a  tew  other  persons,  the  king  suddenly 
entered  the  apartment  by  a  private  passage.  At  his  back  was  Ruthven, 
clad  incomplete  armour,  r.nd  with  that  ghastly  and  horrid  look  which  long 
sickness  had  given  him.  Three  or  lour  of  his  most  trusty  accomplices 
followed  him.  Such  an  unusual  appearance  alarmed  those  who  were 
present.  Rizio  instantly  apprehended  that  he  was  the  victim  at  whom  the 
blow  was  aimed  ;  and  in  the  utmost  consternation  retired  behind  the 
queers  of  whom  he  laid  hold,  hoping  lhat  tbe  reverence  due  to  her  person 
might  prove  some  protection  to  him.  The  conspirators  had  proceeded  too 
lar  to  be  restrained  by  any  considerations  of  that  kind.  Numbers  of  armed 
men  msned  into  the  chamber.  Ruthven  drew  his  dagger,  and  with  a 
furious  mien  and  voice  commanded  Rizio  to  leave  a  place  o(  which  he 
was  unworthy,  and  which  he  had  occupied  too  long.  Mary  employed 
tears,  and  entreaties,  and  threatenings,  to  save  her  favourite.  Rut  not- 
withstanding all  these,  he  was  torn  from  her  by  violence,  and  before  he 
could  be  dragged  through  the  next  apartment,  the  rage  of  his  enemies  put 
an  end  to  his  life,  piercing  his  body  with  fifty-six  wounds.* 

Athol,  Huntly,  Bothwell,  and  other  confidants  of  the  queen,  who  had 
apartments  in  the  palace,  were  alarmed  at  the  uproar,  and  filled  with  the 
utmost  terror  on  their  own  account  ;  but  either  no  violence  was  intended 
against  them,  or  the  conspirators  durst  not  shed  the  noblest  blood  in  the  king- 
dom inthe  same  illegal  manner  with  which  they  had  ventured  to  take  the  life 
of  a  stranger.    Some  of  them  were  dismissed,  and  others  made  their  escape. 

The  conspirators  in  the  mean  time  kept  possession  of  the  palace,  and 
guarded  the  queen  with  the  utmost  care.  A  proclamation  was  published 
by  the  king,  prohibiting  the  parliament  to  meet  on  the  day  appointed  ;  and 
measures  were  taken  by  him  for  preventing  any  tumult  in  the  city.t  Mur- 
ray, Rothes,  and  their  followers,  being  informed  of  every  step  taken  against 
Rizio,  arrived  at  Edinburgh  next  evening.  Murray  was  graciously  re- 
ceived both  by  the  king  and  queen:  by  the  former,  on  account  ot  the 
articles  which  had  been  agreed  upon  between  them  ;  by  the  latter,  becaust 
she  hoped  to  prevail  on  him,  by  gentle  treatment,  not  to  take  part  with  the 
murderers  of  Rizio.  Their  power  she  still  felt  and  dreaded  ;  and  the  insult 
which  they  had  offered  to  her  authority,  and  even  to  her  person,  so  far 
exceeded  any  crime  she  could  impute  to  Murray  that,  in  hopes  of  wreak- 
ing her  vengeance  on  them,  she  became  extremely  willing  to  be  reconciled 
to  him.  The  obligations,  however,  which  Murray  lay  under  to  men  who 
had  hazarded  their  lives  on  his  account,  engaged  him  to  labour  for  their 
safety.  The  queen,  who  scarce  had  the  liberty  of  choice  left,  was  per- 
suaded to  admit  Morton  and  Ruthven  into  her  presence,  and  to  grant  them 
the  promise  of  pardon  in  whatever  terms  they  should  deem  necessary  for 
their  own  security. 

The  king,  meanwhile,  stood  astonished  at  the  boldness  and  success  ot 
his  own  enterprise,  and  uncertain  what  course  to  hold.  The  queen  observed 
his  irresolution,  and  availed  herself  of  it.  She  employed  all  her  arf  to 
disengage  him  from  his  new  associates.  His  consciousness  of  the  insult 
which  he  had  offered  to  so  illustrious  a  benefactress  inspired  him  with  un- 
common facility  and  complaisance.  In  spite  of  all  the  warnings  he  received 
to  distrust  the  queen's  artifices,  she  prevailed  on  him  [March  11]  to  dismiss 
the  guards  which  the  conspirators  had  placed  on  her  person  ;  and  that 
same  night  he  made  his  escape  along  with  her,  attended  by  three  persons 
only,  and  retired  to  Dunbar.  The  scheme  of  their  flight  had  been  com- 
municated to  Huntly  and  Bothwell,  and  they  were  quickly  joined  by  them 
and  several  other  of  the  nobles.  Bothwe.M's  estate  lay  in  that  corner  ot 
the  kingdom,  and  his  followers  crowded  to  their  chief  in  such  numbers  as 
soon  enabled  the  queen  to   set  the  power  of  the  conspirators  at  defiancr 

*  SeeAppendi*  No.  XV  1  Keith,  Appendix,  126 

Vol   ITT.— 19 


146  THE  HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

This  sudden  flight  filled  them  with  inexpressible  consternation.  The* 
nad  obtained  a  promise  of  pardon ;  and  it  now  appeared  from  the  queen  s 
conduct,  that  nothing  more  was  intended  by  this  promise  than  to  amuse 
them  and  to  gain  time.  They  ventured,  however,  to  demand  the  accom- 
plishment of  it ;  but  their  messenger  was  detained  a  prisoner,  and  the 
queen,  advancing  towards  Edinburgh  at  the  head  of  eight  thousand  men, 
talked  in  the  highest  strain  of  resentment  and  revenge.  She  had  the 
address,  at  the  same  time,  to  separate  Murray  and  his  associates  from  the 
conspirators  against  Rizio.  Sensible  that  the  union  of  these  parties  would 
form  a  confederacy  which  might  prove  formidable  to  the  crown,  she  ex- 
pressed great  willingness  to  receive  the  former  into  favour  ;  towards  the 
latter  she  declared  herself  inexorable  Murray  and  his  followers  were  no 
less  willing  to  accept  a  pardon  on  her  terms  The  conspirators  against 
Rizio,  deprived  of  every  resource,  and  incapable  of  resistance,  fled  pre- 
cipitately to  Newcastle  [March  10],  having  thus  changed  situations  with 
Murray  and  his  party,  who  left  that  place  a  few  days  before. 

No  man  so  remarkable  for  wisdom,  and  even  for  cunning,  as  the  earl  o. 
Morton,  ever  engaged  in  a  more  unfortunate  enterprise.  Deserted  basely 
by  the  king,  who  now  denied  his  knowledge  of  the  conspiracy  by  public 
proclamations,  and  abandoned  ungenerously  by  Murray  and  his  party,*  he 
was  obliged  to  fly  from  his  native  country,  to  resign  the  highest  office,  and 
to  part  with  one  of  the  most  opulent  fortunes  in  the  kingdom. 

On  her  return  to  Edinburgh,  Mary  began  to  proceed  against  those  con- 
cerned in  the  murder  of  Rizio  with  the  utmost  rigour  of  law.  But,  in 
praise  of  her  clemency,  it  must  be  observed,  that  only  two  persons,  and 
these  of  no  considerable  rank,  suffered  for  this  crime.* 

In  this  conspiracy  there  is  one  circumstance  which,  though  somewhat 
detached,  deserves  not  to  be  forgotten.  In  the  confederacy  between  the 
king  and  the  conspirators,  the  real  intention  of  which  was  assassination,  the 
preserving  of  the  reformed  church  is,  nevertheless,  one  of  the  most  consi- 
derable articles;  and  the  same  men,  who  were  preparing  to  violate  one  ol 
the  first  duties  of  morality,  affected  the  highest  regard  for  religion.  His 
tory  relates  these  extravagances  of  the  human  mind,  without  pretending 
to  justify,  or  even  to  account  for  them  ;  and,  regulating  her  own  opinions  by 
the  eternal  and  immutable  laws  of  justice  and  of  virtue,  points  out  such  in- 
consistencies as  features  of  the  age  which  she  describes,  and  records  thens 
for  the  instruction  of  ages  to  come. 

As  this  is  the  second  instance  of  deliberate  assassination  which  has 
occurred,  and  as  we  shall  hereafter  meet  with  many  other  instances  of  the 
same  crime,  the  causes  which  gave  rise  to  a  practice  so  shocking  to 
humanity  deserve  our  particular  attention.  Resentment  is,  for  obvious  and 
wise  reasons,  one  of  the  strongest  passions  in  the  human  mind.  The 
natural  demand  of  this  passion  is,  that  the  person  who  feels  the  injury 
should  himself  inflict  the  vengeance  due  on  that  account.  The  permitting 
this,  however,  would  have  been  destructive  to  society ;  and  punishment 
would  have  known  no  bounds,  either  in  severity  or  in  duration.  For  this 
reason,  in  the  very  infancy  of  the  social  state,  the  sword  was  taken  out  ot 
private  hands,  and  committed  to  the  magistrate.  But  at  first,  while  laws 
aimed  at  restraining,  they  really  strengthened  the  principle  of  revenge. 
The  earliest  and  most  simple  punishment  for  crimes  was  retaliation ;  the 
offender  forfeited  limb  for  limb,  and  life  for  life.  The  payment  of  a  com- 
pensation to  the  person  injured  succeeded  to  the  rigour  of  the  former  insti 
tution.  In  both  these  the  gratification  of  private  revenge  was  the  objee 
of  law ;  and  he  who  suffered  the  wrong  was  the  only  person  who  had  i 
right  to  pursue,  to  exact,  or  to  remit  the  punishment.  While  laws  allowed 
such  full  scope  to  the  revenge  ot  one  party,  the  interests  of  the  otber  war* 

*  lWv.  iaa  t  Keith,  Appendix,  I3U.  334 


OF   SCOTLAND.  14t 

not  neglected.  If  the  evidence  of  his  guilt  did  not  amount  to  a  full  proof, 
or  if  he  reckoned  himself  to  be  unjustly  accused,  the  person  to  whom  a 
crime  was  imputed  had  a  right  to  challenge  his  adversary  to  single  combat, 
and,  on  obtaining  the  victory,  vindicated  his  own  honour.  In  almost  every 
considerable  cause,  whether  civil  or  criminal,  arms  were  appealed  to,  in 
defence,  either  of  the  innocence  or  the  property  of  the  parties.  Justice 
had  seldom  occasion  to  use  her  balance  ;  the  sword  alone  decided  every 
contest.  The  passion  of  revenge  was  nourished  by  all  these  means,  and 
grew,  by  daily  indulgence,  to  be  incredibly  strong.  Mankind  became 
habituated  to  blood,  not  only  in  times  of  war,  but  of  peace  ;  and  from  this 
as  well  as  other  causes,  contracted  an  amazing  ferocity  of  temper  and  of 
manners.  This  ferocity,  however,  made  it  necessary  to  discourage  [\a 
trial  by  combat;  to  abolish  the  payment  of  compensations  in  criminal 
cases ;  and  to  think  of  some  milder  method  of  terminating  disputes  con 
cerning  civil  rights.  The  punishments  for  crimes  became  more  severe, 
and  the  regulations  concerning  property  more  fixed  ;  but  the  princes  whose 
province  it  was  to  inflict  the  one,  and  to  enforce  the  other,  possessed  little 
power.  Great  offenders  despised  their  authority ;  smaller  ones  sheltered 
themselves  under  the  jurisdiction  of  those  from  whose  protection  they 
expected  impunity.  The  administration  of  justice  was  extremely  teeble 
and  dilatory.  An  attempt  to  punish  the  crimes  of  a  chieftain,  or  even  of 
his  vassals,  often  excited  rebellions  and  civil  wars.  To  nobles,  haughty 
and  independent,  among  whom  the  causes  of  discord  were  many  and 
unavoidable,  who  were  quick  in  discerning  an  injury,  and  impatient  to 
revenge  it ;  who  deemed  it  infamous  to  submit  to  an  enemy,  and  cowardly 
to  forgive  him  ;  who  considered  the  right  of  punishing  those  who  had 
injured  them  as  a  privilege  of  their  order  and  a  mark  of  independence  ;  such 
slow  proceedings  were  extremely  unsatisfactory.  The  blood  of  their 
adversary  was,  in  their  opinion,  the  only  thing  which  could  wash  away  an 
affront:  where  that  was  not  shed,  their  revenge  was  disappointed,  their 
courage  became  suspected,  and  a  stain  was  left  on  their  honour.  That 
vengeance,  which  the  impotent  hand  of  the  magistrate  could  not  inflict, 
their  own  could  easily  execute.  Under  governments  so  feeble,  men 
assumed,  as  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  right  of  judging  and  redressing  their 
own  wrongs ;  and  thus  assassination,  a  crime  of  all  others  the  most 
destructive  to  society,  came  not  only  to  be  allowed,  but  to  be  reckoned 
honourable. 

The  history  of  Europe,  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries, 
abounds  with  detestable  instances  of  this  crime.  It  prevailed  chiefly  among 
the  French  and  Scots,  between  whom  there  was  a  close  intercourse  at  that 
time,  and  a  surprising  resemblance  in  their  national  characters.  In  1407, 
the  only  brother  of  the  king  of  France  was  murdered  publicly  in  the  streets 
of  Paris  ;  and  so  far  was  this  horrible  action  from  meeting  with  proper 
punishment,  that  an  eminent  lawyer  was  allowed  to  plead  in  defence  of  it 
before  the  peers  of  France,  and  avowedly  to  maintain  the  lawfulness  of  assas 
sination.  In  1417,  it  required  all  the  eloquence  and  authority  of  the  famous 
Gerson,  to  prevail  on  the  council  of  Constance  to  condemn  this  proposition, 
•'  That  there  are  some  cases  in  which  assassination  is  a  virtue  more  merit- 
orious in  a  knight  than  in  a  squire,  and  more  meritorious  in  a  king  than  in 
a  knight."*  The  number  of  eminent  persons  who  were  murdered  in 
France  and  Scotland,  on  account  either  of  private,  or  political,  or  religious 
quarrels,  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  is  almost  incredible 
Even  after  those  causes,  which  first  gave  rise  to  this  barbarous  practice, 
were  lemoved ;  after  the  jurisdiction  of  magistrates,  and  the  authority  tl 
aws,  were  better  established,  and  become  more  universal ;  after  the  pro- 
pres-  of  learning  and  philosophy  had  polished  the  manners  and  humanized 

*  L' En  taut,  Hist.  Cone,  ilt  Gonat 


148  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

the  minds  of  men,  this  crime  continued  in  some  degree.  It  was  towards 
the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  before  it  disappeared  in  France.  The 
additional  vigour,  which  the  royal  authority  acquired  by  the  accession  oi 
James  VI.  to  the  throne  of  England,  seems  to  have  but  a  stop  to  it  in 
Scotland. 

The  influence,  however,  of  any  national  custom,  both  on  the  understand- 
ing and  on  the  heart,  and  how  (ar  it  may  go  towards  perverting  or  extin- 
guishing moral  principles  of  the  greatest  importance,  is  remarkable.  The 
authors  of  those  ages  have  perfectly  imbibed  the  sentiments  of  their 
contemporaries  with  regard  to  assassination  ;  and  they  who  had  leisure  to 
reflect  and  to  judge  appear  to  be  more  shocked  at  this  crime  than  the 
persons  who  committed  it  during  the  heat  and  impetuosity  of  passion.; 
Buchanan  describes  the  murder  of  cardinal  Beatoun  and  of  Rizio,  without 
expressing  those  feelings  which  are  natural  to  a  man,  or  that  indignation 
which  became  an  historian.*  Knox,  whose  mind  was  fiercer  ana  more 
unpolished,  relates  the  death  of  Beatoun  and  oi  the  duke  of  Guise,  not 
only  without  censure,  but  with  the  utmost  exultation. t  Or.  the  other  hand, 
the  bishop  of  Ross,  mentions  the  assassination  of  the  earl  of  Murray  witb 
some  degree  of  applause.^  Blackwood  dwells  upon  it  with  the  roost 
indecent  triumph,  and  ascribes  it  directly  to  the  hand  of  God.§  Lord 
Ruthven,  the  principal  actor  in  the  conspiracy  against  Rizio,  wrote  an 
account  of  it  some  short  time  before  his  own  death,  and  in  all  his  long 
narrative  there  is  not  one  expression  of  regret,  or  one  symptom  of  com- 
punction, for  a  crime  no  less  dishonourable  than  barbarous.!!  Morton, 
oqually  guilty  of  the  same  crime,  entertained  the  same  sentiments  concern- 
ing it  ;  and  in  his  last  moments,  neither  he  himself  nor  the  ministers  who 
attended  him  seem  to  have  considered  it  as  an  action  which  called  for 
repentance  ;  even  then  he  talks  of  David's  slaughter  as  coolly  as  if  it  had 
been  an  innocent  or  commendable  deed-H  The  vices  of  another  age 
astonish  and  shock  us ;  the  vices  of  our  own  become  familiar,  and  excite 
little  horror.**     I  return  from  this  digression  to  the  course  of  the  history 

The  charm  which  had  at  first  attached  the  queen  to  Damly,  and  held 
them  for  some  time  in  a  happy  union,  was  now  entirely  dissolved  :  and 
love  no  longer  covering  his  follies  and  vices  with  its  friendly  veil,  they 
appeared  to  Mary  in  their  full  dimension  and  deformity. |t  Though  Henrj 
published  a  proclamation  disclaiming  any  knowledge  of  the  conspiracy 
against  Rizio,  the  queen  was  fully  convinced  that  he  was  not  only  acces- 
sary to  the  contrivance,  but  to  the  commission  of  that  odious  crime. f[  That 
very  power  which,  with  liberal  and  unsuspicious  fondness,  she  had  con- 
ferred upon  him,  he  had  employed  to  insult  her  authority,  to  limit  her 
prerogative,  and  to  endanger  her  person  Such  an  outrage  it  was  impos- 
sible any  woman  could  bear  or  torgive.  Cold  civilities,  secret  distrust, 
frequent  quarrels,  succeeded  to  their  former  transports  of  affection  and  con- 
fidence. The  queen's  favours  were  no  longer  conveyed  through  his  hands 
The  crowd  of  expectants  ceased  to  court  his  patronage,  which  they  found 
to  avail  so  little.  Among  the  nobles,  some  dreaded  hjs  furious  temper, 
others  complained  of  his  perfidiousness  ;  and  all  of  them  despised  the 
weakness  of  his  understanding  and  the  inconstancy  of  his  heart.     The 

*  Buchan.  295.  345.  t  Knox.  334.  f  Anfers  3.  84  ^  Jebb.  li.  »53  (|  Keith, 

Ap|iend.  119.  IT  Crawf.  Mem.  Append. 

**  In  the  first  accounts  of  Rizio'8  murder  sp nt  to  England,  there  seem  to  have  been  mingled  (m  if 
usual  in  relating  extraordinary  events)  some  circumstances  which  afterwards  appeared  to  be  false: 
among  others,  that  a  friar  named  Black  had  been  slain  al  the  same  time  with  Rizio.  Packhurct, 
bishop  of  Norwich,  in  communicating  this  intelligence  to  his  correspondent  Rullinger,  an  eminent 
reformed  divine  of  Zurich,  expresses  no  condemnation  of  the  murder  of  Rizio,  and  exults  over  tin 
supposed  death  of  the  friar  in  terms  which,  in  our  times,  will  appear  as  shocking  as  they  an 
puerile :  "  Fraterculus  quidam,  nomine  Black,  papistarum  antesignanus,  eodem  tempore  in  au  * 
occiditur:  Sic  niger  hie  nebulo,  nigra  ^uoque  morte  peremptus,  invitus  nigrum  subito  deacendit  ik 
Orcum."    Burn.  Hist,  of  Reform.  Hi   App.  360. 

\\  See  Appendix,  No.  XVI  ti  Keith,  350 


OF  SCOTLAND.  141 

oeople  themselves  observed  some  parts  of  his  conduct  which  little  suited 
the  dignity  of  a  king.  Addicted  to  drunkenness,  beyond  what  the  manners 
of  that  age  could  bear,  and  indulging  irregular  passions,  which  even  the 
l^entiousness  of  youth  could  not  excuse,  he,  by  his  indecent  behaviour, 
P'uvoked  the  queen  to  the  utmost ;  and  the  passions  which  it  occasioned 
often  forced  tears  from  her  eyes,  both  in  public  and  private.*  Her  aver- 
sion for  him  increased  every  day,  and  could  be  no  longer  concealed.  He 
was  often  absent  from  court,  appeared  there  with  little  splendour,  and  was 
rrusted  with  no  power.  Avoided  equally  by  those  who  endeavoured  to 
please  the  queen,  who  favoured  Morton  and  his  associates,  or  who  adhered 
to  the  house  of  Hamilton,  he  was  left  almost  alone  in  a  neglected  and 
unpitied  solitude.t 

About  this  time  a  new  favourite  grew  into  great  credit  with  the  queen, 
and  soon  gained  an  ascendant  over  her  heart,  which  encouraged  his  enter- 
prising genius  to  form  designs  that  proved  fatal  to  himself,  and  the  occa- 
sion of  all  Mary's  subsequent  misfortunes.  This  was  James  Hepburn,  earl 
of  Bothwell,  the  head  of  an  ancient  family,  and,  by  his  extensive  posses- 
sions and  numerous  vassals,  one  of  the  most  powerful  noblemen  in  the 
kingdom.  Even  in  that  turbulent  age,  when  so  many  vast  projects  were 
laid  open  to  an  aspiring  mind,  and  invited  it  to  action,  no  man's  ambition 
was  more  daring  than  Bothwell's,  or  had  recourse  to  bolder  or  more  sin- 
gular expedients  for  obtaining  power. J  When  almost  every  person  of 
distinction  in  the  kingdom,  whether  papist  or  protestant,  had  joined  the 
congregation  in  opposing  the  dangerous  encroachments  of  the  French  upon 
the  liberties  of  the  nation,  he,  though  an  avowed  protestant,  adhered  to 
the  queen  regent,  and  acted  with  vigour  on  her  side.  The  success  which 
attended  the  arms  of  the  congregation  having  obliged  him  to  retire  into 
France,  he  was  taken  into  the  queen's  service,  and  continued  with  her  till 
the  time  of  her  return  into  Scotland. §  From  that  period,  every  step  of  his 
conduct  towards  Mary  was  remarkably  dutiful ;  and,  amidst  all  the  shift- 
ings  of  faction,  we  scarcely  ever  find  him  holding  any  course  which  could 
be  offensive  to  her.  When  Murray's  proceedings  with  regard  to  her  mar- 
riage gave  umbrage  to  the  queen,  she  recalled  Bothwell  from  that  banish 
ment  into  which  she  had  been  obliged  with  reluctance  to  drive  him,  and 
considered  his  zeal  and  abilities  as  the  most  powerful  supports  of  her 
authority.  When  the  conspirators  against  Rizio  seized  her  person,  he 
became  the  chief  instrument  of  recovering  her  liberty,  and  served  her,  on 
that  occasion,  with  so  much  fidelity  and  success  as  made  the  deepest 
impression  on  her  mind,  and  greatly  increased  the  confidence  which  she 
had  hitherto  placed  in  him.||  Her  gratitude  loaded  him  with  marks  ot 
her  bounty ;  she  raised  him  to  offices  of  profit  and  trust,  and  transacted  no 
matter  of  importance  without  his  advice. if  By  complaisance  and  assiduity 
he  confirmed  and  fortified  these  dispositions  of  the  queen  in  his  favour, 
and  insensibly  paved  the  way  towards  that  vast  project  which  his  immo- 
derate ambition  had  perhaps  a-lready  conceived,  and  which,  in  spite  of 
many  difficulties,  and  at  the  expense  of  many  crimes,  he  at  last  accom 
plished. 

The  hour  of  the  queen's  delivery  now  approached.  As  her  palace  was 
defended  only  by  a  slender  guard,  it  seemed  imprudent  to  expose  her 
person,  at  this  time,  to  the  insults  she  might  suffer  in  a  kingdom  torn  by 

*  Keith,  329.  t  Melv.  131,  &c. 

t  The  enterprising  spirit  of  Bothweil  was  so  conspicuous  as  to  procure  him  several  marks  erf 
distinction  dur'ng  his  residence  in  France.  Hardwick's  State  Papers,  i.  143  Throgmorton,  the 
English  ambassador  at  Paris,  and  one  of  the  most  sagacious  ministers  employed  by  Elizabeth,  points 
him  out  as  a  person  who  was  to  be  dreaded  and  observed.  li  The  earl  of  Bothwell,"'  says  he  in  a 
<etter,  Nov  28,  1560,  "is  departed  to  return  into  Scotland,  and  hath  made  boast  that  he  will  do  great 
things,  and  live  in  Scotland  in  despite  of  ail  men.  He  is  a  glorious,  rash,  and  Hazardous  young 
nan :  and  therefore  it  were  meet  that  his  adversaries  should  both  have  an  eye  to  him,  and  also  keej 
4im  short."  Ibid.  p.  149 

$  Anders  i  90.  U  Ibid.  92,  93.  Tr  Melv    133.     Knoi,  396. 


160  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

factions  and  prone  (o  mutiny.  For  this  reason  the  privy  council  advised 
tne  queen  to  fix  her  residence  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  the  strongesl 
fortress  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  most  proper  place  for  the  security  of  her 
person.*  In  order  to  render  this  security  more  perfect,  Mary  laboured  to 
extinguish  the  domestic  feuds  which  divided  some  of  the  principal  nobles. 
Murray  and  Argyll  were  exasperated  against  Huntly  and  Bothwell  by 
reciprocal  and  repeated  injuries.  The  queen  by  her  authority  and  entrea 
ties,  effected  a  reconcilement  among  them,  and  drew  from  them  a  promise 
to  bury  their  discords  in  everlasting  oblivion.  This  reconcilement  Mary 
had  so  much  at  heart  that  she  made  it  the  condition  on  which  she  again 
n  ceived  Murray  into  favour.! 

On  the  19th  of  June,  Mary  was  delivered  of  her  only  son  James,  a 
prince  whose  birth  was  happy  for  the  whole  island,  and  unfortunate  to  her 
alone.  His  accession  to  the  throne  of  England  united  the  two  divided 
kingdoms  in  one  mighty  monarchy,  and  established  the  power  of  Great 
Britain  on  a  firm  foundation;  while  she,  torn  early  from  her  son  by  the 
cruelty  of  her  fate,  was  never  allowed  to  indulge  those  tender  passions, 
nor  to  taste  those  joys  which  fill  the  heart  of  a  mother. 

Melvil  was  instantly  despatched  to  London  with  an  account  of  this  event 
It  struck  Elizabeth,  at  first,  in  a  sensible  manner,  and  the  advantage  and 
superiority  which  her  rival  had  acquired  by  the  birth  of  a  son  forced  tears 
from  her  eyes.  But  before  Melvil  was  admitted  to  an  audience,  she  had 
so  far  recovered  the  command  of  herself,  as  to  receive  him  not  only  with 
decency  but  with  excessive  cheerfulness  ;  and  willingly  accepted  the  invi 
tation  which  Mary  gave  her,  to  stand  godmother  to  her  son.* 

As  Mary  loved  splendour  and  magnificence,  she  resolved  to  celebrate  the 
baptism  of  the  young  prince  with  great  pomp;  and  for  that  purpose  sent 
invitations  of  the  same  kind  to  the  French  king,  and  to  the  duke  of  Savoy, 
the  uncle  of  her  former  husband. 

The  queen,  on  her  recovery,  discovered  no  change  in  her  sentiments 
with  respect  to  the  king.§  The  death  of  Rizio,  and  the  countenance  he 
had  given  to  an  action  so  insolent  and  unjustifiable,  were  still  fresh  in  her 
memory.  She  was  frequently  pensive  and  dejected.||  Though  Henry 
sometimes  attended  at  court,  and  accompanied  her  in  her  progresses 
through  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  he  met  with  little  reverence  from 
the  nobles,  while  Mary  treated  him  with  the  greatest  reserve,  and  did  not 
suffer  him  to  possess  any  authority. U  The  breach  between  them  became 
every  day  more  apparent.**  Attempts  were  made  towards  a  reconcile- 
ment, particularly  by  Castelnau,  the  French  ambassador;  but,  after  such  a 
violent  rupture,  it  was  found  no  easy  matter  to  bind  the  nuptial  knot  anew  ; 
and,  although  he  prevailed  on  the  king  and  queen  to  pass  two  nights 
together,tt  we  may,  with  great  probability,  pronounce  this  appearance  of 
union,  to  which  Castelnau  trusted,  not  to  have  been  sincere ;  we  know  with 
certainty  that  it  was  not  lasting. 

Bothwell,  all  this  white,  was  the  queen's  prime  confidant.  Without  his 
participation  no  business  was  concluded,  and  no  favour  bestowed.  Toge 
ther  with  this  ascendant  over  her  councils.  Bothwell,  if  we  may  believe 
the  cotemporary  historians,  acquired  no  less  sway  over  her  heart.  But  at 
what  precise  time  this  ambitious  lord  first  allowed  the  sentiments  of  a  lover 
'o  occupy  the  place  of  that  duty  and  respect  which  a  subject  owes  his 
sovereign ;  or  when  Mary,  instead  of  gratitude  for  his  faithful  services,  felt 
a  passion  of  another  nature  rising  in  her  bosom,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to 
determine.  Such  delicate  transitions  of  passion  can  be  discerned  only  by 
:nose  who  are  admitted  near  the  persons  of  the  parties,  and  who  can  view 
ge  secret  workings  of  the  heart  with  calm  and  acute  observation.    Neithe/ 

•  Keith,  335.  t  Ibid.  336.    Append.  139.  ,  Melv.  138.        «  See  Append.   No.  XVU- 

Melv.  148.  IT  Keith,  350     Melv    J32  ■-    .iiih  Append.  169.  *t  Keith,  169. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  151 

Knox  nor  Buchanan  enjoyed  these  advantages.  Their  humble  station 
illowed  them  only  a  distant  access  to  the  queen  and  her  favourite.  Vid 
the  ardour  of  their  zeal,  as  well  as  the  violence  of  their  prejudices,  ren- 
dered their  opinions  rash,  precipitate,  and  inaccurate.  It  is  by  the  effects 
of  this  reciprocal  passion,  rather  than  by  their  accounts  of  it,  that  subse- 
quent historians  can  judge  of  its  reality. 

Adventurous  as  Bothwell's  project  to  gain  the  queen  may  appear,  it  was 
formed  and  carried  on  under  very  favourable  circumstances.     Mary  was 
y  oung,  gay,  and  affable.    She  possessed  great  sensibility  of  temper,  and  was 
capable  of  the  utmost  tenderness  of  affection.     She  had  placed  her  Jove  on 
a  very  unworthy  object,  who  requited  it  with  ingratitude,  and  treated  her 
with  neglect,  with  insolence,  and  with  brutality.     All  these  she  felt  and 
resented.     In  this  situation,  the  attention  and  complaisance  of  a  man  who 
had  vindicated  her  authority  and  protected  her  person,  who  entered  into  all 
her  views,  who  soothed  all  her  passions,  who  watched  and  improved  every 
opportunity  of  insinuating  his  design  and  recommending  his  passion,*  could 
hardly  fail  of  making  an  impression  on  a  heart  of  such  a  frame  as  Mary's. 
The  haughty  spirit  of  Darnly,  nursed  up  in  flattery  and  accustomed  to 
command,  could  not  bear  the  contempt  under  which  he  had  now  fallen, 
and  the  state  of  insignificance  to  which  he  saw  himself  reduced.     But,  in 
a  country  where  he  was  universally  hated  or  despised,  he  could  never  hope 
to  form  a  party  which   would  second   any  attempt  he  might  make  tc 
recover  power.     He  addressed  himself,  therefore,  to  the  pope,  and  to  the 
kings  of  France  and  Spain,  with  many  professions  of  his  own  zeal  for  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  with  bitter  complaints  against  the  queen,  for  neg- 
lecting to  promote  that  interest  :t  and,  soon  after,  he  took  a  resolution, 
equally  wild  and  desperate,  of  embarking  on  board  a  ship  which  he  pro- 
vided, and  of  flying  into  foreign  parts.     It  is  almost  impossible  to  form  any 
satisfactory  conjecture  concerning  the  motives  which  influence  a  capricious 
and  irregular  mind.     He  hoped,  perhaps,  to  recommend  himself  to  the 
Catholic  princes  on  the  continent  by  his  zeal  for  religion,  ana  that  they 
would  employ  their  interest  towards  reinstating  him  in  the  possession  oi 
that  power  which  he  had  lost.     Perhaps  he  expected  nothing  more  than 
die  comfort  of  hiding  the  disgrace,  under  which  he  was  now  fallen,  among 
strangers,  who  had  never  been  witnesses  of  his  former  prosperity. 

He  communicated  the  design  to  the  French  ambassador,  Le  Croc,  and 
to  his  father  the  Earl  of  Lennox.  They  both  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him 
from  it,  but  without  success.  Lennox,  who  seems,  as  well  as  his  son,  to 
have  lost  the  queen's  confidence,  and  who,  about  this  time,  was  seldom  at 
court,  instantly  communicated  the  matter  to  her  by  a  letter.  Henry,  who 
had  refused  to  accompany  the  queen  from  Stirling  to  Edinbuigh,  was  like- 
wise absent  from  court.  He  arrived  there,  however,  on  th-2  same  day  she 
received  the  account  of  his  intended  flight.  But  he  was  more  than  usually 
way  ward  and  peevish  ;  and,  scrupling  to  enter  the  palace  unless  certaii, 
lords  who  attended  the  queen  were  dismissed,  Mary  was  obliged  to  meei 
him  without  the  gates.  At  last  he  suffered  her  to  conduct  him  into  hei 
own  apartment.  She  endeavoured  to  draw  from  him  the  reasons  of  the 
strange  resolution  which  he  had  taken,  and  to  divert  him  from  it.  In  spite, 
however,  of  all  her  arguments  and  entreaties,  he  remained  silent  and 
inflexible.  Next  day  the  privy  council,  by  her  direction,  expostulated 
with  him  on  the  same  head.  He  persisted,  notwithstanding,  in  his  sull  r> 
ness  and  obstinacy;  and  neither  deigned  to  explain  the  motives  of  his  con- 
duct, nor  signified  any  intention  of  altering  it.  As  he  left  the  apartment, 
ne  turned  towards  the  queen,  and  told  her  that  she  should  not  see  his 
face  again  for  a  long  time.  A  few  days  after,  he  wrote  to  Mary,  and  men 
tioned  two  things  as  grounds  of  his  disgust.     She  herself,  he  said,  no  longer 

•  Andor*.  1.  93  94  t  Knox,  399. 


152  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV 

admitted  him  into  any  confidence,  and  had  deprived  him  of  all  power 
and  the  nobles,  after  her  example,  treated  him  with  open  neglect,  so  that 
he  appeared  in  every  place  without  the  dignity  and  splendour  of  a  king. 

Nothing  could  be  more  mortifying  to  Mary  than  this  intended  flight  of 
the  king's,  which  would  have  spread  the  infamy  of  their  domestic  quarrel 
all  over  Europe.  Compassion  for  a  monarch,  who  would  then  appear  to 
be  forced  into  exile  by  her  neglect  and  ill  usage,  might  have  disposed  man- 
kind to  entertain  sentiments,  concerning  the  causes  of  their  discord,  little 
to  her  advantage.  In  order,  therefore,  to  prepossess  the  minds  of  her  allies, 
and  to  screen  her  reputation  from  any  censure  with  which  Darnly  migh' 
endeavour  to  load  it,  the  privy  council  transmitted  a  narrative  of  this  whole 
transaction  both  to  the  king  and  to  the  queen-mother  of  France.  It  was 
drawn  with  great  art,  and  sets  Mary's  conduct  in  the  most  favourable 
point  of  view.* 

About  this  time  the  license  of  the  borderers  called  for  redress ;  and 
Mary  resolving  to  hold  a  court  of  justice  at  Jedburgh,  the  inhabitants  of 
several  adjacent  counties  were  summoned  to  attend  their  sovereign  in 
arms,  according  to  custom. t  Bothwell  was  at  that  time  lieutenant  or 
warden  of  all  the  marches,  an  office  among  the  most  important  in  the 
kingdom;  and,  though  usually  divided  into  three  distinct  governments, 
bestowed  by  the  queen's  favour  upon  him  alone.  In  order  to  display  his 
own  valour  and  activity  in  the  discharge  of  this  trust,  he  attempted  to 
seize  a  gang  of  banditti,  who,  lurking  among  the  marshes  of  Liddesdale, 
infested  the  rest  of  the  country.  But  while  he  was  laying  hold  upon  one 
of  those  desperadoes  [Oct.  16],  he  was  wounded  by  him  in  several  places, 
so  that  his  followers  were  obliged  to  carry  him  to  Hermitage  castle. 
Mary  instantly  flew  thither  with  an  impatience  which  has  been  considered 
as  marking  the  anxietv  of  a  lover,  but  little  suited  the  dignity  of  a  queen. J 
Finding  that  Bothwell  was  threatened  with  no  dangerous  symptom,  she 
returned  the  same  day  to  Jedburgh.  The  fatigue  of  such  a  journey,  added 
to  the  anguish  of  mind  she  had  suffered  on  Bothwell's  account,  threw  hei 
next  morning  into  a  violent  fever.§  Her  life  was  despaired  of;  but  hei 
youth,  and  the  vigour  of  her  constitution,  resisted  the  malignity  of  her 
disease.  During  the  continuance  of  the  queen's  illness,  the  king,  who 
resided  at  Stirling,  never  came  near  Jedburgh  :||  and  when  he  afterwards 
thought  fit  to  make  his  appearance  there  [Nov.  5],  he  met  with  such  a 
cold  reception  as  did  not  encourage  him  to  make  any  long  stay. IT  Mary 
soon  recovered  strength  enough  to  return  along  the  eastern  borders  te 
Dunbar. 

While  she  resided  in  this  place,  her  attention  was  turned  towards  Eng- 
land. Elizabeth,  notwithstanding  her  promise  and  even  proclamations  tc 
the  contrary,  not  only  allowed,  but  encouraged  Morton  and  his  associates 
to  remain  in  England.**  Mary,  on  the  other  hand,  offered  her  protection  to 
several  English  fugitives.  Each  queen  watched  the  motions  of  the  other 
with  a  jealous  attention,  and  secretly  countenanced  the  practices  which  were 
carrying  on  to  disturb  the  administration  of  her  rival. 

For  this  purpose  Mary's  ambassador,  Robert  Melvil,  and  her  other 
pmissaries  were  extremely  active  and  successful.     We  may  ascribe,  in  a 

*  Keith,  345.  347.  t  Ibid.  353.     Good.  vol.  i.  302. 

t  The  distance  between  Jedburgh  and  Hermitage  is  eighteen  Scottish  miles,  t'jrough  a  tountry 
almost  impassable.  'The  season  of  the  year  was  Car  advanced.  Bothwell  seens  to  have  been 
wounded  in  a  scuffle,  occasioned  by  ihe  despair  of  a  single  man.  rather  than  any  open  insurrection 
of  the  borderers.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  queen  was  attended  by  any  considerable  train.  Had 
any  military  operation  been  necessary,  as  is  supposed.  Good.  vol.  i.  304,  it  would  have  been  ex- 
tremely improper  to  risk  the  queen's  pet  'son  in  an  expedition  against  thieves.  As  soon  as  the  queen 
found  Bothwell  to  be  in  no  danger,  she  instantly  returned  ;  and  after  this  we  hear  no  more  of  the 
insurrection,  nor  have  we  any  proof  that  the  rioters  took  refuge  in  England.  As  there  is  no  furthe 
evidence  with  respect  to  the  motives  of  this  extraordinary  journey,  the  reader  must  judge  wha 
degree  of  credit  is  due  to  Knox  and  Buchanan,  who  ascribe  it  to  the  queen's  love  of  Bothwell. 

§  Keith,  351,  35S  l|  Ibid.  Append.  133.  IF  Knox,  400.  **  Cald.  vol.  ii.  p.  15. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  153 

good  degree,  to  their  intrigues,  that  spirit  which  appeared  in  the  parliament 
of  England,  and  which  raised  a  storm  that  threatened  Elizabeth's  domestic 
tranquillity  more  than  any  other  event  of  her  reign,  and  required  all  her  art 
and  dexterity  to  allay  it. 

Elizabeth  had  now  reigned  eight  years  without  discovering  the  least 
intention  to  marry.  A  violent  distemper  with  which  she  had  lately  been 
seized,  having  endangered  her  life,  and  alarmed  the  nation  with  the 
prospect  of  ail  those  calamities  which  are  occasioned  by  a  disputed  and 
dubious  succession,  a  motion  was  made,  and  eagerly  listened  to  in  both 
houses,  for  addressing  the  queen  lo  provide  against  any  such  danger  in 
times  to  come,  either  by  signifying  her  own  resolution  to  marry  ^1  by  con- 
senting to  an  act  establishing  the  order  of  succession  to  the  crown.*  Her 
love  to  her  subjects,  her  duty  to  the  public,  her  concern  for  posterity,  it 
was  asserted,  not  only  called  upon,  but  obliged  her  to  take  one  of  these 
steps.  The  insuperable  aversion  which  she  had  all  along  discovered  foi 
marriage  made  it  improbable  that  she  would  choose  the  former ;  and  it 
she  complied  with  the  latter  request,  no  title  to  the  crown  could,  with  any 
colour  of  justice,  be  set  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  Scottish  queen.  Eliza- 
beth was  sagacious  enough  to  see  the  remotest  consequences  of  this  motion, 
and  observed  them  with  the  greatest  anxiety.  Mary,  by  refusing  so  often 
to  ratify  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  had  plainly  intimated  a  design  of  em- 
bracing the  first  promising  opportunity  for  prosecuting  her  right  to  the 
English  crown;  and,  by  her  secret  negotiations,  she  had  gained  many  to 
favour  her  title.j  All  the  Roman  Catholics  ardently  wished  for  her  succes- 
sion. Her  gentleness  and  humanity  had  removed  many  of  those  appre- 
hensions which  the  protestants  entertained  on  account  of  her  religion.  The 
court  faction,  which  envied  the  power  of  Cecil,  and  endeavoured  to  wrest 
the  administration  out  of  his  hands,  advanced  the  pretensions  of  the  Scot- 
tish queen  in  opposition  to  him.  The  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  was  a 
desirable  object  to  all  wise  men  in  both  nations  ;  and  the  birth  of  the  young 
prince  was  a  security  for  the  continuance  of  this  blessing,  and  gave  hopes 
of  its  perpetuity. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  while  the  nation  was  in  such  a  temper, 
a  parliamentary  declaration  of  Mary's  title  would  have  been  highly  detri- 
mental to  Elizabeth.  The  present  unsettled  state  of  the  succession  left 
much  in  her  power.  Her  resentment  alone  might  have  gone  far  towards 
excluding  any  of  the  competitors  from  the  crown ;  and  the  dread  of  this 
had  hitherto  restrained  and  overawed  the  ambition  of  the  Scottish  queen. 
But  if  this  check  should  be  removed  by  the  legal  acknowledgment  of  her 
title,  Mary  would  be  more  at  liberty  to  pursue  her  dangerous  designs,  and 
to  act  without  fear  or  reserve.  Her  partisans  were  already  meditating 
schemes  for  insurrections  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;J  and  an  act  oi 
parliament  recognising  the  rights  of  that  princess,  whose  pretensions  they 
favoured,  would  have  been  nothing  less  than  a  signal  to  arms;  and,  not- 
withstanding Elizabeth's  just  title  to  the  affections  of  her  subjects,  might 
have  shaken  and  endangered  her  throne. 

While  this  matter  remained  in  suspense  in  both  houses,  an  account  of  it 
was  transmitted  to  Mary  by  Melvil,  her  ambassador.  As  she  did  not  want 
advocates  for  her  right,  even  among  those  who  were  near  Elizabeth's 
person, she  endeavoured  to  cultivate  the  disposition  which  appeared  toward, 
settling  the  right  of  succession  in  her  favour,  by  a  letter  to  the  privy 
counsellors  of  England.  She  expressed  in  it  a  grateful  sense  of  Elizabeth's 
friendship,  which  she  ascribes  chiefly  to  their  good  offices  with  their 
sovereign  in  her  behalf.  She  declared  her  resolution  to  live  in  perpetual 
amity  with  England,  without  urging  or  pursuing  her  claim  upon  the  crown 
any  further  than  should  be  agreeable  to  the  queen.     But,  at  the  same  tim* 

*  D'Ewes'  Tourn  of  Pari.  105.  t  Melv.  136.  }  Ibid.  147. 

Vg-    III      20 


1M  THE  HISTOR1  [Book  ^ . 

as  her  right  of  succession  was  undoubted,  she  hoped  it  would  be  examined 
with  candour,  and  judged  of  with  impartiality.  The  nobles  who  attended 
her  wrote  to  the  English  privy  council  in  tbe  same  strain.*  Mary  artfully 
gave  these  letters  the  air  of  being  nothing  more  than  a  declaration  of  her 
own  and  of  her  subjects*  gratitude  towards  Elizabeth.  But,  as  she  could 
not  be  ignorant  of  the  jealousy  and  fear  with  which  Elizabeth  observed  tbe 
proceedings  of  parliament,  a  step  so  uncommon  as  this,  of  one  prince's 
entering  into  public  correspondence  with  the  privy  counsellors  of  another, 
could  not  be  otherwise  construed  than  as  taken  with  an  intention  to  encourage 
the  spirit  which  had  already  been  raised  among  the  English.  In  this  light 
it  seems  to  have  appeared  to  Elizabeth  herself.t  But  the  disposition  of 
her  people  rendering  it  necessary  to  treat  Mary's  person  with  great  decency, 
and  her  title  with  much  regard,  she  mentioned  it  to  her  only  in  the  softest 
language. 

Nothing,  however,  could  be  a  more  cruel  mortification  to  a  princess  of 
Elizabeth  s  character  than  the  temper  which  both  houses  of  parliament 
discovered  on  this  occasion.  She  bent  all  her  policy  to  defeat  or  elude 
the  motion.  After  allowing  the  first  heat  of  their  zeal  to  evaporate,  she 
called  into  her  presence  a  certain  number  of  each  house.  She  soothed  and 
caressed  them  ;  she  threatened  and  promised ;  she  remitted  subsidies 
which  were  due,  and  refused  those  which  were  offered ;  and,  in  the  end, 
prevailed  to  have  this  formidable  motion  put  off  for  that  session.  Happily 
for  her,  that  conduct  of  the  Scottish  queen,  and  the  misfortunes  which 
befell  her,  prevented  the  revival  of  such  a  motion  in  any  future  parlia- 
ment.;"; 

Meantime,  in  order  to  preserve  the  reputation  of  impartiality,  and  that 
she  might  not  drive  Mary  into  any  desperate  measure,  she  committed  to 
the  tower  one  Thornton  who  had  published  something  derogatory  to  the 
right  of  the  Scottish  line  ;§  and  signified  her  displeasure  against  a  member 
oi  the  house  of  commons,  who  seemed  by  some  words  in  a  speech,  to 
glance  at  Mary.|| 

Amidst  all  her  other  cares,  Mary  was  ever  solicitous  to  promote  the 
interest  of  that  religion  which  she  professed.  The  re-establis-hment  of  the 
Romish  doctrine  seems  to  have  been  her  favourite  passion  ;  and  though  the 
design  was  concealed  with  care  and  conducted  with  caution,  she  pursued 
it  with  a  persevering  zeal.  At  this  time  she  ventured  to  lay  aside  some- 
what of  her  usual  reserve ;  and  the  aid  which  she  expected  from  the 
popish  princes,  who  had  engaged  in  the  league  of  Bayonne,  encouraged 
her  to  take  a  step  which,  if  we  consider  the  temper  of  the  nation,  appears 
to  be  extremely  bold.  Having  formerly  held  a  secret  correspondence 
with  the  court  of  Rome,  she  now  resolved  to  allow  a  nuncio  from  the  pope 
publicly  to  enter  her  dominions.  Cardinal  Laurea,  at  that  time  bishop  o. 
Mondovi,  was  the  person  on  whom  Fius  V.  conferred  this  office,  and  along 
with  him  he  sent  the  queen  a  present  of  twenty  thousand  crowns.  11  It  is 
not  the  character  of  the  papal  court  to  open  its  treasury  upon  distant  or 
imaginary  hopes.  The  business  of  the  nuncio  into  Scotland  could  be  no 
other  than  to  attempt  a  reconciliation  of  that  kingdom  to  the  Romish  see. 
Thus  Mary  herself  understood  it ;  and,  in  her  answer  to  a  letter  which 
she  received  from  the  pope,  after  expressing  her  grateful  sense  of  his 
paternal  care  and  liberality,  she  promises  that  she  would  bend  her  whole 
strength  towards  the  re-establishment  and  propagation  of  the  Catholic  faith  ; 
that  she  would  receive  the  nuncio  with  every  possible  demonstration  oi 
respect,  and  concur  with  the  utmost  vigour  in  all  his  designs  towards  pro- 
moting the  honour  of  God,  and  restoring  peace  to  the  kingdom  ;  that  she 
would  celebrate  the  baptism  of  the  prince  according  to  the  ceremonies 

*  Keith,  354.    Append.  136.  t  Keith,  357.  i  D'Ewes'  Journ.  104—130.    Camd.  309. 

Melv.119.     Haynes,  44<J.  $  Camd.  401.  ||  Haynea,  449.        ir  Vita  Card.  Law.  ap.  Burn 

vol  *ii.  p.  335. 


();•    SCOTLAND.  155 

which  the  Romish  ritual  prescribes,  hoping  that  her  subjects  would  be 
taught,  by  this  example,  a^ain  to  reverence  the  sacraments  of  the  church, 
which  they  had  so  long  treated  with  contempt;  and  that  she  would  be 
careful  to  instil  early  into  her  son  the  principles  of  a  sincere  love  and  attach- 
ment to  the  Catholic  faith.*  But  though  the  nuncio  was  already  arrived 
at  Paris,  and  had  sent  over  one  of  his  attendants  with  part  of  the  money, 
the  queen  did  not  think  the  juncture  proper  for  his  reception.  Elizabeth 
was  preparing  to  send  a  magnificent  embassy  into  Scotland,  against  the 
li  ne  of  the  prince's  baptism,  and,  as  it  would  have  been  improper  to  offend 
her,  she  wisely  contrived,  under  various  pretences,  to  detain  Laurea  at 
Paris.t  The  convulsions  into  which  the  kingdom  was  thrown  soon  after 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  pursue  his  journey  any  further. 

At  the  very  time  that  Mary  was  secretly  carrying  on  these  negotiations 
for  subverting  the  reformed  church,  she  did  not  scruple  publicly  to  employ 
her  authority  towards  obtaining  for  its  ministers  a  more  certain  and  com- 
fortable subsistence.!  During  this  year  she  issued  several  proclamations 
and  acts  of  council  for  that  purpose,  and  readily  approved  of  every  scheme 
which  was  proposed  for  the  more  effectual  payment  of  their  stipends 
This  part  of  her  conduct  does  little  honour  to  Mary's  integrity ;  and  though 
justified  by  the  example  of  princes,  who  often  reckon  falsehood  and  deceit 
among  the  necessary  arts  of  government,  and  even  authorized  by  the  per- 
nicious casuistry  of  the  Roman  church,  which  transfers  breach  of  faith  to 
heretics  from  the  list  of  crimes  to  that  of  duties;  such  dissimulation,  how 
ever,  must  be  numbered  among  those  blemishes  which  never  stain  a  truly 
great  and  generous  character. 

As  neither  the  French  nor  Piedmontese  ambassadors  were  yet  arrived, 
the  baptism  of  the  prince  was  put  off  from  time  to  time  Meanwhile, 
Mary  hxed  her  residence  at  Craigmillar.§  Such  retiremtat,  perhaps, 
suited  the  present  temper  of  her  mind,  and  induced  her  to  prefer  it  before 
her  own  palace  of  Holyrood-house.  Her  aversion  for  the  king  grew  every 
day  more  confirmed,  and  was  become  altogether  incurable.  A  deep 
melancholy  succeeded  to  that  gayety  of  spirit  which  was  natural  to  he»- 
The  rashness  and  levity  of  her  own  choice,  and  the  king's  ingratitude  a^n 
obstinacy,  filled  her  with  shame  and  with  despair.  A  variety  of  pass1™-- 
preyed  at  once  on  a  mind,  all  whose  sensations  were  exquisite,  and  all  lis 
emotions  strong,  and  often  extorted  from  her  the  last  wish  of  the  unfor- 
tunate, that  life  itself  might  come  to  an  end.il 

But  as  the  earl  of  Bedford,  and  the  count  de  Brienne,  the  English  and 
French  ambassadors,  whom  she  had  long  expected,  arrived  about  this 
time,  Mary  was  obliged  to  suppress  what  passed  in  her  bosom,  and  to  set 
out  for  Stirling,  in  order  to  celebrate  the  baptism  of  her  son.  Bedford  was 
attended  by  a  numerous  and  splendid  train,  and  brought  presents  from 
Elizabeth,  suitable  to  her  own  dignity,  and  the  respect  with  which  she 
iffected,  at  that  time,  to  treat  the  queen  of  Scots.  Great  preparations  had 
'>een  made  by  Mary,  and  the  magnificence  displayed  by  her  on  this  occa- 
sion exceeded  whatever  had  been  formerly  known  in  Scotland.  The 
ceremony  itself  was  performed  [Dec.  17],  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
Romish  church  But  neither  Bedford  nor  any  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  who 
professed  the  protestant  religion,  entered  within  the  gates  of  the  chapel.  11 
f'ne  spirit  of  that  age,  firm  and  uncomplying,  would  not,  upon  any  induce- 
ment, condescend  to  witness  an  action  which  is  deemed  idolatrous. 

Henry's  behaviour  at  this  juncture  perfectly  discovers  the  excess  of  his 
caprice,  as  well  as  of  his  folly.  He  chose  to  reside  at  Stirling,  but  con- 
fined himself  to  his  own  apartment ;  and,  as  the  queen  distrusted  every 
nobleman  who  ventured  to  converse  with  him,  he  was  lett  in  absolute  soli- 

*  Conei  Vita  Maria,  ap.  Jebb,  vol.  ii.  p.  51.  t  Keith,  A  -ipend.  135.  J  Keith,  561,  569 

Knox.  401  &  Keith,  355  I  Ibid    Pn»f  vii  V  Keith.  360. 


156  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

tude.  Nothing  could  be  more  singular,  or  was  less  expected,  than  his 
choosing  to  appear  in  a  manner  that  both  published  the  contempt  under 
which  he  had  fallen,  and,  by  exposing  the  queen's  domestic  unhappiness  to 
the  observation  of  so  many  foreigners,  looked  like  a  step  taken  on  purpose 
to  mortify  and  to  offend  her.  Mary  felt  this  insult  sensibly;  and  notwith- 
standing all  her  efforts  to  assume  the  gayety  which  suited  the  occasion, 
and  which  was  necessary  for  the  polite  reception  of  her  guests,  she  was 
sometimes  obliged  to  retire,  in  order  to  be  at  liberty  to  indulge  her  sorrow, 
and  give  vent  to  her  tears.*  The  king  still  persisted  in  his  design  of 
retiring  into  foreign  parts,  and  daily  threatened  to  put  it  into  execution.! 

The  ceremony  of  witnessing  the  prince's  baptism  was  not  the  sole  business 
of  Bedford's  embassy.  His  instructions  contained  an  overture  which  ought 
to  have  gone  far  towards  extinguishing;  those  jealousies  which  had  so  long 
subsisted  between  the  two  queens.  The  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  which  had 
been  so  often  mentioned,  was  the  principal  occasion  of  these.  The  spirit, 
however,  which  had  risen  to  such  a  height  in  the  late  parliament,  the 
power  of  the  party  which  favoured  the  Scottish  queen's  title,  the  number 
-*nd  activity  of  her  agents  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  alarmed  Eliza- 
beth, and  induced  her  to  forego  any  advantage  which  the  ambiguous  and 
titful  expressions  in  that  treaty  might  afford  her.  Nothing  was  now- 
demanded  of  Mary,  Lut  to  renounce  any  title  to  the  crown  of  England 
luring  Elizabeth's  life  and  the  lives  of  her  posterity ;  who,  on  the  other 
Qand,  engaged  to  take  no  step  which  might  prove  injurious  to  Mary's 
claim  upon  the  succession. J 

Mary  could  not  with  decency  reject  a  proposition  so  equitable  ;  she 
insisted,  however,  that  Elizabeth  should  order  the  right  upon  which  she 
claimed,  to  be  legally  examined  and  publicly  recognised,  and  particularly 
that  the  testament  of  Henry  VIII.,  whereby  he  had  excluded  the  descend- 
ants of  his  eldest  sister,  the  queen  of  Scotland,  from  the  place  due  to  them 
in  the  order  of  succession,  might  be  produced,  and  considered  by  the 
English  nobility.  Mary's  ministers  had  credulously  embraced  an  opinion, 
that  this  testament,  which  they  so  justiy  conceived  to  be  injurious  to  their 
mistress,  was  a  mere  forgery;  and  on  different  occasions  had  urged  Eliza- 
beth to  produce  it.  Mary  would  have  suffered  considerably  by  gaining 
this  point.  The  original  testament  is  still  extant,  and  not  the  least  doubt 
can  be  entertained  of  its  genuineness  and  authenticity.  But  it  was  not 
Elizabeth's  intention  to  weaken  or  to  set  aside  the  title  of  the  house  of 
Stuart.  She  aimed  at  nothing  more  than  to  keep  the  question  concerning 
the  succession  perplexed  and  undecided;  and  by  industriously  eluding  this 
request,  she  did,  in  one  respect,  real  service  to  Mary's  cause. § 

*  Keith,  /ref.  vii. 

t  Camden  affirms,  401.  that  Bedford  was  commanded  by  Elizabeth  not  to  give  Darnly  the  title  of 
king.  As  this  was  an  indignity  not  to  be  borne  either  by  Mary  or  ner  husband,  it  hath  been  asserted 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  king's  absence  from  the  ceremony  of  his  son's  baptism.  Keith,  360.  Good. 
319.  But,  1.  No  such  thing  is  to  be  found  among  Bedford's  instructions,  the  original  of  which  still 
remains.  Keith,  350.  '2.  Bedford's  advice  to  the  queen  by  Melvil  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  Cam- 
den's assertion.  Melv  153.  MelviPs  account  is  confirm' .d  by  Elizabeth's  instructions  to  Sir  Henry 
Norris,  where  she  affirms  that  she  commanded  Bedford  ti  employ  his  best  offices  towards  reconciling 
Mary  to  her  husband,  which  she  had  attempted  to  no  pi  rpose  Digges's  Compl.  A  in  has.  p.  13.  A 
paper  published,  Appendix  No.  XVIII.  proves  the  san  e  thing.  3.  Le  Croc  the  Fiench  resident 
mentions  the  king's  absence,  but  without  giving  that  reLson  for  it,  which  has  been  founded  on  Cam- 
den's words,  though,  if  that  had  been  the  real  one,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive  that  he  should 
have  neglected  to  mention  it  Le  Croc's  first  letter  is  dated  December  2,  some  time  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  the  earl  of  Bedford  in  Scotland  ;  and  when  his  instructions,  either  public  or  secret,  couid 
hardlv  be  known.  Le  Croc  plainly  supposes  that  the  discord  between  the  king  and  queen  was  ihe 
ran*  of  hi->  absence  from  ihe  baptism,  and  his  account  of  this  matter  is  iliai  which  I  have  followed. 
Ktrta,  Pref.  vii.  4.  He  informs  his  conn,  that  on  account  of  the  difference  between  the  king  and 
the  queen,  he  had  refused  to  hold  any  further  correspondence  with  Ihe  former,  though  he  appears,  in 
many  instances,  to  have  been  his  great  confidant.  Ibid  5.  As  the  king  was  not  present  at  the 
baptism,  he  seems  to  have  been  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  ordinary  administration  of  business. 
Two  acts  of  privy  council,  one  on  the  20'h,  a::rl  the  other  on  the  2Isl  of  December,  are  found  in 
Keith,  562.  They  both  run  in  the  queen's  name  alone.  The  king  seems  not  to  have  been  present. 
This  could  not  b/»  owing  to  Elizabeth's  instructions-  to  Bedford. 

t  Keith,  356  $  Rymer.  xv.  p.  110     Keith,  358.  Note  (c).    Mutden,  368 


OF    SCOTLAND.  1W 

A  few  days  after  the  baptism  of  the  prince,  Mjrton  and  all  the  other 
conspirators  against  Rizio  obtained  their  pardon,  and  leave  to  return  into 
Scotland.  Mary,  who  had  hitherto  continued  inexorable  to  every  treaty 
in  their  behalf,  yielded  at  last  to  the  solicitations  of  Bothwell.*  He  could 
hope  for  no  success  on  those  bold  designs  on  which  his  ambition  resolved 
to  venture,  without  drawing  aid  from  every  quarter.  By  procuring  a 
favour  for  Morton  and  his  associates,  of  which  the}-  had  good  reason  tc 
despair,  he  expected  to  secure  a  band  of  faithful  and  determined  adherents. 

The  king  still  remained  at  Stirling  in  solitude  and  under  contempt. 
His  impatience  in  this  situation,  together  with  the  alarm  given  him  by  the 
rumour  of  a  design  to  seize  his  person  and  confine  him  in  prison,!  was  the 
occasion  of  his  leaving  that  place  in  an  abrupt  manner,  and  retiring  to  hi? 
hiher  at  Glasgow. 

Two  assemblies  of  the  church  were  held  during  this  year  [June  25 
Dec.  25].  New  complaints  were  made,  and  upon  good  grounds,  of  the 
poverty  and  contempt  under  which  the  protestant  clergy  were  suffered  tc 
languish.  Penurious  as  the  allotment  for  their  subsistence  was,  they  had 
not  receive  1  I  he  least  part  of  what  was  due  for  the  preceding  year.J 
Nothing  less  than  a  zeal  ready  to  endure  and  to  suffer  every  thing  for  a 
good  cause,  could  have  persuaded  men  to  adhere  to  a  church  so  indigent 
and  so  neglected.  The  extraordinary  expenses  occasioned  by  the  prince's 
oaptism  had  exhausted  the  queen's  treasury,  and  the  sums  appropriated 
for  the  subsistence  of  the  clergy  were  diverted  into  other  channels.  The 
ijueen  was  therefore  obliged  to  prevent  the  just  remonstrances  of  the 
assembly,  by  falling  on  some  new  method  for  the  relief  of  the  church. 
Some  symptoms  of  liberality, some  stretch  towards  munificence,  might  have 
been  expected  in  an  assignment  which  was  made  with  an  intention  of 
soothing  and  silencing  the  clergy.  But  both  the  queen  and  the  nobles  held 
fast  the  riches  of  the  church  which  they  had  seized.  A  sum  which,  at  the 
highest  computation,  can  hardly  be  reckoned  equal  to  nine  thousand 
pounds  sterling.^  was  deemed  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  a  whole 
national  church,  oy  men  who  had  lately  seen  single  monasteries  possessed 
of  revenues  far  superior  in  value. 

The  ecclesiastics  in  that  age  bore  the  grievances  which  affected  them- 
selves alone  with  astonishing  patience  ;  but,  wherever  the  reformed  religion 
was  threatened,  they  were  extremely  apt  to  be  alarmed,  and  to  proclaim, 
in  the  loudest  manner,  their  apprehensions  of  danger.  A  just  occasion  ot 
this  kind  was  given  them  a  short  time  before  the  meeting  of  the  assembly. 
The  usurped  and  oppressed  jurisdiction  of  the  spiritual  courts  had  been 
abolished  by  the  parliament  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
sixty,  and  commissaries  were  appointed  to  hear  and  determine  the  causes 
which  formerly  came  under  their  cognizance. ||  Among  the  few  acts  of  that 
parliament  to  which  Mary  had  paid  any  regard,  this  was  one.  She  had 
confirmed  the  authority  of  the  commissaries,  and  had  given  them  instruc- 
tions for  directing  their  proceedings,4?!  which  are  still  of  great  authority  in 
that  court.  From  the  time  of  their  first  appointment,  these  judges  had  con- 
tinued in  the  uninterrupted  exercise  of  their  function,  when  of  a  sudden  the 
queen  issued  a  proclamation,  restoring  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew  to  his 
ancient  jurisdiction,  and  depriving  the  commissaries  of  all  authority.** 

\  motive,  which  cannot  be  justified,  rendered  the  queen  not  unwilling  to 
venture  upon  this  rash  action.  She  had  been  contriving  for  some  time  how 
to  re-establish  the  popish  religion  ;  and  the  restoring  the  ancient  eccle- 
siastics to  their  former  jurisdiction  seemed  to  be  a  considerable  step 
towards  that  end.  The  motive  which  prompted  Bothwell,  to  whose  influ- 
ence over  the  queen,  this  action  must  be  chiefly  imputed,|t  was  still  more 

*  Rood.  vol.  i.  140.     Melv.  154.  t  Keith,  Pref.  viii.  ;  Keith,  56«  .  $  Ibid 

0  Ibid.  152  IT  Ibid.  951.  **  Knox  403.  tt  M  "bid 


168  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

criminal  His  enterprising-  ambition  had  already  formed  tnat  bold  design, 
which  he  soon  after  put  in  execution  ;  and  the  use  which  we  shall  hereafter 
find  him  making  of  that  authority  which  the  popish  ecclesiastics  regained, 
discovers  the  reasons  of  his  present  conduct  in  contributing  to  revive  their 
power.  The  protestant  clergy  were  not  unconcerned  spectators  of  an 
event  which  threatened  their  religion  with  unavoidable  destruction  ;  but, 
as  they  despaired  of  obtaining  the  proper  remedy  from  the  queen  herself, 
they  addressed  a  remonstrance  to  the  whole  body  of  the  protestant  nobility, 
full  of  that  ardent  zeal  for  religion,  which  the  danger  to  which  it  was 
exposed  at  that  time  seemed  to  require.*  What  effects  this  vehement 
exhortation  might  have  produced,  we  have  no  opportunity  of  judging,  the 
attention  of  the  nation  being  quickly  turned  towards  events  of  another  and 
more  tragical  nature. 

Immediately  upon  the  king's  leaving  Stirling,  and  before  he  could  reach 
Glasgow,  he  was  seized  with  a  dangerous  distemper.  The  symptoms 
which  attended  it  were  violent  and  unusual,  and  in  that  age  it  was  com- 
monly imputed  to  the  effects  of  poison. t  It  is  impossible,  amidst  the  con- 
tradictions of  historians,  to  decide  with  certainty  concerning  its  nature  or  its 
cause. I  His  life  was  in  the  utmost  danger ;  but,  after  lingering  for  some 
weeks,  the  vigour  of  his  constitution  surmounted  the  malignity  of  his  disease. 
Mary's  neglect  of  the  king  on  this  occasion  was  equal  to  that  with  which 
he  had  treated  her  during  her  illness  at  Jedburgh  She  no  longer  felt  that 
warmth  of  conjugal  affection  which  prompts  to  sympathy,  and  delights  in 
all  those  tender  offices  which  sooth  and  alleviate  sickness  and  pain.  At 
this  juncture  she  did  not  even  put  on  the  appearance  of  this  passion.  Not- 
withstanding the  king's  danger,  she  amused  herself  with  excursions  to  dif 
ferent  parts  of  the  country,  and  suffered  near  a  month  to  elapse  before  she 
visited  him  at  Glasgow.  By  that  time  the  violence  of  the  distemper  was 
over,  and  the  king,  though  weak  and  languishing,  was  out  of  all  danger 

The  breach  between  Mary  and  her  husband  was  not  occasioned  by  any 
of  those  slight  disgusts  which  interrupt  the  domestic  union,  without  dis- 
solving it  altogether.  Almost  all  the  passions  which  operate  with  greatest 
violence  on  a  female  mind,  and  drive  it  to  the  most  dangerous  extremes, 
concurred  in  raising  and  fomenting  this  unhappy  quarrel.  Ingratitude  for 
the  favours  she  had  bestowed,  contempt  of  her  person,  violations  of  the 
maniage-vow,  encroachments  on  her  power,  conspiracies  against  her 
favourites,  jealousy,  insolence,  and  obstinacy,  were  the  injuries  of  which 
Mary  had  great  reason  to  complain.  She  felt  them  with  the  utmost  sensi- 
bility; and,  added  to  the  anguish  of  disappointed  love,  they  produced  those 
symptoms  of  despair  which  we  have  already  described.  Her  resentment 
against  the  king  seems  not  to  have  abated  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  Stir- 
ling. In  a  letter  written  with  her  own  hand  to  her  ambassador  in  France, 
on  the  day  before  she  set  out  for  Glasgow,  no  tokens  of  sudden  reconcile- 
ment appear.  On  the  contrary  [Jan.  20],  she  mentions,  with  some  bitter- 
ness, the  king's  ingratitude,  the  jealousy  with  which  he  observed   hei - 

*  Keith,  567.  t  Melv.  154.     Knox,  40). 

I  Buchanan  and  Knox  are  positive  thai  the  kine  had  been  poisoned.  They  mention  the  black 
and  putrid  pustules  which  broke  out  all  over  his  body.  Buchanan  adds,  that  Abernethy,  the  king's 
physician,  plainly  declared  that  poison  was  the  cause  of  these  symptoms,  and  that  the  queen  refused 
to  allow  her  own  physician  to  attend  him  Buch.  :M9.  Knox,  401.  2.  Blackwood,  Cauein,  &c 
Jebb,  vol.  ii.  59.  214,  assert  that  the  small  pox  was  the  disease  with  which  the  king  was  seized.  He 
is  called  a  Pokish  man  in  the  queen's  letter.  Good.  vol.  ii.  15.  The  reason  given  by  French  Paris 
for  lodging  the  king  at  the  Kirk  of  Field,  viz.  lest  the  young  prince  should  catch  the  infection  if  he 
staid  in  the  palace,  seems  to  favour  this  opinion  Anders,  vol.  ii  J  93.  f'arle  mentions  it  as  a  proof 
of  Marv's  tenderness  to  her  husband,  thai  though  she  never  had  the  small-pox  herself,  she  ventured 
to  attend  him,  vol.  iii.  446  This,  if  it  had  been  true,  would  have  aftbrded  a  good  pretence  for  not 
visiting  him  sooner ;  but  Mary  had  the  small-pox  in  her  infancy.  Sadler's  Letters,  p.  330.  An  ad 
ditional  proof  of  this  is  produced  from  a  poem  of  Adrian  Turnebus,  by  the  publisher  of  ancient 
Scottish  poems,  p.  308.  3.  Bishop  Lesley  affirms,  that  the  king's  disease  was  the  French  pox. 
Keith,  364.  Note  (A).  In  that  age  this  disease  was  esteemed  so  contagious  that  persona  infected  with 
tt  ware  removed  without  the  walls  of  cities. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  159 

actions,  and  the  inclination  he  discovered  to  disturb  hei  government;  and 
at  the  same  time  talks  of  all  his  attempts  with  the  utmost  scorn.* 

After  this  discovery  of  Mary's  sentiments,  at  the  time  of  her  depaiturp 
from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow,  a  visit  to  the  king,  which  had  been  neglected 
when  his  situation  rendered  it  most  necessary,  appears  singular ;  and  it 
could  hardly  be  expected  that  any  thing  but  marks  of  jealousy  and  distrust 
should  appear  in  such  an  interview.  This,  however,  was  far  from  being 
the  case  ;  she  not  only  visited  Henry,  but,  by  all  her  words  and  actions, 
endeavoured  to  express  an  uncommon  affection  for  him  :  and  though  thi« 
made  impression  on  the  credulous  spirit  of  her  husband,  no  less  flexible  <  n 
some  occasions  than  obstinate  on  others ;  yet  to  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  human  heart,  and  who  know  how  seldom  and  how  slowly  such 
wounds  in  domestic  happiness  are  healed,  this  sudden  transition  will  appear 
with  a  very  suspicious  air.  and  will  be  considered  by  them  as  the  effect 
of  artifice. 

But  it  is  not  on  suspicion  alone  that  Mary  is  charged  with  dissimulation 
in  this  part  of  her  conduct.  Two  of  her  famous  letters  to  Bothwell  were 
written  during  her  stay  at  Glasgow,  and  fully  lay  open  this  scene  of  ini- 
quity. He  had  so  far  succeeded  in  his  ambitious  and  criminal  design,  as  to 
gain  an  absolute  ascendant  over  the  queen  ;  and,  in  a  situation  such  as 
Mary's,  merit  not  so  conspicuous,  services  of  far  inferior  importance,  and 
address  much  less  insinuating  than  Bothwell's,  may  be  supposed  to  steal 
imperceptibly  on  a  female  heart,  and  entirely  to  overcome  it.  Unhappily, 
among  those  in  the  higher  ranks  of  life,  scruples  with  regard  to  conjugal 
fidelity  are,  often,  neither  many  nor  strong :  nor  did  the  manners  of  that 
court  in  which  Mary  had  been  educated  contribute  to  increase  or  to  fortify 
them.  The  amorous  turn  of  Francis  I.  and  Henry  II.,  the  licentiousness  of 
the  military  character  in  that  age,  and  the  liberty  of  appearing  in  all  com- 
panies, which  began  to  be  allowed  to  women,  who  had  not  yet  acquired 
that  delicacy  of  sentiment  and  those  polished  manners  which  alone  can 
render  this  liberty  innocent,  had  introduced  among  the  French  an  astonish- 
ing relaxation  in  domestic  morals.  Such  examples,  which  were  familiar  to 
Mary  from  her  infancy,  could  hardly  fail  of  diminishing  that  horror  of  vice 
which  is  natural  to  a  virtuous  mind.  The  king's  behaviour  would  render 
the  first  approach  of  forbidden  sentiments  less  shocking ;  resentment  and 
disappointed  love  would  be  apt  to  represent  whatever  soothed  her  revenge 
as  justifiable  on  that  account ;  and  so  many  concurring  causes  might,  almost 
imperceptibly,  kindle  a  new  passion  in  her  heart. 

But,  whatever  opinion  we  may  form  with  regard  to  the  rise  and  progress 
of  this  passion,  the  letters  themselves  breathe  all  the  ardour  and  tenderness 
of  love.  The  affection  which  Mary  there  expresses  for  Bothwell,  fully 
accounts  for  every  subsequent  part  of  her  conduct ;  which,  without  admit- 
ting this  circumstance,  appears  altogether  mysterious,  inconsistent,  and 
inexplicable.  That  reconcilement  with  her  husband,  of  which,  if  we  allow 
it  to  be  genuine,  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  plausible  account,  is  discovered, 
by  the  queen's  own  confession,  to  have  been  mere  artifice  and  deceit.  As 
her  aversion  for  her  husband,  and  the  suspicious  attention  with  which  she 
observed  his  conduct,  became  universally  known,  her  ears  were  officiously 
filled,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  with  groundless  or  aggravated  accounts  ot 
his  actions.  By  some  she  was  told,  that  the  king  intended  to  seize  the 
person  of  the  prince  his  son,  and  in  his  name  to  usurp  the  government ;  uy 
others  she  was  assured  that  he  resolved  instantly  to  leave  the  kingdom  ; 
that  a  vessel  was  hired  for  this  purpose,  and  lay  in  the  river  Clyde  ready 
to  receive  him.f  The  last  was  what  Mary  chiefly  dreaded.  Henry  s 
retiring  into  a  foreign  countiy  must  have  been  highly  dishonourable  to  the 
queen,  and  would  have  entirely  disconcerted  Bothwell's  measures.    White 

*  Keith,  Pref.  viii.  t  lb.  ibia. 


160  THE   HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

ho  resided  at  Glasgow,  at  a  distance  from  her,  and  in  that  part  of  the  king 
dom  where  the  interest  of  his  family  was  greatest,  he  might  vvith  more 
facility  accomplish  his  designs.  In  order,  therefore,  to  prevent  his  exe- 
cuting any  such  wild  scheme,  it  was  necessary  to  bring  him  to  some  place 
where  he  would  be  move  immediately  under  her  own  eye.  For  this  pur- 
pose, she  first  employed  all  her  art  to  regain  his  confidence,  and  then  pro- 
posed to  remove  him  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  under  pretence 
that  there  he  would  have  easier  access  to  the  advice  of  physicians,  and  that 
she  herself  could  attend  him  without  being  absent  from  her  son.*  The 
king  was  weak  enough  to  suffer  himself  to  be  persuaded  ;  and,  being  still 
feeble  and  incapable  of  bearing  fatigue,  was  carried  in  a  litter  to  Edinburgh 

The  place  prepared  for  his  reception  was  a  house  belonging  to  the  pro- 
vost of  a  collegiate  church,  called  Kirk  of  Field.  It  stood  almost  upon 
the  same  spot  where  the  house  belonging  to  the  principal  of  the  university 
now  stands.  Such  a  situation,  on  a  rising  ground,  and  at  that  time  in  an 
open  field,  had  all  the  advantages  of  healthful  air  to  recommend  it ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  solitude  of  the  place  rendered  it  extremely  proper 
for  the  commission  of  that  crime,  with  a  view  to  which  it  seems  manifestly 
to  have  been  chosen. 

Mary  continued  to  attend  the  king  with  the  most  assiduous  care.  She  sel- 
dom was  absent  from  him  through  the  day ;  she  slept  two  nights  in  the  cham- 
ber under  his  apartment.  She  heaped  on  him  so  many  marks  of  tenderness 
and  confidence,  as  in  a  great  measure  quieted  those  suspicions  which  had 
so  long  disturbed  him.  But  while  he  was  fondly  indulging  in  dreams  of 
the  return  of  his  former  happiness,  he  stood  on  the  very  brink  of  destruc- 
tion. On  Sunday,  the  9th  of  February,  about  eleven  at  night,  the  queen 
left  the  Kirk  of  Field,  in  order  to  be  present  at  a  masque  in  the  palace. 
At  two  next  morning  the  house  in  which  the  king  lay  was  blown  up  with 
gunpowder.  The  noise  and  shock  which  this  sudden  explosion  occasioned 
alarmed  the  whole  city.  The  inhabitants  ran  to  the  place  whence  it  came. 
The  dead  body  of  the  king,  with  that  of  a  servant  who  slept  in  the  same 
room,  was  found  lying  in  an  adjacent  garden  without  the  city  wall, 
untouched  by  fire,  and  with  no  bruise  or  mark  of  violence. 

Such  was  the  unhappy  fate  of  Henry  Stewart  lord  Darnly,  in  the  twenty 
first  year  of  his  age.  The  indulgence  of  fortune,  and  hrs  own  external 
accomplishments,  without  any  other  merit,  had  raised  him  to  a  height  of 
dignity  of  which  he  was  altogether  unworthy.  By  his  folly  and  ingrati- 
tude, he  lost  the  heart  of  a  woman  who  doted  on  him  to  distraction.  His 
insolence  and  inconstancy  alienated  from  him  such  of  the  nobles  as  had 
contributed  most  zealously  towpids  his  elevation.  His  levity  and  caprice 
exposed  him  to  the  scorn  of  trie  people,  who  once  revered  him  as  the 
descendant  of  their  ancient  kings  and  heroes.  Had  he  died  a  natural  death, 
his  end  would  have  been  unlamented,  and  his  memory  have  been  forgot- 
ten; but  the  cruel  circumstances  of  his  murder,  and  the  shameful  remiss- 
ness in  neglecting  to  avenge  it,  have  made  his  name  to  be  remembered 
with  regret,  and  have  rendered  him  the  object  of  pity,  to  which  he  had 
otherwise  no  title. 

Every  one's  imagination  was  at  work  to  guess  who  had  contrived  and 
executed  this  execrable  deed.  The  suspicion  fell,  with  almost  general 
consent,  on  Bothwell  ;t  and  some  reflections  were  thrown  out,  as  if  the 
queen  herself  were  no  stranger  to  the  crime.  Of  Bothwell's  guilt  thur* 
remains  the  fullest  evidence  that  the  nature  of  the  action  will  admit.  The 
queen's  known  sentiments  with  regard  to  her  husband  gave  a  great  appear- 
ance of  probability  to  the  imputation  with  which  she  was  loaded.^ 

Two  days  after  the   murder  a  proclamation  was  issued  bv  the  queen, 

*  Good.  vol.  ii.  8  t  Melv.  155.     Anders,  vol.  ii.  156.  ;  See  dissertation  concerning  the 

•nurder  o."  Henry  Darnly,  and  the  genuineness  of  Mary's  letters  to  Bothwell.  Appendix. 


0  F  S  C  O  7  L  A  N  D.  lfi 

offering  a  considerable  reward  to  any  person  who  should  discover  those 
who  had  been  guilty  of  such  a  horrid  and  detestable  crime  ;*  and  though 
Bothwell  was  now  one  of  the  greatest  subjects  in  the  kingdom,  formidable 
on  account  of  his  own  power,  and  protected  by  the  queen's  favour,  it  was 
impossible  to  suppress  the  sentiments  and  indignation  of  the  people 
Papers  were  affixed  to  the  most  public  places  ot  the  city,  accusing  him 
of  the  murder,  and  naming  his  accomplices;  pictures  appeared  to  the 
same  purpose;  and  voices  were  heard  in  the  middle  of  the  night  charging 
him  with  that  barbarous  action.  But  the  authors  of  these  rumours  did  not 
confine  their  accusations  to  Bothwell  alone  ;  they  insinuated  that  the  queen 
herself  was  accessary  to  the  crime. t  This  bold  accusation,  which  so  directly 
attacked  Mary's  reputation,  drew  the  attention  of  her  council ;  and,  by 
engaging  them  in  an  inquiry  after  the  authors  of  these  libels,  diverted  therr 
from  searching  for  the  murderers  of  the  king.J  It  could  scarce  be  ex- 
pected that  Mary  herself  would  be  extremely  solicitous  to  discover  those 
who  had  rid  her  of  a  husband  whom  she  had  so  violently  hated.  It  was 
Bothwell's  interest,  who  had  the  supreme  direction  of  this,  as  well  as  ot 
all  other  affairs,  to  stifle  and  suppress  whatever  evidence  should  be  offered, 
and  to  cover,  if  possible,  the  whole  transaction  under  the  veil  of  darkness 
and  of  silence.  Some  inquiry,  however,  was  made,  and  some  persons 
called  before  the  council ;  but  the  examination  was  conducted  with  the 
most  indecent  remissness,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  let  in  no  light  upon 
that  scene  of  guilt. § 

It  was  not  her  own  subjects  alone  who  suspected  Mary  of  having  been 
accessary  to  this  unnatural  crime  ;  nor  did  an  opinion  so  dishonourable  to 
her  character  owe  its  rise  and  progress  to  the  jealousy  and  malice  of  her 
factious  nobles.  The  report  of  the  manner  and  circumstances  of  the  king's 
murder  spread  quickly  over  all  Europe  ;  and  even  in  that  age,  which  was 
accustomed  to  deeds  of  violence,  it  excited  universal  horror.  As  her 
unhappy  breach  with  her  husband  had  long  been  matter  of  public  dis- 
course, the  first  conjectures  which  were  formed  with  regard  to  his  death 
were  extremely  to  her  disadvantage.  Her  friends,  at  a  loss  what  apology 
to  offer  for  her  conduct,  called  on  her  to  prosecute  the  murderers  with  the. 
utmost  diligence,  and  expected  that  the  rigour  of  her  proceedings  Avould 
prove  the  best  and  fullest  vindication  of  her  innocence.il 

Lennox  at  the  same  time  incited  Mary  to  vengeance  with  incessant  im- 
portunity. This  nobleman  had  shared  in  his  son's  disgrace,  and  being 
treated  by  Mary  with  neglect,  usually  resided  at  a  distance  from  court. 
Roused,  however,  by  an  event  no  less  shocking  to  the  heart  of  a  father, 
than  fatal  to  all  his  schemes  of  ambition,  he  ventured  to  write  to  the  queen 
[Feb.  21],  and  to  offer  his  advice  with  respect  to  the  most  effectual  method 
for  discovering  and  convicting  those  who  had  so  cruelly  deprived  him  of 
a  son,  and  her  of  a  husband.  He  urged  her  to  prosecute  those  who  were 
guilty  with  vigour,  and  to  bring  them  to  a  speedy  trial ;  he  declared  his 
own  suspicion  of  Bothwell,  and  of  those  who  were  named  as  his  accom- 
plices ;  he  required  that,  out  of  regard  to  decency,  and  in  order  to  encou- 
rage evidence  to  appear  against  them,  the  persons  accused  of  such  an  atro- 
cious crime  should  be  committed  to  custody,  or  at  least  excluded  from  hex 
court  and  presence. IT 

Mary  was  then  at  Seaton,  whither  she  had  retired  after  th*.  burial  of  the 
king,  whose  body  was  deposited  among  the  monarchs  of  Scotland,  in  a 
private  but  decent  manner.**  The  former  part  of  the  earl's  demand  could 
not  on  any  pretence  be  eluded ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  bring  Bothwell 
immediately  to  trial.  But,  instead  of  confining  him  to  any  prison,  Mary 
admitted  him  into  all  her  councils,  and  allowed  a  person,  universally 

*  Anders,  vol.  i.  36.  t  Ibid.  156.  {  Ibid.  38.  $  Ibid,  vol  lv  part  ii   167,  16& 

II  Keith,  Pref.  ix.  IT  Ibid.  369,  &c.  **  Anders,  vol.  i.  -23. 

Vol    II  1.-21 


162  THEHIS'IORY  [Book  IV. 

reputed  the  murderer  of  her  husband,  to  enjoy  all  the  security,  the  dignity 
and  the  power  of  a  favourite.*  The  offices  which  Bothwefl  already  pos- 
sessed, gave  him  the  command  of  all  the  south  of  Scotland.  Th*  castle 
of  Edinburgh,  however,  was  a  place  of  so  much  consequence,  that  he 
wished  earnestly  to  have  it  in  his  own  power.  The  queen,  in  order  to 
prevail  on  the  earl  of  Mar  to  surrender  it,  consented  to  put  the  person  of 
the  young  prince  in  his  hands  [March  19],  and  immediately  bestowed  the 
government  of  that  important  fortress  upon  Bothwell.t  So  many  steps  in 
her  conduct  inconsistent  with  all  the  rules  of  prudence  and  of  decency, 
must  be  imputed  to  an  excess  either  of  folly  or  of  love.  Mary's  known 
character  fully  vindicates  her  from  the  former ;  of  the  latter  many  and 
striking  proots  soon  appeared. 

No  direct  evidence  had  yet  appeared  against  Bothwell ;  but  as  time 
might  bring  to  light  the  circumstances  of  a  crime  in  which  so  many  accom- 
plices were  concerned,  it  was  of  great  importance  to  hurry  over  the  trial, 
while  nothing  more  than  general  suspicions,  and  uncertain  surmises,  could 
be  produced  by  his  accusers.  For  this  reason,  in  a  meeting  of  privy  coun- 
cil held  on  the  28th  of  March,  the  12th  of  April  was  appointed  for  the  day 
of  trial.  Though  the  law  allowed,  and  the  manner  in  which  criminal 
causes  were  carried  on  in  that  age,  required  a  much  longer  interval,  it 
appears  from  several  circumstances  that  this  short  space  was  considerably 
contracted,  and  that  Lennox  had  only  eleven  days'  warning  to  prepare  tor 
accusing  a  person  so  far  superior  to  himself  both  in  power  and  in  favour.^ 
No  man  could  be  less  in  a  condition  to  contend  writh  an  antagonist  who 
was  thus  supported.  Though  Lennox's  paternal  estate  had  been  restored 
to  him  when  he  was  recalled  into  Scotland,  it  seems  to  have  been  consi- 
derably impaired  during  his  banishment.  His  vassals,  while  he  resided  in 
England,  had  been  accustomed  to  some  degree  of  independence,  and  he 
had  not  recovered  that  ascendant  over  them  which  a  feudal  chief  usually 
possessed.  He  had  no  reason  to  expect  the  concurrence  of  any  of  those 
factions  into  which  the  nobles  were  divided.  During  the  short  period  of 
his  son's  prosperity,  he  had  taken  such  steps  as  gave  rise  to  an  open  breach 
with  Murray  and  all  his  adherents.  The  partisans  of  the  house  of  Hamilton 
were  his  hereditary  and  mortal  enemies.  Huntly  was  linked  in  the  closest 
confederacy  with  Bothwell  ;  and  thus,  to  the  disgrace  of  the  nation,  Lennox 
stood  alone  in  a  cause  where  both  honour  and  humanity  called  so  loudly  on 
his  countrymen  to  second  him. 

It  is  remarkable  too,  that  Bothwell  himself  was  present,  and  sat  as  a 
member  of  that  meeting  of  privy  council  which  gave  directions  with  regard 
to  the  time  and  manner  of  his  own  trial  ;  and  he  still  enjoyed  not  only  full 
liberty,  but  was  received  into  the  queen's  presence  with  the  same  distin- 
guished familiarity  as  formerly.§ 

Nothing  could  be  a  more  cruel  disappointment  to  the  wishes  and  resent- 
ment of  a  father  than  such  a  premature  trial  ;  every  step  towards  which 
seemed  to  be  taken  by  directions  from  the  person  who  was  himself  accused 
of  the  crime,  and  calculated  on  purpose  to  conceal  rather  than  to  detect  his 

*  Anders,  vol.  i.  40,  &c.  T  Ibid.  vol.  i.  Pref.  lxiv.     Keith,  379. 

J  The  aci  of  privy  council,  appointing  the  day  of  Bothwell'a  trial,  bears  date  March  the  28th, 
which  happened  on  a  Thursday.  Anders,  vol.  i.  50.  The  queen's  warrant  to  the  messengers,  em- 
powering them  to  summon  Lennox  to  be  present,  is  dated  on  the  29th.  Anders,  vol.  ii.  97.  He 
was  summoned  by  public  proclamation  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh  on  the  same  day.  Ibid.  100.  He 
was  summoned  at  his  dwelling-houses  in  Glasgow  and  Dumbarton  the  30th  of  March,  the  let  and 
2d  days  of  April.  Ibid.  101.  He  was  summoned  at  Perth,  April  1st.  Ibid.  102.  Though  Lennox 
resided  at  that  time  forty  miles  from  Edinburgh,  the  citation  might  have  been  given  him  sooner. 
Such  an  unnecessary  delay  affords  some  cause  for  suspicion.  It  is  true,  Mary,  in  her  letter,  March 
24th.  belted  Lennox  to  come  to  Edinburgh  the  ensuing  week  :  this  gave  him  warning  some  dayt 
sooner,  mat  she  intended  to  bring  on  the  trial  without  delay.  Tun  the  precise  time  could  not  be 
legally  or  certainly  known  to  Lennox  sooner  than  ten  or  twelve  days  before  the  day  on  which  In 
was  required  to  appear.  By  the  law  and  practice  of  Scotland,  at  tba  itime,  parties  were  ■tunmooed 
in  cases  of  treason,  forty  days  previous  to  the  trial. 

$  Anders,  vol.  i.  50.  52. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  163 

guilt.  Lennox  foresaw  what  would  be  the  issue  of  this  mock  inquiry,  and 
with  how  little  safety  to  himself,  or  success  to  his  cause,  he  could  venture 
to  appear  on  the  day  prefixed.  In  his  former  letters,  though  under  ex- 
pressions the  most  respectful,  some  symptoms  of  his  distrusting  the  queen 
may  be  discovered.  He  spoke  out  no'.v  in  plain  language.  He  complained 
of  the  injury  done  him,  by  hurrying  on  the  trial  with  such  illegal  precipi- 
tation. He  represented  once  more  the  indecency  of  allowing  Bothwell  not 
only  to  enjoy  personal  liberty,  but  to  retain  his  former  influence  over  her 
councils.  He  again  required  her,  as  she  regarded  her  own  honour,  to  give 
some  evidence  of  her  sincerity  in  prosecuting  the  muiderer,  by  confining 
the  person  who  was  on  good  grounds  suspected  to  be  the  author  of  it  ; 
and,  till  that  were  done,  he  signified  hi0  own  resolution  not  to  be  present 
at  a  trial,  the  manner  and  circumstances  of  which  were  so  irregular  and 
unsatisfactory.* 

He  seems,  however,  to  have  expected  little  success  from  this  application 
to  Mary;  and  therefore  at  the  same  time  besought  Elizabeth  to  interpose, 
in  order  to  obtain  such  a  delay  as  he  demanded.!  Nothing  can  be  a 
stronger  proof  how  violently  he  suspected  the  one  queen  than  his  submitting 
to  implore  the  aid  of  the  other,  who  had  treated  his  son  with  the  utmost 
contempt,  and  himself  and  family  with  the  greatest  rigour.  Elizabeth,  who 
was  never  unwilling  to  interpose  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  wrote  instantly 
to  Mary,  advised  her  to  delay  the  trial  for  some  time,  and  urged  in  such 
strong  terms  the  same  arguments  which  Lennox  had  used,  as  might  have 
convinced  her  to  what  an  unfavourable  construction  her  conduct  would  be 
liable,  if  she  persisted  in  her  present  method  of  proceeding .} 

Neither  her  entreaties,  however,  nor  those  of  Lennox  could  prevail  to 
have  the  trial  put  off.  On  the  day  appointed  Bothwell  appeared,  but  with 
such  a  formidable  retinue,  that  it  would  have  been  dangerous  to  condemn, 
and  impossible  to  punish  him.  Besides  a  numerous  body  of  his  friends 
and  vassals,  assembled,  according  to  custom,  from  different  parts  of  the 
kingdom,  he  was  attended  by  a  band  of  hired  soldiers,  who  marched  with 
flying  colours  along  the  streets  of  Edinburgh.§  A  court  of  justice  was 
held  with  the  accustomed  formalities.  An  indictment  was  presented  against 
Bothwell,  and  Lennox  was  called  upon  to  make  good  his  accusation.  In  his 
name  appeared  Robert  Cunningham,  one  of  his  dependants.  He  excused 
his  master's  absence,  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  the  time,  which  pre- 
vented his  assembling  his  friends  and  vassals,  without  whose  assistance  he 
could  not,  with  safety,  venture  to  set  himself  in  opposition  to  such  a  power- 
ful antagonist.  For  this  reason,  he  desired  the  court  to  stop  proceeding, 
and  protested,  that  any  sentence  which  should  be  passed  at  that  time  ought 
to  be  deemed  illegal  and  void.  Bothwell,  on  the  other  hand,  insisted  that 
the  court  should  instantly  proceed  to  trial.  One  of  Lennox's  own  letters, 
in  which  he  craved  of  the  queen  to  prosecute  the  murderers  without  delay, 
was  produced.  Cunningham's  objections  were  overruled ;  and  the  jury, 
consisting  of  peers  and  barons  of  the  first  rank,  found  Bothwell  not  guilty 
jf  the  crime. 

No  person  appeared  as  an  accuser,  not  a  single  witness  was  examined, 
nor  any  evidence  produced  against  him.  The  jury,  under  these  circum- 
stances, could  do  nothing  else  but  acquit  him.  Their  verdict,  however, 
was  far  from  gratifying  the  wishes  or  silencing  the  murmurs  of  the  people. 
Every  circumstance  in  the  trial  gave  grounds  for  suspicion,  and  excited 
indignation  ;  and  the  judgment  pronounced,  instead  of  being  a  proof  of 
Bothwell's  innocence,  was  esteemed  an  argument  of  his  guilt.  Pasquinades 
and  libels  were  affixed  to  different  places,  expressing  the  sentiments  of  the 
public  with  the  utmost  virulence  of  language. 

*  Andera.  vol.  i.  53.  t  Good.  vol.  ii.  352.  J  Anders.  Pref.  60.    Bee  Appendix,  Ko.  XDC 

S  Auderi  vol  t  135 


164  THE  HISTORY  | Book  IV. 

The  juiy  themselves  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  the  censure  to  which 
their  proceedings  would  be  exposed  ;  and,  at  the  same  time  that  they 
returned  their  verdict  acquitting-  Bothwell,  the  earl  of  Caithness  protested, 
in  their  name,  that  no  crime  should  be  imputed  to  them  on  that  account 
because  no  accuser  had  appeared,  and  no  proof  was  brought  of  the  indict- 
ment. He  took  notice  likewise,  that  the  9th  instead  of  the  10th  of  February 
was  mentioned  in  the  indictment,  as  the  day  on  which  the  murder  had 
been  committed  :  a  circumstance  which  discovers  the  extreme  inaccuracy 
of  those  who  prepared  the  indictment ;  and  at  a  time  when  men  were 
disposed,  and  not  without  reason,  to  be  suspicious  of  every  thing,  this  small 
matter  contributed  to  confirm  and  to  increase  their  suspicions.* 

Even  Bothwell  himself  did  not  rely  on  the  judgment  which  he  had 
obtained  in  his  favour  as  a  full  vindication  of  his  innocence.  Immediately 
aiter  his  acquittal,  he,  in  compliance  with  a  custom  which  was  not  then 
obsolete,  published  a  writing,  in  which  he  offered  to  fight  in  single  combat 
any  gentleman  of  good  fame,  who  should  presume  to  accuse  him  of  being 
accessary  to  the  murder  of  the  king. 

Mary,  however,  continued  to  treat  him  as  if  he  had  been  cleared  by  the 
most  unexceptionable  and  satisfactory  evidence.  The  ascendant  he  had 
gained  over  her  heart,  as  well  as  over  her  councils,  was  more  visible  than 
ever  ;  and  Lennox,  who  could  not  expect  that  his  own  person  could  be  safe 
in  a  country  where  the  murderer  of  his  son  had  been  absolved  without 
•egard  to  justice,  and  loaded  with  honours  in  contempt  of  decency,  fled 
with  precipitation  towards  England.! 

Two  days  after  the  trial  [April  14],  a  parliament  was  held,  at  the  open- 
ing of  which  the  queen  distinguished  Bothwell,  by  appointing  him  to  carry 
the  sceptre  before  her.J  Most  of  the  acts  passed  in  this  assembly  were 
calculated  on  purpose  to  strengthen  his  party,  and  to  promote  his  designs. 
He  obtained  the  ratification  of  all  the  possessions  and  honours  which  the 
partiality  of  the  queen  had  conferred  upon  him  ;  and  the  act  to  that  effect 
contained  the  strongest  declarations  of  his  faithful  services  to  the  crown  in 
all  times  past.  The  surrender  of  the  c;  stle  of  Edinburgh  by  Mar  was 
confirmed.  The  law  of  attainder  against  Huntly  was  repealed,  and  he 
and  his  adherents  were  restored  to  the  estates  and  honours  of  their  ancestors. 
Several  of  those  who  had  been  on  the  jury  which  acquitted  Bothwell 
obtained  ratifications  of  the  grants  made  in  their  favour;  and  as  pasquinades 
daily  multiplied,  a  law  passed  whereby  those  into  whose  hands  any  paper 
of  that  kind  fell,  were  commanded  instantly  to  destroy  it ;  and  if,  through 
their  neglect,  it  should  be  allowed  to  spread,  they  were  subjected  to  a 
capital  punishment,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  they  had  been  the  original 
authors. § 

But  the  absolute  dominion  which  Bothwell  had  acquired  over  Mary's 
mind  appeared  in  the  clearest  manner,  by  an  act  in  favour  of  the  protestant 
religion,  to  which  at  this  time  she  gave  her  assent.  Mary's  attachment  tc 
the  Romish  faith  was  uniform  and  superstitious  ;  she  had  never  laid  aside 
the  design,  nor  lost  the  hopes,  of  restoring  it.  She  had  of  late  come  under 
new  engagements  to  that  purpose,  and  in  consequence  of  these  had  ven- 
tured upon  some  steps  more  public  and  vigorous  than  any  she  had  formerly 
taken.  But  though  some  of  these  circumstances  were  unknown  to  Both- 
well,  there  were  powerful  motives  which  prompted  him  at  this  juncture 
to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  protestants,  by  exerting  himself  in  ordei 
to  procure  for  them  some  additional  security  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion. 
That  which  they  enjoyed  at  present  was  very  precarious,  being  founded 
entirely  on  the  royal  proclamation  issued  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  queen 
in  Scotland,  which  in  express  terms  was  declared  to  be  only  a  temporary 
regulation.     From  that  period,  neither  the  solicitations  of  the  general 

*  Bolhw.  Trial,  Anders,  vol.  U.  07,  &c.        t  Keith,  378    Note  (</).        t  U.  Ibid.       $  Ibid.  380. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  lbo 

assemblies  of  the  church,  nor  the  entreaties  of  her  people,  could  extort 
from  Mary  any  concession  in  favour  of  the   protestant  religion,  on  which 
the  professors  might  rest  with  greater  confidence.     This,  however,  f>y  the 
more  powerful   influence  of  Bothweil,   they  now  obtained.     An  act   \ 
passed  in  this  parliament,  repealing  all  the  laws,  canon,  civil,  and  municipa  . 
adverse  to  the  reformed  religion,  and  exempting  such  as  had  embraced  il 
from  the  penalties  to  which  they  might  have  been  subjected  by  these 
either  on  account  of  their  past  conduct  or  present  profession  ;  dei     ring- -a I 
the  same  time  that  their  persons,  estates,  honours,  and  benefices,  vv 
taken  under  public  protection  against  every  court,  civil  or  ecciesiasticn  . 
that  might  attempt  to  molest  them  on  account  of  their  religious  sentiments. 
Thus  the  proteslants,  instead  of  holding  their  sacred  rights  by  no  betti 
tenure  than  a  declaration  of  royal  indulgence,  which  might  be  revoke 
pleasure,  obtained  legal  and  parliamentary  protection  in  the  exercise 
their  religion.     By  prevailing  on  the  queen  to  assent  to  this  law,  Bothw  i 
seems  to  have  flattered  himself  that  he  would  acquire  such  men':,  bo 
with  the  clergy  and  with  the  people,  as  might  induce  them  to  favour  hit 
ambitious  schemes,  and  to  connive  at  what  he  had  done,  or  might  do,  in 
order  to  accomplish  them.     The  protestants  accordingly,  though  this  act 
was  far  from  amounting  to  a  legal  establishment  of  the  reformed  fait 
seem  to  have  considered  it  as  an  additional  security  of  such  importance 
that  it  was  published  among  the  laws  enacted  in  a  parliament  held  towards 
the  close  of  this  year,  under  very  different  leaders.* 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Uie  accuracy  of  Sir  David  Dalrymple,  for  pointing  out  (Remarks  on  the  His 
tory  of  Scotland,  ch.  9.)  a  considerable  error  into  Which  i  had  fallen  with  respect  to  litis  art.  i> 
supposing  it  to  be  so  favourable  to  the  doctrine  of  the  reformation  that  the  parliament,  vvliich 
Dec.  15,  could  substitute  nothing  stronger  or  more  explicit  in  its  place,  and  thought  it  sufficient 
ratify  it  word  for  word.     This  error  I  have  now  corrected    but,  after  considering  the  act  with  ] 
miliar  attention,  though  I  am  satisfied  that  it  neither  established  the  reformed  religion  or  the 
ligion  of  the  state,  nor  abolished  popery,  yet  it  granted  such  new  and  legal  security  to  the  protest  an  is. 
as  was  deemed,  in  that  age,  an  acquisition  of  areat  value.     The  framersof  the  law  seem  manifes    . 
to  have  viewed  it  in  that  li^ht.     After  reciting,  "  that  the  queen,  since  her  arrival,  had  attempted 
nothing  contrary  to  the  staie  of  religion  which  she  found  publicly  and  universally  standing, 
which  account  she  was  most  worthy  to  be  served,  honoured,  and  obeyed,  &c. — "  the  act  goes  on, 
"  that  as  she  intends  10  continue  the  same  goodness  and  government  in  all  times  coming,  the  pro 
fessorsof  the  religion  aforesaid  may  and  shall  have  occasion  to  praise  God  for  her  happy  andgraci 
government,  <Stc. :  and  to  effect  that,  the  professors  of  the  religion  aforesaid  may  assure  themsi 
to  be  in  full  surety  thereof,  and  of  their  lands,  lives,  &c  and  m;iy  with  the  better  will  jeopard  and 
hazard  their  lives  and  goods  in  Her  Highness's  service,  against  all  enemies  to  her,  and  to  the  com 
monweal  of  this  realm,  &c.  therefore  our  sovereign,  with  the  advice  of  the  whole  estates  in  par- 
liament, &c."  then  follow  the  statutory  clauses  mentioned  in  the  text.     The  intention  of  passing  the 
act  is  apparent,  and  it  is  drawn  with  great  art.     This  art  is  pi  culiarly  manifest  in  the  concluding 
clause.     In  her  first  proclamation  the  queen  had  declared,  that  it  should  continue  in  force  only  mil  ii 
she  should  take  final  order  concerning  religion  with  the  advice  of  parliament.     In  this  act  the  inten- 
tion of  taking  further  order  concerning  religion  is  mentioned,  probably  with  a  view  to  please  tli 
queen ;  but  il  is  worded  with  such  studied  dexterity,  that  the  protection  granted  by  this  law  is 
longer  to  be  regarded  as  temporary,  or  depending  upon  the  queen  taking  such  final  order.     I'arl    I 
K.  Ja.  VI.  c.  31.     In  the  same  light  of  an  important  acquisition  of  security  to  the  reformed  r 
this  act  is  represented  by  the  privy  coumil  in  a  proclamation  issued  May  23,  1567.     Keith,  5 
Mary's  principal  adherents,  in  a  paper  subscribed  by  them,  Sept.  12,  1568,  declare,  thnt  shi 
the  advice  of  the  three  estates,  had  satisfied  the  desire  of  tiie  whole  nobility  in  an  act  concerning  ai 
Uie  points  of  religion  passed  in  the  parliament  held  April,  1567."     Goodalt.  ii.  357.     The  sani 
asserted  to  be  the  intention  and  effect  of  this  act  in  another  public  paper  in  the  year  1570.     Ila\  i 
621.    This  act  is  perfectly  conformable  to  that  system  of  policy  by  which  Bothweil  seems  to  lia\ 
regulated  his  conduct  both  before  and  after  this  ime,  with  a  view  of  gaining  the  protestants,  pa. 
ticularly  the  clergy,  by  acts  of  indulgence  and  favour.     On  the  3d  of  October,  1566,  when   Botfi- 
well's  credit  was  very  considerable,  the  queen  in  a  meeting  of  privy  council,  where  he  was  present, 
took  measures  for  securing  to  the  protestant  clergy  more  regular  payment  of  their  stipends;  and  oji 
the  20th  of  December  of  that  year,  granted  an  assignation  of  a  considerable  sum  to  be  applied  foi 
the  support  of  the  ministry.     Keith,  360,  361,  362.     In  a  meeting  of  privy  council,  Jan.  10.  1587, 
when  all  public  transactions  were  entirely  conducted  by  Bothweil,  an  act  was  passed  in  order  to 
provide  for  the  susteutation  of  ministers  in  boroughs,  and  Bothweil  is  named  as  one  of  the  com 
imssioners  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  with  power  to  impose  a  tax  on  such  boroughs  as  had  no 
■nil  is'srs,  for  raising  a  stipend.     Keith,  570.     In  another  meeting  of  privy  council,  May  23,  1557. 

hr  .ften  after  mentioning  the  declaration  which  she  had  made  in  the  year  1561,  of  her  resolution 
to  .[•ani'a  n  that  religion  which  she  found  established  in  the  kingdom,  and  after  taking  notice  ol 
v  i  '.1  additional  security  it  had  acquired  by  the  late  act  of  April  19,  with  a  view  of  giving  still 

i  •>  jr  :A  s'ar.'ton  io  the  pint*  Mams  she  declared  that  all  licenses  which  had  been  obtained  from 
het  by  any  persons,  permitting  them  to  exercise  the  rights  of  popish  worship,  were  now  revoked  and 
■iim' tiled-     Keith,  570 — 572.     It  deserves  to  be  remarked,  that,  favourable  as  all  these  acts  were  to 


166  THE  HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

Every  step  taken  by  Bothwell  had  hitherto  been  attended  with  all  th« 
success  which  his  most  sanguine  wishes  could  expect.  He  had  entirely 
gained  the  queen's  heart ;  the  murder  ot*  the  king  had  excited  no  public 
commotion  ;  he  had  been  acquitted  by  his  peers  ot  any  share  in  that  crime  ; 
and  their  decision  had  been  in  some  sort  ratified  in  parliament.  But  in  a 
kingdom  where  the  regal  authority  was  so  extremely  limited,  and  the 
power  of  the  nobles  so  Formidable,  he  durst  not  venture  on  the  last  action, 
towards  which  all  his  ambitious  projects  tended,  without  their  approbation. 
In  order  to  secure  this,  he  immediately  alter  the  dissolution  of  parliament 

t April  19]  invited  all  the  nobles  who  were  present  to  an  entertainment, 
laving  filled  the  house  with  his  friends  and  dependents,  and  surrounded  it 
with  armed  men,*  he  opened  to  the  company  his  intention  of  marrying 
fhe  queen,  whose  consent,  he  told  them,  he  had  already  obtained;  and 
demanded  their  approbation  of  this  match,  which  he  said,  was  no  less 
acceptable  to  their  sovereign  than  honourable  to  himself.t  Huntly  and 
Seaton,  who  were  privy  to  all  BothwelPs  schemes,  promoted  them  with 
the  utmost  zeal  ;  and  the  popish  ecclesiastics,  who  were  absolutely  devoted 
to  the  queen,  and  ready  to  sooth  her  passions,  instantly  declared  their 
satisfaction  with  what  he  had  proposed.  The  rest  who  dreaded  the  ex- 
orbitant power  which  Bothwell  had  acquired,  and  observed  the  queen's 
growing  affection  towards  him  in  all  her  actions,  were  willing  to  make  a 
merit  of  yielding  to  a  measure  which  they  could  neither  oppose  nor  defeat. 
Some  few  were  confounded  and  enraged.  But  in  the  end  Bothwell,  partly 
by  promises  and  flattery,  partly  by  terror  and  force,  prevailed  on  all  who 
were  present  to  subscribe  a  paper  which  leaves  a  deeper  stain  than  any 
occurrence  in  that  age  on  the  honour  and  character  of  the  nation. 

This  paper  contained  the  strongest  declarations  of  Bothwell's  innocence 
and  the  most  ample  acknowledgment  of  his  good  services  to  the  kingdom 
If  any  future  accusation  should  be  brought  against  him  on  account  of  the 
king's  murder,  the  subscribers  promised  to  stand  by  him  as  one  man,  and 
to  hazard  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  his  defence.  They  recommended 
him  to  the  queen  as  the  most  proper  person  she  could  choose  for  a  husband  : 
and  if  she  should  condescend  to  bestow  on  him  that  mark  of  her  regard, 
they  undertook  to  promote  the  marriage,  and  to  join  him  with  all  theii 
forces  in  opposing  any  person  who  endeavoured  to  obstruct  it.J  Among 
the  subscribers  ot  this  paper  we  find  some  who  were  the  queen's  chiel 
confidants,  others  who  were  strangers  to  her  councils,  and  obnoxious  to  her 
displeasure  ;  some  who  faithfully  adhered  to  her  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  her  fortune,  and  others  who  became  the  principal  authors  of  her  suf- 
ferings ;  some  passionately  attached  to  the  Romish  superstition,  and  others 
zealous  advocates  for  the  protestant  faith. §  No  common  interest  can  be 
supposed  to  have  united  men  of  such  opposite  principles  and  parties,  ;n 
recommending  to  their  sovereign  a  step  so  injurious  to  her  honour,  and  so 
fatal  to  her  peace.  This  strange  coalition  was  the  effect  of  much  artifice, 
and  must  be  considered  as  the  boldest  and  most  masterly  stroke  of  Both- 
well's address.  It  is  observable,  that  amidst  all  the  altercations  and 
mutual  reproaches  of  the  two  parties  which  arose  in  the  kingdom,  this  un- 
worthy transaction  is  seldom  mentioned.  Conscious,  on  both  sides,  that  in 
this  particular  their  conduct  could  ill  bear  examination,  and  would  redound 
little  to  their  fame,  they  always  touch  upon  it  unwillingly,  and  with  a 

the  reformation,  some  bishops,  whose  ardent  leal  for  the  obi  doctrines  history  records,  were  present 
in  those  meetings  of  privy  council  in  which  they  were  passed.  From  considering  all  these  particu 
lars,  one  need  not  wonder  that  a  law  "anent  cassing  (as  its  title  bears),  annulling,  and  abrogating 
•jf  all  laws,  acts,  and  constitutions,  conone,  civile,  and  municipal,  with  other  constitutions,  contrarc 
o  the  religion  now  professit  within  the  realnie,"  confirmed  by  the  royal  assent  of  the  queen,  should 
be  published  among  the  statutes  securing  the  protestant  religion.  We  find  accordingly,  in  a  very 
rare  edition  of  the  acta  of  parliament,  imprintit  at  Edinburgh  by  Robert  Lekprevik,  printar  to  thf 
king's  majestie,  6day  of  April,  156«,  the  act  of  A  pri!  19,  inserted  among  the  acts  of  the  regent's  pej 
liamenl  in  December. 

*  Good.  vol.  U  141  t  Anders,  vol  i  94.  I  Ibid.  177.  $  Keith,  382. 


OK  SCOTLAND.  Wi 

tender  hand,  seeming  desirous  that  it  should  remain  in  darkness,  or  be 
ouried  in  oblivion.     But  as  so  many  persons,  who,  both  at  that  time  and 
ever  alter,  possessed   the  queen's  favour,  subscribed  this  paper,  the  sus 
picion  becomes  strong,  that  Bothwell's  ambitious  hopes  were  neithe*    in 
known  to  Mary,  nor  disapproved  by  her.* 

These  suspicions  are  confirmed  by  the  most  direct  proof.  Melvil  at 
that  time  enjoyed  a  considerable  share  in  her  favour.  He,  as  well  as  his 
brother,  kept  a  secret  correspondence  in  England  with  those  who  favoured 
her  pretensions  to  that  crown.  The  rumour  of  her  intended  marriage  with 
Bothwell,  having  spread  early  in  that  kingdom,  excited  universal  indigna- 
tion ;  and  Melvil  received  a  letter  from  thence,  which  represented,  in  the 
strongest  terms,  what  would  be  the  fatai  effects  of  such  an  imprudent  step. 
He  put  this  letter  into  the  queen's  hands,  and  enforced  it  with  the  utmost 
warmth.  She  not  only  disregarded  those  remonstrances,  but  communi- 
cated the  matter  to  Bothwell  ;  and  Melvil,  in  order  to  save  his  life,  was 
obliged  to  fly  from  court,  whither  he  durst  not  return  till  the  earl's  rage 
began  to  abate. |  At  the  same  time  Elizabeth  warned  Mary  of  the  danger 
and  infamy  to  which  she  would  expose  herself  by  such  an  indecent  choice : 
but  an  advice  from  her  met  with  still  less  regard. J 

Three  days  after  the  rising  of  parliament,  Mary  went  from  Edinburgh 
to  Stirling,  in  order  to  visit  the  prince  her  son.  Bothwell  had  now  brought 
hi?  schemes  to  full  maturity;  and  every  precaution  being  taken  which 
could  render  it  safe  to  enter  on  the  last  and  decisive  step,  the  natural  im- 
petuosity of  his  spirit  did  not  suffer  him  to  deliberate  any  longer.  Under 
pretence  of  an  expedition  against  the  freebooters  on  the  borders,  he  assem- 
bled his  followers  ;  and  marching  out  of  Edinburgh  with  a  thousand  horse 
[April  24],  turned  suddenly  towards  Linlithgow,  met  the  queen  on  hei 
return  near  that  place,  dispersed  her  slender  train  without  resistance, 
seized  on  her  person,  and  conducted  her,  together  with  a  few  of  her 
courtiers,  as  a  prisoner  to  his  castle  of  Dunbar.  She  expressed  neither 
surprise,  nor  terror,  nor  indignation,  at  such  an  outrage  committed  on  her 
person,  and  such  an  insult  offered  to  her  authority,  but  seemed  to  yield 
without  struggle  or  regrets     Melvil  was  at  that  time  one  of  her  attendants ; 

•  Of  all  the  different  systems  with  regard  to  this  transaction,  that  of  Camden  seems  to  betheleast 
accurate,  and  the  worst  founded.  He  supposes  that  Bothwell  was  hated  by  Murray,  Morton,  &c. 
who  had  been  his  associates  in  the  murder  of  the  king,  and  that  they  now  wanted  to  ruin  him  He 
affirms,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  subscriptions  to  this  paper  were  obtained  by  them  out  of  fear  that 
Bothwell  might  sink  in  his  hopes,  and  betray  the  whole  bloody  secret,  404.  But  beside  the  absurdity 
of  supposing  that  any  man's  enemies  would  contribute  towards  raising  him  to  such  high  dignity,  on 
the  uncertain  hopes  of  being  able  afterwards  to  deprive  him  of  it;  besides  the  impossibility  of  ac- 
complishing such  a  marriage,  if  it  had  been  either  unknown  to  the  queen,  or  disagreable  to  her;  we 
may  observe  that  this  supposition  is  destroyed  by  the  direct  testimony  of  the  queen  herself,  who 
ascribes  the  consent  of  the  nobles  to  Bothwell's  artifices,  who  purchased  it  by  giving  them  to  under 
stand  that  we  were  content  therewith.  Anders,  vol.  i.  94. 99.  It  would  have  been  no  small  advantage 
to  Mary,  if  she  could  have  represented  the  consent  of  the  nobles  to  have  been  their  own  voluntary 
deed.  It  is  still  more  surprising  to  find  Lesley  ascribing  this  paper  to  Murray  and  his  faction.  An- 
ders, vol.  i.  26.  The  bishop  himself  was  one  of  the  persons  who  subscribed  it.  Keith,  383.  Tin 
king's  commissioners,  at  the  conference  held  at  York,  1568,  pretended  that  none  of  the  nobles,  ex- 
cept the  earl  of  Huntly,  would  subscribe  this  paper  till  a  warrant  from  the  queen  was  produced,  by 
which  they  were  allowed  to  do  so;  this  warrant  they  had  in  their  custody,  and  exhibited.  Anders, 
vol.  iv.  part  2.  5.  This  differs  from  Buchanan's  account,  who  supposes  that  all  the  nobles  present 
subscribed  the  paper  on  the  19th,  and  the  next  day  they  obtained  the  approbation  of  what  they  had 
done,  by  way  of  security  to  themselves,  355. 

\  Melv.  156.  According  to  Melvil,  Lord  Herries  likewise  remonstrated  against  the  marriage,  and 
conjured  the  queen  on  his  knees,  to  lay  aside  all  thoughts  of  such  a  dishonourable  alliance,  156. 
But  It  has  been  observed  that  Herries  isone  of  the  nobles  who  subscribed  the  bond,  April  19.  Keith, 
383.  2.  That  he  is  one  of  the  witnesses  to  the  marriage  articles  between  the  queen  and  Bothwell 
May  14.  Good.  vol.  ii.  61.  3  That  he  sat  in  council  with  Bothwell,  May  17.  Keith.  386,  B.  mis 
remonstrance  of  Lord  Herries  against  the  marriage  happened  before  those  made  by  M(  vil  himself, 
157.  Melvil's  remonstrance  must  have  happened  some  time  before  the  meeting  of  parliament :  for, 
after  offending  Bothwell,  he  retired  from  court ;  he  allowt-u  his  rage  time  to  subside,  and  had  again 
Joined  the  queen  when  she  was  seized,  April  24.  158.  The  time  which  must  have  elapsed,  by  this 
account  of  the  matter,  was  perhaps  sufficient  to  have  sained  Herrie=  from  beina  an  opposer  to  he- 
ceme  a  promoter  of  the  marriage.  Perhaps  Melvil  may  have  committed  some  mistake  with  regard 
to  this  fact,  so  far  as  relates  to  Lord  Herries.  He  could  not  well  be  mistaken  with  regard  to  what 
Wmselfdid.  J  Anders,  vol   ii   106.  $  Keith.  383. 


168  THE    HISTORY  [Book  IV. 

and  the  officer  by  whom  he  was  seized  informed  him  that  nothing  was 
done  without  the  queen's  own  consent.*  If  we  may  rely  on  the  letters 
published  in  Mary's  name,  the  scheme  had  been  communicated  to  her,  and 
every  step  towards  it  was  taken  with  her  participation  and  advice. t 

Both  the  queen  and  Bothwell  thought  it  of  advantage  to  employ  this 
appearance  of  violence.  It  afforded  her  a  decent  excuse  for  her  conduct; 
and  while  she  could  plead  that  it  was  owing  to  force  rather  than  choice, 
she  hoped  that  her  reputation,  among  foreigners  at  least,  would  escape 
without  censure,  or  be  exposed  to  less  reproach.  Bothweli  could  not  help 
distrusting  all  the  methods  which  had  hitherto  been  used  for  vindicating 
him  from  any  concern  in  the  murder  of  the  king.  Something  was  still 
wanting  for  his  security,  and  for  quieting  his  guilty  fears.  This  was  a 
pardon  under  the  great  seal.  By  the  laws  of  Scotland  the  most  heinous 
crime  must  be  mentioned  by  name  in  a  pardon,  and  then  all  lesser  offences 
are  deemed  to  be  included  under  the  general  clause,  and  all  other  crimes 
whatsoever.l  To  seize  the  person  ofthe  prince,  is  high  treason ;  and 
Bothwell  hoped  that  a  pardon  obtained  for  this  would  extend  to  every 
thing  of  which  he  had  been  accused. § 

Bothwell  having  now  got  the  queen's  person  into  his  hands,  it  would 
have  been  unbecoming  either  a  politician  or  a  man  of  gallantry  to  have  de- 
layed consummating  his  schemes.  The  first  step  towards  this  was  to  have 
his  marriage  with  Lady  Jane  Gordon,  the  earl  of  Huntly's  sister,  dissolved. 
In  order  to  accomplish  that,  in  a  manner  consistent  with  the  ideas  of  the 
queen  on  one  hand,  and  with  the  sentiments  of  his  countrymen  on  the  other, 
two  different  processes  became  necessary ;  one  founded  on  the  maxims  of 
the  canon  law,  the  other  accommodated  to  the  tenets  of  the  reformed 
church.  Bothwell  accordingly  commenced  a  suit,  in  his  own  name,  in  the 
spiritual  court  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  [April  27],  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  which  the  queen  had  restored,  by  a  special  commission  granted 
for  this  purpose,  and  pleaded  that  Lady  Jane  and  himself,  being  cousins 
within  the  prohibited  degrees,  and  having  married  without  a  papal  dis- 
pensation, their  union  was  null  from  the  beginning. ||  At  the  same  time  he 
prevailed  with  Lady  Jane  to  apply  to  the  protestant  Court  of  Commissaries 
for  a  divorce,  on  account  of  his  having  been  guilty  of  adultery.  The  in- 
fluence of  Bothwell  was  of  equal  weight  in  both  courts.  In  the  course  of 
four  days,  with  the  same  indecent  and  suspicious  precipitancy,  the  one 
declared  the  marriage  to  be  illegal  and  null,  the  other  pronounced  a  sen- 
tence of  divorce.  11 

While  this  infamous  transaction  was  carrying  on,  the  queen  resided  at 
Dunbar,  detained  as  a  prisoner,  but  treated  with  the  greatest  respect. 
Soon  after  [May  3],  Bothwell,  with  a  numerous  train  of  his  dependents, 
conducted  her  to  Edinburgh  ;  but,  instead  of  lodging  her  in  the  palace  of 
Holyrood-house,  he  conveyed  her  to  the  castle,  of  which  he  was  governor. 
The  discontent  of  the  nation  rendered  this  precaution  necessary.  In  a 
house  unfortified,  and  of  easy  access,  the  queen  might  have  been  rescued 
without  difficulty  out  of  his  hands.  In  a  place  of  strength  she  was  secured 
from  all  the  attempts  of  his  enemies. 

*  Melv.  158.        t  Good.  vol.  ii.  37.        t  Pari.  6.  Jac.  IV.  c.  62.        §  Anders,  vol.iv.  partii  61. 

||  In  her  own  lime,  it  was  urged  as  an  aggravation  of  the  queen's  guilt,  that  she  gave  her  consent 
to  marry  the  husband  of  another  woman  ;  and  the  charge  has  been  often  repeated  since.  But  ac- 
cording to  Mary's  own  ideas,  consonant  to  the  principles  of  her  religion,  the  marriage  of  Bothwell 
with  lady  Jane  Gordon  was  unlawful  and  void,  and  she  considered  them  as  living  together  not  in 
the  hallowed  binds  of  matrimony,  but  in  a  state  of  criminal  intercourse.  Bothwell's  addresses, 
which  struck  her  protestant  subjects  not  only  as  indecent  but  flagitious,  could  not  appear  in  the 
same  light  to  her;  and  this  may  be  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  the  crime  imputed  to  her  of  having 
listened  to  them.  But  it  will  not  exempt  her  from  the  charue  of  great  imprudence  in  this  unfor- 
tunate step.  Mary  was  well  acquainted  with  the  ideas  of  her  subjects,  and  knew  what  they  would 
think  of  her  giving  ear  for  a  moment  to  thecourtship  of  a  man  lately  married  under  her  own  eye  in 
the  church  of  her  palace.  Appendix,  No.  XX.  Every  consideration  should  have  restrained  her 
from  this  union,  which  to  her  peopl*  must  have  appeared  odious  and  shocking.  Remarks  on  trie 
History  of  Scotland,  p.  199,  &c  IT  Anders,  i.  132.    Append.  No.  XX. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  im 

One  small  difficulty  still  remained  to  be  surmounted.  As  the  queen  was 
kept  in  a  sort  of  captivity  by  Bothwell,  a  marriage  concluded  in  that  con- 
uition  might  be  imputed  to  Force,  and  be  held  invalid.  In  order  to  obviate 
this,  Mary  appeared  in  the  court  of  session,  and  in  presence  of  the  chan- 
cellor ana  other  judges,  and  several  of  the  nobility,  declared  that  she  was 
now  at  full  liberty;  and  though  Bothwell's  violence  in  seizing  her  person 
had  at  first  excited  her  indignation,  yet  his  respectful  behaviour  since  thai 
time  had  not  only  appeased  her  resentment,  but  determined  her  to  raise  him 
to  higher  honours.* 

What  these  were  soon  became  public.  The  title  of  duke  of  Orkney 
was  conferred  upon  Bothwell  ;  and  on  the  15th  of  May  his  marriage  with 
the  queen,  which  had  so  long  been  the  object  of  his  wishes,  and  the  motives 
of  his  crimes,  was  solemnized.  The  ceremony  was  performed  in  public, 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  protestant  church,  by  Adam  Bothwell,  bishop 
of  Orkney,  one  of  the  few  prelates  who  had  embraced  the  reformation,  an  I 
on  the  same  day  was  celebrated  in  private  according  to  the  forms  prescribed 
by  the  popish  religion. t  The  boldness  with  which  Craig,  the  minister 
who  was  commanded  to  publish  the  banns,  testified  against  the  design  ;  the 
small  number  of  the  nobles  who  were  present  at  the  marriage,  and  the 
sullen  and  disrespectful  silence  of  the  people  when  the  queen  appeared  in 
public,  were  manifest  symptoms  of  the  violent  and  general  dissatisfaction 
of  her  own  subjects.  The  refusal  of  Du  Croc,  the  French  ambassador,  to 
be  present  at  the  nuptial  ceremony  or  entertainment  discovers  the  senti- 
ments of  her  allies  with  regard  to  this  part  of  her  conduct ;  and  although 
every  other  action  in  Mary  s  life  courd  be  justified  by  the  rules  of  pru- 
dence, or  reconciled  to  the  principles  of  virtue,  this  fatal  marriage  would 
remain  an  incontestable  proof  of  her  rashness,  if  not  of  her  guilt. 

Mary's  first  care  was  to  offer  some  apology  for  her  conduct  to  the  courts 
of  France  and  England.  The  instructions  to  her  ambassadors  still  remain, 
and  are  drawn  by  a  masterly  hand.  But,  under  all  the  artificial  and  false 
colouring  she  employs,  it  i?  easy  to  discover,  not  only  that  many  of  the 
steps  she  had  taken  were  unjustifiable,  but  that  she  herself  was  conscious 
that  they  could  not  be  justified.]; 

The  title  of  king  was  the  only  thing  which  was  not  bestowed  upon  Both- 
well.  Notwithstanding  her  attachment  to  him,  Mary  remembered  the 
inconveniences  which  had  arisen  from  the  rash  advancement  ot  her  tormer 
husband  to  that  honour.  She  agreed,  however,  that  he  should  sign,  in  token 
of  consent,  all  the  public  writs  issued  in  her  name.§  But,  though  the  queen 
withheld  from  him  the  title  of  king,  he  possessed,  nevertheless,  regal  power 
in  its  full  extent.  The  queen's  person  was  in  his  hands ;  she  was  surroun  le  ! 
more  closely  than  ever  by  his  creatures  ;  none  of  her  subjects  could  obtain 
audience  without  his  permission  ;  and,  unless  in  his  own  presence,  none 
but  his  confidents  were  permitted  to  converse  with  her.!  The  Scottisii 
monarchs  were  accustomed  to  live  among  their  subjects  as  fathers  or  - 
equals,  without  distrust,  and  with  little  state  ;  armed  guards  standing  at  ibe 
doors  of  the  royal  apartment,  difficulty  of  access,  distance  and  retirement, 
were  things  unknown  and  unpopular. 

These  precautions  were  necessary  for  securing  to  Bothwell  the  power 
which  he  had  acquired.  But,  without  being  master  of  the  person  of  the 
young  prince,  he  esteemed  all  that  he  had  gained  to  be  precarious  and 
uncertain.  The  queen  had  committed  her  son  to  the  care  of  the  earl  ot 
Mar.  The  fidelity  and  loyalty  of  that  nobleman  were  too  well  known  to 
expect  that  he  would  be  willing  to  put  the  prince  into  the  hands  of  the 
man  who  was  so  violently  suspected  of  having  murdered  his  father.  Both 
well,  however,  laboured  to  get  the  prince  into  his  power,  with  an  anxiety 
which  gave  rise  to  the  blackest  suspicions.     All  his  aduress,  as  well  at 

Anders,  i.  87.  »  Ibid.  13*.  u.  276.         i  Ibid.  S9  §  Good.  ii.  60.  ||  And.  i.  13d 

Vol.  III.— 22 


170  T  H  E  H I S  T  O  R  Y  [Book  IV 

authority,  were  employed  to  persuade  or  to  forte  Mar  into  a  compliance 
with  his  demands.*  And  it  is  no  slight  proof  both  of  the  firmness  and  dex- 
terity of  that  nobleman,  that  he  preserved  a  life  of  so  much  importance  to 
the  nation,  from  being  in  die  power  of  a  man,  whom  fear  or  ambition  might 
have  prompted  to  violent  attempts  against  it. 

The  eyes  of  the  neighbouring  nations  were  fixed,  at  that  time,  upon  the 
great  events  which  had  happened  in  Scotland  during  three  months  :  a  king 
murdered  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  in  the  prime  of  his  days,  and  in  his 
capital  city ;  the  person  suspected  of  that  odious  crime  suffered  not  only  t( 
appear  publicly  in  every  place,  but  admitted  into  the  presence  of  the 
queen,  distinguished  by  her  favour,  and  intrusted  with  the  chief  direction 
of  her  affairs  ;  subjected  to  a  trial  which  was  carried  on  with  most  shame- 
less partiality,  and  acquitted  by  a  sentence  which  served  only  to  confirm 
the  suspicions  of  his  guilt ;  divorced  from  his  wife,  on  pretences  frivolous 
or  indecent ;  and,  after  all  this,  instead  of  meeting  with  the  ignominy  due 
to  his  actions,  or  the  punishment  merited  by  his  crimes,  permitted  openly, 
and  without  opposition,  to  marry  a  queen,  the  wife  of  the  prince  whom  he 
had  assassinated,  and  the  guardian  of  those  laws  which  he  had  been  guilty 
of  violating.  Such  a  quick  succession  of  incidents,  so  singular  and  so 
detestable,  in  the  space  of  three  months,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other 
history.  They  left,  in  the  opinion  of  foreigners,  a  mark  of  infamy  on  the 
character  of  the  nation.  The  Scots  were  held  in  abhorrence  all  over 
Europe  ;  they  durst  hardly  appear  any  where  in  public;  and,  after  suffer- 
ing so  many  atrocious  deeds  to  pass  with  impunity,  they  were  universally 
reproached  as  men  void  of  courage,  or  of  humanity,  as  equally  regardless 
of  the  reputation  of  their  queen  and  the  honour  of  their  country.! 

These  reproaches  roused  the  nobles,  who  had  been  hitherto  amused  by 
Bothwell's  artifices,  or  intimidated  by  his  power.  The  manner  in  which 
he  exercised  the  authority  which  he  acquired,  his  repeated  attempts  to 
become  master  of  the  prince's  person,  together  with  some  rash  threatenings 
against  him,  which  he  let  fall,!  added  to  the  violence  and  promptitude  of 
their  resolutions.  A  considerable  body  of  them  assembled  at  Stirling,  and 
entered  into  an  association  for  the  defence  of  the  prince's  person.  Argyll, 
Athol,  Mar,  Morton,  Glencairn,  Home,  Lindsay,  Boyd,  Murray  of  Tulli- 
bardin,  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  and  Maitland  the  secretary,  were  the  heads  of 
this  confederacy. §  Stewart,  earl  of  Athol,  was  remarkable  for  a  uniform 
and  bigoted  attachment  to  popery ;  but  his  indignation  on  account  of  the 
murder  of  the  king,  to  whom  he  was  nearlj'  allied,  and  his  zeal  for  the 
safety  of  the  prince,  overcame,  on  this  occasion,  all  considerations  of  reli- 
gion, and  united  him  with  the  most  zealous  protestants.  Several  of  the 
other  nobles  acted,  without  question,  from  a  laudable  concern  for  the  safety 
of  the  prince  and  the  honour  of  their  country.  But  the  spirit  which  some 
of  them  discovered  during  the  subsequent  revolutions  leaves  little  room  to 
doubt,  that  ambition  or  resentment  were  the  real  motives  of  their  conduct : 
and  that,  on  many  occasions,  while  they  were  pursuing  ends  just  and 
necessary,  they  were  actuated  by  principles  and  passions  altogether 
unjustifiable. 

The  first  accounts  of  this  league  filled  the  queen  and  Bothwell  with  great 
consternation.  They  were  no  strangers  to  the  sentiments  of  the  nation  with 
respect  to  their  conduct ;  and  though  their  marriage  had  not  met  with  public 
opposition,  they  knew  that  it  had  not  been  carried  on  without  the  secret 
disgust  and  murmurings  of  all  rank-  of  men.  They  foresaw  the  violence 
with  which  this  indignation  would  burst  out,  aftei  having  been  so  long  sup- 
pressed ;  and,  in  order  to  prepare  for  the  storm,  Mary  issued  a  proclama 
tion  [May  28],  requiring  her  subjects  to  take  arms,  and  to  attend  her  hus- 

•  Mehr.  160.    Bueb.  361.  T  Anders,  rol.  i.  12s.  134     Melv.  163.    8m  Appendix,  Ma  XXI 

t  Met*  101.  \  Keltn.  3W- 


OF   SCOTLAND.  171 

band  by  a  day  appointed.  At  the  same  time  she  published  a  sor  of  mani- 
festo, in  which  she  laboured  to  vindicate  her  government  from  those  impu- 
tations with  which  it  had  been  loaded,  and  employed  the  strongest  terms 
to  express  her  concern  for  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  prince  her  son. 
Neither  of  these  produced  any  considerable  effect.  Her  proclamation  was 
ill  obeyed,  and  her  manifesto  met  with  little  credit.* 

The  confederate  lords  carried  on  their  preparations  with  no  less  activity, 
and  with  much  more  success.  Among  a  warlike  people,  men  of  so  mt  ch 
power  and  popularity  found  it  an  easy  matter  to  raise  an  army.  They 
were  ready  to  march  before  the  queen  and  Bothwell  were  in  a  condition  to 
resist  them.  The  castle  of  Edinburgh  was  the  place  whither  the  que.;: 
ought  naturally  to  have  retired,  and  there  her  person  might  have  been  per- 
fectly safe.  But  the  confederates  had  fallen  on  means  to  shake  or  corrupt 
the  fidelity  of  sir  James  Balfour,  the  deputy  governor,  and  Bothwell  dursl 
not  commit  to  him  such  an  important  trust.  He  conducted  the  queen 
[June  6],  to  the  castle  of  Borthwick  ;  and  on  the  appearance  of  lord  Home, 
with  a  body  of  his  followers,  before  that  place,  he  fled  with  precipitation 
to  Dunbar,  and  was  followed  by  the  queen  disguised  in  men's  clothes. 
The  confederates  advanced  towards  Edinburgh,  where  Huntly  endeavoured, 
in  vain,  to  animate  the  inhabitants  to  defend  the  town  against  them.  They 
entered  without  opposition,  and  were  instantly  joined  by  many  of  the 
citizens,  whose  zeal  became  the  firmest  support  of  their  cause.t 

In  order  to  set  their  own  conduct  in  the  most  favourable  light,  and  to 
rouse  the  public  indignation  against  Bothwell,  the  nobles  published  a 
declaration  of  the  motives  which  had  induced  them  to  take  arms.  All 
Bothwell's  past  crimes  were  enumerated,  all  his  wicked  intentions  dis- 
played and  aggravated,  and  eveiy  true  Scotchman  was  called  upon  to  join 
them  in  avenging  the  one  and  preventing  the  other.J 

Meanwhile  Bothwell  assembled  his  forces  at  Dunbar;  and  as  he  had 
many  dependents  in  that  corner,  he  soon  gathered  such  strength  that  he 
ventured  to  advance  towards  the  confederates.  Their  troops  were  not 
numerous ;  the  suddenness  and  secrecy  of  their  enterprise  gave  their  friends 
at  a  distance  no  time  to  join  them;  and,  as  it  does  not  appear  that  they 
were  supported  either  with  money  or  fed  with  hopes  by  the  queen  ot 
England,  they  could  not  have  kept  long  in  a  body.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
Bothwell  durst  not  risk  a  delay. §  His  army  followed  him  with  reluctance 
in  this  quarrel,  and  served  him  with  no  cordial  affection;  so  that  his  only 
hope  of  success  was  in  surprising  the  enemy,  or  in  striking  the  blow  before 
his  own  troops  had  leisure  to  recollect  themselves,  or  to  imbibe  the  same 
unfavourable  opinion  of  his  actions  which  had  spread  over  the  rest  of  the 
nation.  These  motives  determined  the  queen  to  march  forward  with  an 
inconsiderate  and  fatal  speed. 

On  the  first  intelligence  of  her  approach,  the  confederates  advanced  to 
meet  her.  They  found  her  forces  drawn  up  almost  on  the  same  ground 
which  the  English  had  occupied  before  the  battle  of  Pinkie  [July  15]. 
The  numbers  on  both  sides  were  nearly  equal;  but  there  was  no  equality 
in  point  of  discipline.  The  queen's  army  consisted  chiefly  of  a  multitude, 
hastily  assembled,  without  courage  or  experience  in  war.  The  troops  of 
ihe  confederates  were  composed  of  gentlemen  of  rank  and  reputation,  fol- 
.owed  by  their  ma«t  trusty  dependents,  who  were  no  less  brave  than 
zealous.  || 

Le  Croc,  the  French  ambassador,  who  was  in  the  field,  laboured,  by 
negotiating  both  with  the  queen  and  the  nobles,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
quarrel  without  the  effusion  of  blood.  He  represented  to  the  confederates 
the  queen's  inclination  towards  peace,  and  her  willingness  to  pardon  the 

*  Keith,  387. 395, 396.  f  Ibid.  398.  J  Anper^vol.  1. 128.  $  Keith,  401 

|  CtUer.  vol  ii  48, 49 


t7t  THE  HISTORY  [Book  IV 

offences  which  they  had  committed.  Morton  replied  with  warmth,  tha 
they  had  taken  arms  not  against  the  queen,  but  against  the  murderer  of  hei 
husband;  and  if  he  were  given  up  to  justice,  or  banished  from  her  presence, 
she  should  find  them  ready  to  yield  the  obedience  which  is  due  trom  sub- 
jects to  their  sovereign.  Glencairn  added,  that  they  did  not  come  to  ask 
pardon  for  any  offence,  but  to  punish  those  who  had  offended.  Such 
haughty  answers  convinced  the  ambassador  that  his  mediation  would  be 
ineffectual,  and  that  their  passions  were  too  high  to  allow  them  to  listen  to 
any  pacific  propositions,  or  to  think  of  retreating  after  having  proceeded 
so  far.* 

The  queen's  army  was  posted  to  advantage  on  a  rising  ground.  The 
confederates  advanced  to  the  attack  resolutely,  but  slowly,  and  with  the 
caution  which  was  natural  on  that  unhappy  field.  Her  troops  were  alarmed 
at  their  approach,  and  discovered  no  inclination  to  fight.  Mary  endea- 
voured to  animate  them;  she  wept,  she  threatened,  she  reproached  them 
with  cowardice,  but  all  in  vain.  A  few  of  Bothwell's  immediate  attend- 
ants were  eager  for  the  encounter;  the  rest  stood  wavering  and  irresolute, 
and  some  began  to  steal  out  of  the  field.  Bothwell  attempted  to  inspirit 
them,  by  offering  to  decide  the  quarrel,  and  to  vindicate  his  own  innocence, 
in  single  combat  with  any  of  his  adversaries.  Kirkaldy  of  Grange,  Murray 
of  Tul'libardin,  and  lord  Lindsay,  contended  for  the  honour  of  entering  the 
lists  against  him.  But  this  challenge  proved  to  be  a  mere  bravado.  Either 
the  consciousness  of  guilt  deprived  Bothwell  of  his  wonted  courage,  or  the 
queen,  by  her  authority,  forbad  the  combat.t 

After  the  symptoms  of  fear  discovered  by  her  followers,  Mary  would 
have  been  inexcusable  had  she  hazarded  a  battle.  To  have  retreated  in 
the  face  of  an  enemy  who  had  already  surrounded  the  hill  on  which  she 
stood  with  part  of  their  cavalry,  was  utterly  impracticable.  In  this  situ- 
ation, she  was  under  the  cruel  necessity  of  putting  herself  into  the  hands 
ol  those  subjects  who  had  taken  arms  against  her.  She  demanded  an 
interview  with  Kirkaldy,  a  brave  and  generous  man,  who  commanded  an 
advanced  body  of  the  enemy.  He,  with  the  consent  and  in  the  name  of 
the  leaders  of  the  party,  promised  that,  on  condition  she  would  dismiss 
Bothwell  from  her  presence,  and  govern  the  kingdom  by  the  advice  of  her 
nobles,  they  would  honour  and  obey  her  as  their  sovereign.! 

During  this  parley,  Bothwell  took  his  last  farewell  of  trie  queen,  and 
rode  off  the  field  with  a  few  followers.  This  dismal  reverse  happened 
exactly  one  month  after  that  marriage  which  had  cost  him  so  many  crimes 
to  accomplish,  and  which  leaves  so  foul  a  stain  on  Mary's  memory. 

As  soon  as  Bothwell  retired,  Mary  surrendered  to  Kirkaldy,  who  con- 
ducted her  towards  the  confederate  army,  the  leaders  of  which  received 
her  with  much  respect ;  and  Morton,  in  their  name,  made  ample  professions 
of  their  future  loyalty  and  obedience. §  But  she  was  treated  by  the  com- 
mon soldiers  with  the  utmost  insolence  and  indignity.  As  she  marched 
along,  they  poured  upon  her  all  the  opprobrious  names  which  are  bestowed 
only  on  the  lowest  and  most  infamous  criminals.  Wherever  she  turned 
her  eyes,  they  held  up  before  her  a  standard,  on  which  was  painted  the 
dead  body  of  the  late  king,  stretched  on  the  ground,  and  the  young  prince 
kneeling  before  i?,  and  uttering  these  words,  "Judge  and  revenge  my  cause, 
O  Lord !"  Maiy  turned  with  horror  from  such  a  shocking  sight.  She 
began  already  to  feel  the  wretched  condition  to  which  a  captive  prince,  is 
reduced.  She  uttered  the  most  bitter  complaints,  she  melted  into  tears, 
and  could  hardly  be  kept  from  sinking  to  the  ground.  The  confederates 
conducted  her  towards  Edinburgh ;  and,  in  spite  of  many  delays,  and  after 
looking,  with  the  fondness  and  credulity  natural  to  the  unfortunate,  for  some 
extraordinary  relief,  she  arrived  there.     The  streets  were  covered  with 

«  Keith,  401.         f  Cald-  vi  .  ii.  50.        J  Good,  vol,  ii.  164-     Melv.  165.         §  IM1   voL  u.  16S 


OF  SCOTLAND  173 

multitudes,  whom  zeal  or  curiosity  had  drawn  together,  to  behold  such  an 
unusual  scene.  The  queen,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  covered  with  dust,  and 
hedewed  with  tears,  was  exposed  as  a  spectacle  to  her  own  subjects,  and 
led  to  the  provost's  house.  Notwithstanding  all  her  arguments  and 
entreaties,  the  same  standard  was  carried  before  her,  and  the  same  insults 
and  reproaches  repeated.*  A  woman,  young,  beautiful,  and  in  distress,  is 
naturally  tUe  object  of  compassion.  The  comparison  of  their  present 
misery  with  their  former  splendour,  usually  softens  us  in  favour  of  illustrious 
sufferers.  But  the  people  beheld  the  deplorable  situation  of  their  sove- 
reign with  insensibility;  and  so  strong  wat  their  persuasion  of  her  guilt, 
and  so  great  the  violence  of  their  indignation,  that  the  sufferings  of  their 
queen  did  not,  in  any  degree,  mitigate  their  resentment,  or  procure  her 
that  sympathy  which  is  seldom  denied  to  unfortunate  princes. 


BOOK   V. 


1567.]  The  confederate  lords  had  proceeded  to  such  extremities  against 
their  sovereign  that  it  now  became  almost  impossible  for  them  either  to 
stop  short  or  to  pursue  a  course  less  violent.  Many  of  the  nobles  had 
refused  to  concur  with  them  in  their  enterprise ;  others  openly  condemned 
it  A  small  circumstance  might  abate  that  indignation  with  which  the 
multitude  were  at  present  animated  against  the  queen,  and  deprive  them 
of  that  popular  applause  which  was  the  chief  foundation  of  their  power. 
These  considerations  inclined  some  of  them  to  treat  the  queen  with  great 
lenity. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  Mary's  affection  for  Bothwell  continued  as  vio- 
lent as  ever ;  she  obstinately  refused  to  hearken  to  any  proposal  for  dis- 
solving their  marriage,  and  determined  not  to  abandon  a  man,  for  whose 
Jove  she  had  already  sacrificed  so  much.t  If  they  should  allow  her  to 
lecover  the  supreme  power,  the  first  exertion  of  it  would  be  to  recall 
Bothwell ;  and  they  had  reason,  both  from  his  resentment,  from  her  con- 
duct, and  from  their  own,  to  expect  the  severest  effects  of  her  vengeance. 
These  considerations  surmounted  every  other  motive ;  and,  reckoning 
themselves  absolved  by  Mary's  incurable  attachment  to  Bothwell,  from  the 
engagements  which  they  had  come  under  when  she  yielded  herself  a 
prisoner,  they,  without  regarding  the  duty  which  they  owed  her  as  their 
queen,  and  without  consulting  the  rest  of  the  nobles,  carried  her  next  eve- 
ning, under  a  strong  guard,  to  the  castle  of  Lochlevin,  and  signed  a  warrant 
to  William  Douglas,  the  owner  of  it,  to  detain  her  as  a  prisoner.  This 
castle  is  situated  in  a  small  island  in  the  middle  of  a  lake.  Douglas,  to 
whom  it  belonged,  was  a  near  relation  of  Morton's,  and  had  married  the 
earl  of  Murray  s  mother.  In  this  place,  under  strict  custody,  with  a  few 
attendants,  and  subjected  to  the  insults  of  a  haughty  woman,  who  boasted 
daily  of  being  the  lawful  wife  of  James  V.,  Mary  suffered  all  the  rigour 
and  miseries  of  captivity  .J 

Immediately  after  the  queen's  imprisonment  the  confederates  were  at 
the  utmost  pains  to  strengthen  their  party ;  they  entered  into  new  bonds  of 
association ;  they  assumed  the  title  of  Lords  of  the  Secret  Council,  and 
without  any  other  right  arrogated  to  themselves  the  whole  regal  authority. 
One  of  their  first  acts  of  power  was  to  search  the  city  of  Edinburgh  for  such 
as  had  been  concerned    n  the  murder  of  the  king.     This  show  of  zeal 

*  Melv.  166.     Buch.  364.  T  Keith,  419.  446  449.     Melv.  167     See  Append.  No.  XXII. 

;  Keith,  403.  Note  (A). 


174  THE    HISTORY  (Book  V. 

gained  reputation  to  themselves,  and  threw  an  oblique  reflection  on  tne 
queen  for  her  remissness.  Several  suspected  persons  were  seized.  Cap- 
tain Blackadder  and  three  others  were  condemned  and  executed.  But  no 
discovery  of  importance  was  made.  If  we  believe  some  historians,  they 
were  convicted  by  sufficient  evidence ;  if  we  give  credit  to  others,  their 
sentence  was  unjust,  and  they  denied,  with  their  last  breath,  any  know- 
ledge of  the  crime  for  which  they  suffered.* 

An  unexpected  accident,  however,  put  into  the  hands  of  Mary's  enemies 
what  they  deemed  the  fullest  evidence  of  her  guilt.  Bothweil  having  left 
in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  a  casket  containing  several  sonnets  and  letters 
written  with  the  queen's  own  hand,  he  now  ,ent  one  of  his  confidents  to 
bring  to  him  this  precious  deposite.  But  as  his  messenger  returned,  he 
was  intercepted,  and  the  casket  seized  by  Morton.j  The  contents  of  it 
were  always  produced  by  the  party  as  the  most  ample  justification  of  theii 
own  conduct ;  and  to  these  they  continually  appealed  as  the  most  unan- 
swerable pioof  of  their  not  having:  loaded  their  sovereign  with  the  imputa- 
tion of  imaginary  crimes.J 

But  the  confederates,  notwithstanding  their  extraordinary  success,  were 
still  far  from  being  perfectly  at  ease.  Thai  so  small  a  part  of  the  nobles 
should  pretend  to  dispose  of  the  person  of  their  sovereign,  or  to  assume 
the  authority  which  belonged  to  her,  without  die  concurrence  of  the  rest, 
was  deemed  by  many  of  that  body,  to  be  unprecedented  and  presump- 
tuous. Several  of  these  were  now  assembled  ar  Hamilton,  in  order  to 
deliberate  what  course  they  should  hold  in  this  difficult  conjuncture.  The 
confederates  made  some  attempts  towards  a  coalition  with  them,  but  with- 
out effect.  They  employed  the  mediation  of  the  assembly  of  the  church, 
to  draw  them  to  a  persona!  interview  at  Edinburgh,  but  with  no  better 
success.  That  party,  however,  though  its  numbers  were  formidable,  and 
the  power  of  its  leaders  grear,  soon  lost  reputation  by  the  want  of  unani- 
mity and  vigour:  all  its  consultations  evaporated  in  murmurs  and  com- 
plaints, and'no  scheme  was  concerted  foi  obstructing  the  progress  of  the 
confederates^ 

There  appeared  some  prospect  of  danger  from  another  quarter.     Thi? 

treat  revolution  in  Scotland  had  been  carried  on  without  any  aid  from 
llizabeth,  and  even  without  her  knowledge.!!  Though  she  was  far  from 
being  displeased  at  seeing  the  affairs  of  that  kingdom  embroiled,  or  a  rival 
whom  she  hated  reduced  to  distress ;  she  neither  wished  that  it  should  be 
in  the  power  of  the  one  faction  entirely  to  suppress  the  other,  nor  could 
she  view  the  steps  taken  by  the  confederates  without  great  offence.  Not- 
withstanding the  popular  maxims  by  which  she  governed  her  own  sub- 
jects, her  notions  of  royal  prerogative  were  very  exalted.  The  con- 
federates had,  in  her  opinion,  encroached  on  the  authority  of  their  sove- 
reign,  which  they  had  no  right  to  control,  and  had  offered  violence  to  het 
person,  which  it  was  their  duty  to  esteem  sacred.  They  had  set  a  dan- 
gerous example  to  other  subjects,  and  Mary's  cause  became  the  common 
cause  of  princes. IT  If  ever  Elizabeth  was  influenced  with  regard  to  the 
affairs  of  Scotland  by  the  feelings  of  her  heart,  rather  than  by  considera- 
tions of  interest,  it  was  on  this  occasion.  Mary,  in  her  present  condition, 
degraded  from  her  throne,  and  covered  with  the  infamy  attending  an 
accusation  of  such  atrocious  crimes,  could  be  no  longer  (he  object  of 
Elizabeth's  jealousy,  either  as  a  woman  or  as  a  queen.  Sympathy  with 
a  sovereign  in  distress  seems,  for  a  moment,  to  have  touched  a  heart  not 
very  susceptible  of  tender  sentiments ;  and  while  these  were  yet  warm,  she 
despatched  Throkmorton  into  Scotland,  [June  30,]  with  power  to  negotiate 
both  with  the  queen  and  with  the  confederates.     In  his  instructions  there 

•  Cald.  vol.  li.  53.  Crawf.  Mem  S5.  t  Anders,  vol.  ii.  92.  Good.  vol.  U.  90.  J  Bee  Di» 
eertation  at  the  end  of  the  History.  §  Keith,  407  ||  Id.  415  ^Id.41«.415 


OF   SCOTLAND-  17S 

appears  a  remarkable  solicitude  for  Mary's  liberty,  and  even  for  her  repu- 
tatic  i;  and  the  terms  upon  which  she  proposed  to  re-establish  concord 
between  the  queen  and  her  subjects,  appear  to  be  so  reasonable  and  well 
digested,  as  might  have  ensured  the  safety  an<!  happiness  of  both.  Zea- 
lous as  Throkmorton  was  to  accomplish  this,  all  his  endeavours  and 
address  proved  ineffectual.  He  found  not  only  the  confederate  nobles,  but 
the  nation  in  general,  so  far  alienated  from  the  queen,  and  so  much  offended 
with  the  indecent  precipitancy  of  her  marriage  with  the  reputed  murderer 
of  her  former  husband,  as  to  be  incapable  of  listening  to  any  proposition  in 
her  favour. 

During  the  state  of  anarchy  occasioned  by  the  imprisonment  of  the 
queen,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  established  government,  which  afforded 
such  ample  scope  for  political  speculation,  four  different  schemes  had  beer 
proposed  for  the  settlement  of  the  nation.  One,  that  Mary  should  be  re- 
placed upon  the  throne,  but  under  various  and  strict  limitations.  The 
second,  that  she  should  resign  the  crown  to  her  son,  and,  retiring  out  of 
the  kingdom,  should  reside,  during  the  remainder  of  her  days,  either  in 
England  or  in  France.  The  third,  that  Mary  should  be  brought  to  public 
trial  for  her  crimes,  and,  after  conviction,  of  which  no  doubt  was  enter- 
tained, should  be  kept  in  perpetual  imprisonment.  The  fourth,  that  after 
trial  and  condemnation,  capital  punishment  should  be  inflicted  upon  her. 
Throkmorton,  though  disposed,  as  well  by  his  own  inclination  as  in  con- 
formity to  the  spirit  of  his  instructions,  to  view  matters  in  the  light  most 
favourable  to  Mary,  informed  his  court,  that  the  milder  schemes,  recom- 
mended by  Maitland  alone,  would  undoubtedly  be  reprobated,  and  one  of 
the  most  rigorous  carried  into  execution. 

In  justification  of  this  rigour,  the  confederates  maintained  that  Mary's 
affection  for  Bothwell  was  still  unabated,  and  openly  avowed  by  her;  that 
she  rejected  with  disdain  every  proposal  for  dissolving  their  marriage ; 
and  declared,  that  she  would  forego  every  comfort,  and  endure  any 
extremity,  rather  than  give  her  consent  to  that  measure.  While  these 
were  her  sentiments,  they  contended,  that  concern  for  the  public  welfare, 
as  well  as  attention  to  their  own  safety,  rendered  it  necessary  to  put  it  out 
of  the  queen's  power  to  restore  a  daring  man,  exasperated  by  recent  inju- 
ries, to  his  former  station,  which  must  needs  prove  fatal  to  both.  Notwith- 
standing their  solicitude  to  conciliate  the  goodwill  of  Elizabeth,  they  fore- 
saw clearly  what  would  be  the  effect,  at  this  juncture,  of  Throkmorton's 
interposition  in  behalf  of  the  queen ;  and  that  she,  elated  with  the  prospect 
of  protection,  would  refuse  to  listen  to  the  overtures  which  they  were 
about  to  make  to  her.  For  this  reason  they  peremptorily  denied  Throk- 
morton's access  to  their  prisoner ;  and  what  propositions  he  made  to  them 
in  her  behalf,  they  either  refused  or  eluded.* 

Meanwhile  they  deliberated  with  the  utmost  anxiety  concerning  the 
settlement  of  the  nation,  and  the  future  disposal  of  the  queen's  person. 
Elizabeth,  observing  that  Throkmorton  made  no  progress  in  his  negotia- 
tions with  them,  and  that  they  would  listen  to  none  of  his  demands  in 
Mary's  favour,  turned  towards  that  party  of  the  nobles  who  were  assem- 
bled at  Hamilton,  incited  them  to  take  arms  in  order  to  restore  their  queen 
to  liberty,  and  promised  to  assist  them  in  such  an  attempt  to  the  utmost  of 
her  power.!  But  they  discovered  no  greater  union  and  vigour  than  for 
merly,  and,  behaving  like  men  who  had  given  up  all  concern  either  for 
their  queen  or  their  country,  tamely  allowed  an  inconsiderable  part  of 
their  body,  whether  we  consider  it  with  respect  to  numbers  or  to  power,  to 
settle  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  dispose  of  the  queen's  per- 
son at  pleasure.  Many  consultations  were  held,  and  various  opinions 
arose  with  regard  to  each  of  these.     Some  seemed  desirous  of  adhering  tc 

•  Keith,  417  427.  t  See  Append.  No.  XX1U. 


176  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

the  plan  on  which  the  confederacy  was  at  first  formed;  and  after  punish 
ing  the  murderers  of  the  king,  and  dissolving  the  marriage  with  Bothwell; 
after  providing  for  the  safety  of  the  young  prince,  and  the  security  of  the 
protestant  religion;  they  proposed  to  re-establish  the  queen  in  the  posses 
sion  of  her  legal  authority.  The  success  with  which  their  arms  had  been 
accompanied  inspired  others  with  bolder  and  more  desperate  thoughts, 
and  nothing  less  would  satisfy  them  than  the  trial,  the  condemnation,  and 
punishment  of  the  queen  herself,  as  the  principal  conspirator  against  the 
life  of  her  husband  and  the  safety  of  her  son  :*  the  former  was  Maitiand's 
system,  and  breathed  too  much  of  a  pacific  and  moderate  spirit,  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  temper  or  wishes  of  the  party.  The  latter  was  recom- 
mended by  the  clergy,  and  warmly  adopted  by  many  laics ;  but  the 
nobles  durst  not,  or  would  not,  venture  on  such  an  unprecedented  and  auda- 
cious deed.t 

Both  parties  agreed  at  last  upon  a  scheme,  neither  so  moderate  as  the 
one,  nor  so  daring  as  the  other.  Mary  was  to  be  persuaded  or  forced  to 
resign  the  crown  ;  the  young  prince  was  to  be  proclaimed  king,  and  the 
earl  of  Murray  was  to  be  appointed  to  govern  the  kingdom,  during  his 
minority,  with  the  name  and  authority  of  regent.  With  regard  to  the 
queen's  own  person,  nothing  was  determined.  It  seems  to  have  been  the 
intention  of  the  confederates  to  sefji  bei  in  perpetual  imprisonment ;  but, 
in  order  to  intimidate  herse'f,  ind  '•_•  overawe  her  partisans,  they  still 
reserved  to  themselves  the  powei  w  proceeding  to  more  violent  extremes. 

It  was  obvious  to  foresee  ditH>;.i.'R>.e>  in  n  »  execution  of  this  plan.  Mary 
was  young,  ambitious,  high  spirited,  and  accustomed  to  command.  To 
induce  her  to  acknowledge  her  own  incapacity  for  governing,  to  renounce 
the  dignity  and  power  which  sb*  i\ax  •  «';•  lc  enjoy,  to  become  dependent 
on  her  own  subjects,  to  consent  ••  :*er  ov-'t,  V,»id-ge,  and  to  invest  those 
persons  whom  she  considered  *s  the  authors  of  ali  her  calamities  with  that 
honour  and  authority  of  which  r,|.e  herself  was  flipped,  were  points  hard 
to  be  gained.  These,  however,  the  confederates  attempted,  and  they  did 
not  want  means  to  ensure  success.  IVtavy  bad  endured,  for  several  weeks, 
all  the  hardships  and  terror  of  a  prison  r»o  prospect  of  liberty  appeared  ; 
none  of  her  subjects  had  either  taken  inns,  or  Si  much  as  solicited  her 
relief;];  no  Person»  in  whom  sh<r  could  confide,  was  admitted  into  her 
presence  ;  even  the  ambassadors  or  fb.e  French  king,  and  queen  of  England, 
were  refused  access  to  her.  In  this  solitary  slate,  without  a  counsellor  or 
a  friend,  under  the  pressure  01  distress  and  die  apprehension  of  danger,  it 
was  natural  for  a  woman  to  hearken  almost  to  any  overtures.  The  con- 
federates took  advantage  of  hei  condition  a..d  of  Ljr  fears.  They  employed 
lord  Lindsay,  the  fiercest  zealot  in  the  oartv.  to  communicate  their  scheme 
to  the  queen,  and  to  obtain  her  subscription  >•>  those  papers  which  were 
necessary  for  rendering  it  effectual.  He  executed  his  commission  wiih 
harshness  and  brutality.  Certain  death  wa.-  before  Mary's  eyes  if  she 
refused  to  comply  with  his  demands.  At  the  ^ame  time  she  was  informed 
by  Sir  Robert  Melvil,  in  the  name  of  Athoi,  Maitland,  and  Kirkaldy,  thp 
persons  among  the  confederals  who  were  u.ost  attentive  to  her  interest 
that  a  resignation  extorted  by  rear,  and  granted  during  her  imprisonment, 
was  void  in  law,  and  might  be  revoked  as  soon  as  she  recovered  liberty. 
Throkmorton,  by  a  note  which  he  ...und  means  of  conveying  to  her, 
suggested  the  same  thing.§  Deference  to  their  opinion,  as  well  as  concern 
for  her  own  safety,  obliged  her  to  yield  to  every  thing  which  was  required, 
and  to  sign  all  the  papers  which  Lindsay  presented  to  her.     By  one  of 

•  Keith,  420,  421,  422.  582. 

?  The  Intention  of  putting  the  queen  to  death  seems  to  have  been  carried  on  by  some  of  her 
•ubjects :  at  this  time  we  often  find  Elizabeth  boasting  that  Mai  y  owed  her  life  to  her  interposition 
Digges's  Compl.  Amb.  14,  &c.    See  Append.  No.  XVIII. 

I  Keith,  425.  <S  Ibid.  425.    Note  lb).     Mel  v.  169. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  177 

tnese  she  resigned  the  crown,  renounced  all  share  in  the  go  imminent  of 
the  kingdom,  and  consented  to  the  coronation  of  the  young  king.  By 
another  [July  "24],  she  appointed  the  earl  of  Murray  regent,  and  conferred 
upon  him  all  the  powers  and  privileges  of  that  high  office.  By  a  third, 
she  substituted  some  other  noblemen  in  Murray's  place,  if  he  should  refuse 
the  honour  which  was  designed  for  him.  Mary,  when  she  subscribed  these 
deeds,  was  bathed  in  tears  ;  and  while  she  gave  away,  as  it  were  with  her 
own  hands,  the  sceptre  which  she  had  swayed  so  long,  she  felt  a  pang  of 
grief  and  indignation,  one  of  the  severest  perhaps  which  can  touch  the  human 
heart.* 

The  confederates  endeavoured  to  give  this  resignation  all  the  weight  anft 
validity  in  their  power,  by  proceeding  without  delay  to  crown  the  young 
prince.  The  ceremony  was  performed  at  Stirling,  on  the  twenty-ninth  vi 
July,  with  much  solemnity,  in  presence  of  all  the  nobles  of  the  party,  a 
considerable  number  of  lesser  barons,  and  a  great  assembly  of  the  people. 
From  that  time  all  public  writs  were  issued,  and  the  government  carried 
on,  in  the  name  of  James  VI. T 

No  revolution  so  great  was  ever  effected  with  more  ease,  or  by  means 
so  unequal  to  the  end.  In  a  warlike  age,  and  in  less  time  than  two  months, 
a  part  of  the  nobles  who  neither  possessed  the  chief  power,  nor  the  greatest 
wealth  in  the  nation,  and  who  never  brought  three  thousand  men  into  the 
field,  seized,  imprisoned,  and  dethroned  their  queen,  and,  without  shedding 
a  single  drop  of  blood,  set  her  son,  an  infant  of  a  year  old,  on  the  throne. 

During  this  rapid  progress  of  the  confederates,  the  eyes  of  all  the  nation 
were  turned  on  them  with  astonishment ;  and  various  ana  contradictory  opin- 
ons  were  formed  concerning  the  extraordinary  steps  which  they  had  taken. 

Even  under  the  aristocratical  form  of  government  which  prevails  in 
Scotland,  said  the  favourers  of  the  queen,  and  notwithstanding  the  exor- 
bitant privileges  of  the  nobles,  the  prince  possesses  considerable  power,  and 
his  person  is  treated  with  great  veneration.  No  encroachments  should  be 
made  on  the  former,  and  no  injury  offered  to  the  latter,  but  in  cases  where 
the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  nation  cannot  be  secured  by  any  other 
means.  Such  cases  seldom  exist,  and  it  belongs  not  to  any  part,  but  to  the 
whole,  or  at  least  to  a  majority  of  the  society,  to  judge  of  their  existence 
By  what  action  could  it  be  pretended  that  Alary  had  invaded  the  rights  or 
property  of  her  subjects,  or  what  scheme  had  she  formed  against  the 
liberty  and  constitution  of  the  kingdom  ?  Were  fears,  and  suspicions,  and 
surmises,  enough  to  justify  the  imprisonment  and  the  deposing  a  queen  to 
whom  the  crown  descended  from  so  long  a  race  of  monarchs  ?  The  prin- 
cipal author  of  whatever  was  reckoned  culpable  in  her  conduct  was  now 
driven  from  her  presence.  The  murderers  of  the  king  might  have  been 
brought  to  condign  punishment,  the  safely  of  the  prince  have  been  secured, 
and  the  protestant  religion  have  been  established,  without  wresting  the 
sceptre  out  of  her  hands,  or  condemning  her  to  perpetual  imprisonment. 
Whatever  right  a  free  parliament  might  have  had  to  proceed  to  such  a 
rigorous  conclusion,  or  whatever  name  its  determination  might  have  merited, 
a  sentence  of  this  nature,  passed  by  a  small  party  of  the  nobility,  without 
acknowledging  or  consulting  the  rest  of  the  nation,  must  be  deemed  a 
rebellion  against  the  government,  and  a  conspiracy  against  the  person  of 
their  sovereign. 

The  partisans  of  the  confederates  reasoned  very  differently.  It  is  evi- 
dent, said  they,  that  Mary  either  previously  gave  consent  to  the  king's 
murder,  or  did  afterwards  approve  of  that  horrid  action.  Her  attachment 
to  Bothwell,  the  power  and  honours  which  she  has  conferred  upon  him, 
the  manner  in  which  she  suffered  his  trial  to  be  carried  on,  and  the  inde- 
cent speed  with  which  she  married  a  man  stained  with  so  many  crimes, 

*  Keith,  VM.    Crawf.  Mem.  38.  t  Keith,  437. 

Vol.  III.— 23 


178  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

raise  s»  -ong  suspicions  of  the  former,  and  put  the  latter  beyond  all  doubt 
To  hav  i  suffered  the  supreme  power  to  continue  in  the  hands  of  an  ambi 
tious  man,  capable  of  the  most  atrocious  and  desperate  actions,  would  have 
been  disgraceful  to  the  nation,  dishonourable  to  the  queen,  and  dangerous 
to  the  prince.  Recourse  was  therefore  had  to  arms.  The  queen  had 
been  compelled  to  abandon  a  husband  so  unworthy  of  herself.  But  her 
affection  i ward  him  still  continuing  unabated;  her  indignation  against  the 
authors  ot  this  separation  being  visible,  and  often  expressed  in  the  strongest 
terms ;  they,  by  restoring  her  to  her  ancient  authority,  would  have  armed 
her  with  power  to  destroy  themselves,  have  enabled  her  to  recall  Bothwell, 
and  have  afforded  her  an  opportunity  of  pursuing  schemes  fatal  to  the 
nation  with  greater  eagerness,  and  with  more  success.  Nothing  therefore 
remained,  but  by  one  bold  action  to  deliver  themselves  and  their  countiy 
from  all  future  fears.  The  expedient  they  had  chosen  was  no  less  respect- 
ful to  the  royal  blood,  than  necessary  for  the  public  safety.  While  one 
prince  was  set  aside  as  incapable  of  governing,  the  crown  was  placed  on 
his  head  who  was  the  undoubted  representative  of  their  ancient  kings. 

Whatever  opinion  posterity  may  form  on  comparing  the  arguments  of 
the  two  contending  parties,  whatever  sentiments  we  may  entertain  con- 
cerning the  justice  or  necessity  of  that  course  which  the  confederates  held, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  their  conduct,  so  far  as  regarded  themselves,  was 
extremely  prudent.  Other  expedients,  less  rigorous  towards  Mary,  might 
have  been  found  for  settling  the  nation  ;  but,  after  the  injuries  which  they 
had  already  offered  the  queen,  there  was  none  so  effectual  for  securing 
their  own  satiety,  or  perpetuating  their  own  power. 

To  a  great  part  of  the  nation,  the  conduct  of  the  confederates  appeared 
not  only  wise,  but  just.  The  king's  accession  to  the  throne  was  every 
where  proclaimed,  and  his  authority  submitted  to  without  opposition. 
Though  several  of  the  nobles  were  still  assembled  at  Hamilton,  and 
seemed  to  be  entering  into  some  combination  against  his  government,  an 
association  for  supporting  it  was  formed,  and  signed  by  so  many  persons 
of  power  and  influence  throughout  the  nation,  as  entirely  discouraged  the 
attempt.* 

The  return  of  the  earl  of  Murray,  about  this  time,  added  strength  to  the 
party,  and  gave  it  a  regular  and  finished  form.  Soon  after  the  murder  oi 
the  king,  this  nobleman  had  retired  into  France,  upon  what  pretence  his- 
torians do  not  mention.  During  his  residence  there,  he  had  held  a  close 
correspondence  with  the  chiefs  of  the  confederacy,  and,  at  their  desire,  he 
now  returned.  He  seemed,  at  first,  unwilling  to  accept  the  office  of  regent. 
This  hesitation  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  scruples  either  of  diffidence  orot 
duty.  Murray  wanted  neither  the  abilities  nor  the  ambition  which  might 
incite  him  to  aspire  to  this  high  dignity.  He  had  received  the  first  accounts 
of  his  promotion  with  the  utmost  satisfaction  ;  but,  by  appearing  to  continue 
for  some  days  in  suspense,  he  gained  time  to  view  with  attention  the 
ground  on  whit  1  he  was  to  act ;  to  balance  the  strength  and  resources  oi 
he  two  contending  factions ;  and  to  examine  whether  the  foundation,  on 
which  his  future  fame  and  success  must  rest,  were  sound  and  firm. 

Before  he  declared  his  final  resolution,  he  waited  on  Mary  at  Lochlevin. 
This  visit,  to  a  sister,  and  a  queen,  in  a  prison,  from  which  he  had  neither 
any  itention  to  relieve  her,  nor  to  mitigate  the  rigour  of  her  confinement, 
may  be  mentioned  among  the  circumstances  which  discover  the  great 
want  of  delicacy  and  refinement  in  that  age.  Murray,  v\  ho  was  naturally 
rough  and  uncourtly  in  his  manner,!  expostulated  so  warmly  w'th  the 
queen  concerning  her  past  conduct,  and  charged  her  faults  so  home  upon 
her,  that  Mary,  who  had  flattered  herself  with  more  gentle  and  brotherly 
treatment  from  him,  melted  into  tears,  and  abandoned  herself  entirely  to 

•  Anders,  vol.  U.  231.  f  Keith,  96. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  179 

despair.*  This  interview,  nom  winch  Murray  could  reap  no  political 
advantage,  and  wherein  he  discovered  a  spirit  so  severe  and  unrelenting 
may  he  reckoned  among  the  most  hitter  circumstances  in  Mary's  life, 
and  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  unjusti liable  steps  in  his  conduct. 

Soon   after  his  return  from   Lochlevin,  Murray  accepted   the    office  ot 
regent,  and  began  to  act  in  that  character  without  opposition  [Aug.  22]. 

Amidst  so  many  great  and  unexpected  events,  the  fate  of  Bothwell,  the 
chief  cause  of  them  all,  hath  been  almost  forgotten.  After  his  flight  from 
the  confederates,  he  lurked  for  some  time  among  his  vassals  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Dunbar.  But  finding  it  impossible  for  him  to  make  head,  in 
that  country,  against  his  enemies,  or  even  to  secure  himself  from  their  i  in- 
sult, he  fled  for  shelter  to  his  kinsman  the  bishop  of  Murray;  and  when 
he,  overawed  by  the  confederates,  was  obliged  to  abandon  him,  he  retired 
to  the  Orkney  Isles.  Hunted  from  place  to  place,  deserted  by  his  friends, 
and  accompanied  by  a  few  retainers  as  desperate  as  himself,  he  suffered  at 
once  the  miseries  of  infamy  and  of  want.  His  indigence  forced  him  upon 
a  course  which  added  to  his  infamy.  He  armed  a  few  small  ships,  which 
had  accompanied  him  from  Dunbar,  and,  attacking  every  vessel  which  fell 
in  his  way,  endeavoured  to  procure  subsistence  for  himself  and  his  fol- 
lowers by  piracy.  Kirkaidy  and  Murray  of  Tullibardin  were  sent  out 
against  him  by  the  confederates;  and,  surprising  him  while  he  rode  at 
anchor,  scattered  his  small  fleet,  took  a  part  of  it,  and  obliged  him  to  fly 
with  a  single  ship  towards  Norway.  On  that  coast  he  fell  in  with  a  vessel 
richly  laden,  and  immediately  attacked  it;  the  Norwegians  sailed  with 
armed  boats  to  its  assistance  ;  and,  after  a  desperate  fight,  Bothwell  and 
all  his  crew  were  taken  prisoners.  His  name  and  quality  were  both 
unknown,  and  he  was  treated  at  first  with  all  the  indignity  and  rigour 
which  the  odious  crime  of  piracy  merited.  His  real  character  was  soon 
discovered  ;  and  though  it  saved  him  from  the  infamous  death  to  which  his 
associates  were  condemned,  it  could  neither  procure  him  liberty,  nor  miti- 
gate the  hardships  of  his  imprisonment.  He  languished  ten  years  in  this 
unhappy  condition  ;  melancholy  and  despair  deprived  him  of  reason,  and 
at  last  he  ended  his  days  unpitied  by  his  countrymen,  and  unassisted  by 
strangers. t  Few  men  ever  accomplished  their  ambitious  projects  by 
worse  means,  or  reaped  from  them  less  satisfaction.  The  early  part  of  his 
life  was  restless  and  enterprising,  full  of  danger  and  of  vicissitudes.  His 
enjoyment  of  the  grandeur,  to  which  he  attained  by  so  many  crimes,  was 
extremely  short,  imbittered  by  much  anxiety,  and  disquieted  by  many 
fears.  In  his  latter  years,  he  suffered  the  most  intolerable  calamities  to 
which  the  wretched  are  subject,  and  from  which  persons  who  have  moved 
in  so  high  a  sphere  are  commonly  exempted. 

The  good  effects  of  Murray's  accession  to  the  regency  were  quickly 
felt.  The  party  forming  for  the  queen  was  weak,  irresolute,  and  disunited  ; 
and  no  sooner  was  the  government  of  the  kingdom  in  the  hands  of  a  man 
so  remarkable  both  for  his  abilities  and  popularity,  than  the  nobles  ot 
whom  it  was  composed,  lost  all  hopes  of  gaining  ground,  and  began  to 
fre^it  separately  with  the  regent.  So  many  of  them  were  brought  to  ac- 
fc-i/wledge  the  king's  authority  that  scarce  any  appearance  of  opposition 
to  the  established  government  was  left  in  the  kingdom.  Had  they  adhered 
to  the  queen  with  any  firmness,  it  is  probable,  from  Elizabeth's  disposition 
at  that  time,  that  she  would  have  afforded  them  such  assistance  as  might 
have  enabled  them  to  face  their  enemies  in  the  field.  But  the^  appeared 
so  little  vigour  or  harmony  in  their  councils  that  she  was  discouraged  from 
espousing  their  cause  ;  and  the  regent,  taking  advantage  of  their  situation, 
obliged  them  to  submit  to  his  government,  without  granting  any  terms 
either  to  themselves  or  to  the  queen.} 

•  Keith,  445,  446.  t  Melv.  168.  t  Keith,  447.  450.  46a 


180  THEHISTORY  [Book  V 

The  regent  was  no  less  successful  in  his  attempt  to  get  into  his  hands  he 
places  of  strength  in  the  kingdom.  Balfour,  the  deputy  governor,  surren- 
der; d  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  as  the  reward  of  his  treachery,  in 
deserting  Bothweli  his  patron,  obtained  terms  of  great  advantage  to  him 
self.  The  governor  of  Dunbar,  who  discovered  greater  fidelity,  was  soon 
forced  to  capitulate  :  some  other  small  forts  surrendered  without  resistance. 

This  face  of  tranquillity  in  the  nation  encouraged  the  regent  to  call  a 
meeting  of  parliament  [Dec.  15].  Nothing  was  wanting  to  confirm  the 
king's  authority,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  confederates,  except  the 
approbation  of  this  supreme  court ;  and  after  the  success  which  had 
attended  all  their  measures,  there  could  be  little  doubt  of  obtaining  it. 
The  numbers  that  resorted  to  an  assembly  which  was  called  to  deliberate 
on  matters  of  so  much  importance,  were  great.  The  meeting  was  opened 
with  the  utmost  solemnity,  and  all  its  acts  passed  with  much  unanimity. 
Many,  however,  of  the  lords  who  had  discovered  the  warmest  attachment  to 
the  queen  were  present.  But  they  had  made  their  peace  with  the  regent. 
Argyll,  Huntley,  and  Herries,  acknowledged,  openly  in  parliament,  that 
their  behaviour  towards  the  king  had  been  undutiful  and  criminal.*  Their 
compliance,  in  this  manner,  with  the  measures  of  the  regent's  party  was 
either  the  condition  on  which  they  were  admitted  into  favour,  or  intended 
as  a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  their  reconcilement. 

The  parliament  granted  every  thing  the  confederates  could  demand, 
either  for  the  safety  of  their  own  persons,  or  the  security  of  that  form  of 
government  which  they  had  established  in  the  kingdom.  Mary's  resignation 
of  the  crown  was  accepted,  and  declared  to  be  valid.  The  king's  autho- 
rity, and  Murray's  election,  were  recognised  and  confirmed.  The  impri- 
soning the  queen,  and  all  the  other  proceedings  of  the  confederates,  were 
pronounced  lawful.  The  letters  which  Mary  had  written  to  Bothweli 
were  produced,  and  she  was  declared  to  be  accessary  to  the  murder  of 
the  king.j  At  the  same  time,  all  the  acts  of  parliament  of  the  year  1560, 
in  favour  of  the  protestant  religion,  were  publicly  ratified  ;  new  statutes  to 
the  same  purpose  were  enacted  ;  and  nothing  that  could  contribute  to  root 
out  the  remains  of  popery,  or  to  encourage  the  growth  of  the  reformation, 
was  neglected 

It  is  observable,  however,  that  the  same  parsimonious  spirit  prevailed  in 
this  parliament  as  in  that  of  the  year  1560.  The  protestant  clergy,  not 
withstanding  many  discouragements,  and  their  extreme  poverty,  had  for 
seven  years  performed  all  religious  offices  in  the  kingdom.  The  expedients 
fallen  upon  for  their  subsistence  had  hitherto  proved  ineffectual,  or  were 
intended  to  be  so.  But  notwithstanding  their  known  indigence,  and  the 
warm  remonstrances  of  the  assembly  of  the  church,  which  met  this  year, 
the  parliament  did  nothing  more  for  their  relief  than  prescribe  some  new 
regulations  concerning  the  payment  of  the  thirds  of  benefices,  which  did 
not  produce  any  considerable  change  in  the  situation  of  the  clergy. 

A  few  days  after  the  dissolution  of  parliament  [Jan.  3],  four  of  Both- 
well'?!  dependents  were  convicted  of  being  guilty  of  the  king's  murder, 
and  suffered  death  as  traitors.  Their  confessions  brought  to  light  many 
circumstances  relative  to  the  manner  of  committing  that  barbarous  crime ; 
but  they  were  persons  of  low  rank,  and  seem  not  to  have  been  admitted 
into  the  secrets  of  the  conspiracy  .J 

Notwithstanding  the  universal  submission  to  the  regent's  authority,  there 
still  abounded  in  the  kingdom  many  secret  murmurs  and  cabals.  1  he  par- 
tisans of  the  house  of  Hamilton  reckoned  Murray's  promotion  an  injun  to 
the  duke  of  Chatelherault,  who,  as  first  prince  of  the  blood,  had,  in,  their 
opinion,  an  undoubted  right  to  be  regent.     The  length  and  rigour  of  Mary's 

*  Andeis.  vol.  iv.  153.    See  Appendix,  No.  XXIV.  t  Uood.  vol.  ii.  66.    Anders,  vol.  ii.  206 

t  Anders,  vol.  ii.  165. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  181 

suffering*  began  to  move  many  to  commiserate  her  case.  All  who  leaned 
co  the  anc  ent  opinions  in  religion  dreaded  the  effects  of  Murray's  zeal 
And  he,  though  his  abilities  were  great,  did  not  possess  the  talents  requi- 
site for  soothing  the  rage  or  removing  the  jealosies  of  the  different  tac- 
tions. By  insinuation,  or  address,  he  might  have  gained  or  softened  many 
who  had  opposed  him  ;  but  he  was  a  stranger  to  these  gentle  arts.  His 
virtues  were  severe;  and  his  deportment  towards  his  equals,  especially 
after  his  elevation  to  the  regency,  distant  and  haughty.  This  behaviour 
offended  some  of  the  nobles,  and  alarmed  others.  The  queen's  taction, 
which  had  been  so  easily  dispersed,  began  again  to  gather  and  to  unite, 
and  was  secretly  favoured  by  some  who  had  hitherto  zealously  concurred 
with  the  confederates.* 

Such  was  the  favourable  disposition  of  the  nation  towards  the  queen, 
when  she  recovered  her  liberty,  in  a  manner  no  less  surprising  to  her 
friends  than  unexpected  by  her  enemies.  Several  attempts  had  been  made 
to  procure  her  an  opportunity  of  escaping,  which  some  unforeseen  accident, 
or  the  vigilance  of  her  keepers  bad  hitherto  disappointed.  At  last,  Mary 
employed  all  her  art  to  gain  George  Douglas,  her  keeper's  brother,  a  youth 
of  eighteen.  As  her  manners  were  naturally  affable  and  insinuating,  she 
treated  him  with  the  most  flattering  distinction  :  she  even  allowed  him  to 
entertain  the  most  ambitious  hopes,  by  letting  fall  some  expressions,  as  it 
she  would  choose  him  for  her  husband.t  At  his  age,  and  in  such  circum- 
stances, it  was  impossible  to  resist  such  a  temptation.  He  yielded,  and 
drew  others  into  the  plot.  On  Sunday,  the  2d  of  May,  while  his  brother 
sat  at  supper,  and  the  rest  of  the  family  were  retired  to  their  devotions, 
one  of  his  accomplices  found  means  to  steal  the  keys  out  of  his  brother's 
chamber,  and,  opening  the  gates  to  the  queen  and  one  of  her  maids,  locked 
them  behind  her,  and  then  threw  the  keys  into  the  lake.  Mary  ran  with 
precipitation  to  the  boat  which  was  prepared  for  her,  and,  on  reaching  the 
shore,  was  received  with  the  utmost  joy  by  Douglas,  lord  Seaton,  and  Sir 
James  Hamilton,  who  with  a  few  attendants  waited  for  her.  She  instantly 
mounted  on  horseback,  and  rode  full  speed  towards  Niddrie,  lord  Seaton's 
seat  in  West  Lothian.  She  arrived  there  that  night  without  being  pursued 
or  interrupted.  After  halting  three  hours,  she  set  out  for  Hamilton  ;  and 
travelling  at  the  same  pace  she  reached  it  next  morning. 

On  the  first  news  of  Mary's  escape,  her  friends,  whom,  in  their  present 
disposition,  a  much  smaller  accident  would  have  roused,  ran  to  arms.  In  a 
few  days,  her  court  was  filled  with  a  e;reat  and  splendid  train  of  nobles, 
accompanied  by  such  numbers  of  followers  as  formed  an  army  above  six 
thousand  strong.  In  their  presence  she  declared  that  the  resignation  of  the 
crown,  and  the  other  deeds  which  she  had  signed  during  her  imprisonment, 
were  extorted  from  her  by  fear.  Sir  Robert  Melvil  confirmed  her  decla- 
ration; and  on  that,  as  well  as  on  other  accounts,  a  council  of  the  nobles 
and  chief  men  of  her  party,  pronounced  all  these  transactions  void  and  ille- 
gal. At  the  same  time  [May  8],  an  association  was  formed  for  the  defence 
of  her  person  and  authority,  and  subscribed  by  nine  earls,  nine  bishops, 
eighteen  lords,  and  many  gentlemen  of  distinction.]:  Among  them  were 
several  who  had  been  present  in  the  last  parliament,  and  who  had  signed 
the  counter-association  in  defence  of  the  king's  government :  but  such  sud- 
den changes  were  then  so  common  as  to  be  no  matter  of  reproach. 

At  the  lime  when  the  queen  made  her  escape,  the  regent  was  at  Glas- 
gow, holding  a  court  of  justice.  An  event  so  contrary  to  their  expecta 
tions,  and  so  fatal  to  their  schemes,  gave  a  great  shock  to  his  adherents 
Many  of  them  appeared  wavering  and  irresolute  ;  others  began  to  carry 
on  private  negotiations  with  the  queen  ;  and  some  openly  revolted  to  he. 
h\  ie.     In  so  difficult  a  juncture,  where  his  own  fame  and  the  being  of  the 

*  Melv.  179.        t  Keith,  469.  481.     Note.        X  Keith,  475. 


IBS  THE  HISTORY  [Book  V 

party  depended  on  his  choice,  the  regent's  most  faithful  associates  were 
divided  in  opinion.  Some  advised  him  to  retire,  without  loss  of  time,  to 
Stirling.  The  queen's  army  was  already  strong,  and  only  eight  miles  dis- 
tant;  the  adjacent  country  was  full  of  the  friends  and  dependants  o(  the 
house  of  Hamilton,  and  other  lords  of  the  queen's  faction ;  Glasgow  was 
a  large  and  unfortified  town  ;  his  own  train  consisted  of  no  greater  numher 
than  is  usual  in  times  of  peace  ;  all  these  reasons  pleaded  for  a  retreat. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  arguments  were  urged  of  no  inconsiderable  weight 
The  citizens  of  Glasgow  were  well  affected  to  the  cause  ;  the  vassals  of 
Glencairn,  Lennox,  and  Semple,  lay  near  at  hand,  and  were  both  nume- 
rous and  full  of  zeal ;  succours  might  arrive  from  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom in  a  few  days  :  in  war,  success  depends  upon  reputation,  as  much  as 
upon  numbers  ;  reputation  is  gained,  or  lost,  by  the  first  step  one  takes  : 
on  all  these  considerations,  a  retreat  would  be  attended  with  all  the  igno- 
miny of  a  flight,  and  would  at  once  dispirit  his  friends,  and  inspire  his  ene- 
mies with  boldness.  In  such  dangerous  exigences  as  this,  the  superiority 
of  Murray's  genius  appeared,  and  enabled  him  both  to  choose  with  wis- 
dom and  to  act  with  vigour.  He  declared  against  retreating,  and  fixed  his 
head-quarters  at  Glasgow.  And  while  he  amused  the  queen  for  some 
days  by  pretending  to  hearken  to  some  overtures  which  she  made  for  ac 
commodating  their  differences,  he  was  employed  with  the  utmost  industry, 
in  drawing  together  his  adherents  from  different  parts  of  the  kingdom.  He 
was  soon  in  a  condition  to  take  the  field  ;  and,  though  far  inferior  to  the 
enemy  in  number,  he  confided  so  much  in  the  valour  of  his  troops  and  the 
experience  of  his  officers,  that  he  broke  off  the  negotiation,  and  determined 
to  nazard  a  battle.* 

At  the  same  time  [May  13],  the  queen's  generals  had  commanded  her 
army  to  move.  Their  intention  was,  to  conduct  her  to  Dumbarton  castle, 
a  place  of  great  strength,  which  the  regent  had  not  been  able  to  wrest  out 
of  the  hands  of  lord  Fleming  the  governor ;  but  if  the  enemy  should  en- 
deavour to  interrupt  their  march,  they  resolved  not  to  decline  an  engage- 
ment. In  Mary's  situation,  no  resolution  could  be  more  imprudent.  A 
part  only  of  her  forces  was  assembled.  Huntly,  Ogilvie,  and  the  north- 
ern clans,  were  soon  expected  ;  her  sufferings  had  removed  or  diminished 
the  prejudices  of  many  among  her  subjects;  the  address  with  which  she 
surmounled  the  dangers  that  obstructed  her  escape,  dazzled  and  interested 
the  people  ;  the  sudden  confluence  of  so  many  nobles  added  lustre  to  her 
cause;  she  might  assuredly  depend  on  the  friendship  and  countenance  of 
France;  she  had  reason  to  expect  the  protection  of  England  ;  her  enemies 
could  not  possibly  look  for  support  from  that  quarter.  She  had  much  to 
hope  from  pursuing  slow  and  cautious  measures  ;  they  had  every  thing  to 
fear. 

But  Mary,  whose  hopes  were  naturally  sanguine,  and  her  passions  im- 
petuous, was  so  elevated,  by  her  sudden  transition  from  the  depth  of  dis- 
tress to  such  an  unusual  appearance  of  prosperity,  that  she  never  doubted 
of  success.  Her  army,  which  was  almost  double  to  the  enemy  in  number, 
consisted  chiefly  of  the  Hamiltons  and  their  dependants.  Of  these  the 
archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  had  the  chief  direction,  and  hoped,  by  a  vic- 
tory, not  only  to  crush  Murray,  the  ancient  enemy  of  his  house,  but  to  get 
the  person  of  the  queen  into  his  hands,  and  to  oblige  her  either  to  marry 
one  of  the  duke's  sons,  or  at  least  to  commit  the  chief  direction  of  her 
affairs  to  himself.  His  ambition  proved  fatal  to  the  queen,  to  himself,  and 
to  his  family.! 

Mary's  imprudence  in  resolving  to  fight  was  not  greater  than  the  ill  con- 
duct of  her  generals  in  the  battled  Between  the  two  armies,  and  on  the 
load  towards  Dumbarton,  there  was  an  eminence  called  Langside  Hill 

*  Buchan.  369  t  Anders,  vol.  iv.  33.    Mahr.  Ik 


OF    SCOTLAND.  183 

This  the  regent  had  the  precaution  to  seize,  and  posted  his  troops  in  a 
small  village,  and  among'  some  gardens  and  enclosures  adjacent.  In  this 
advantageous  situation,  he  waited  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  whose  supe- 
riority in  cavalry  could  be  of  no  benefit  to  thin,  on  such  broken  ground. 
The  Hamiltons,  who  composed  the  vanguard,  ran  so  eagerly  to  the  attack, 
that  they  put  themselves  out  of  breath,  and  left  the  main  battle  far  behind. 
The  encounter  of  the  spearmen  was  tierce  and  desperate  ;  but  as  the  forces 
of  the  Hamilton's  were  exposed,  on  the  one  flank,  to  a  continued  tire  from 
a  body  of  musqueteers,  attacked  on  the  other  by  the  regent's  most  choice 
troops,  and  not  supported  by  the  rest  of  the  queen's  army,  they  were  soon 
obliged  to  give  ground,  and  the  rout  immediately  became  universal.  Few 
victories  in  a  civil  war,  and  among  a  fierce  people,  have  been  pursued 
with  less  violence,  or  attended  with  less  bloodshed.  Three  hundred  fell 
in  the  field  :  in  the  flight  almost  none  were  killed.  The  regent  and  his 
principal  officers  rode  about,  beseeching  tlie  soldiers  to  spare  their  country- 
men. The  number  of  prisoners  was  great,  and  among  them  many  per- 
sons of  distinction.  The  regent  marched  back  to  Glasgow,  and  returned 
public  thanks  to  God  for  this  great,  and,  on  his  side,  almost  bloodless 
victory.* 

During  the  engagement,  Mary  stood  on  a  hill  at  no  great  distance,  and 
beheld  all  that  passed  in  the  field,  with  such  emotions  of  mind  as  are  not 
easily  described.  When  she  saw  the  army,  which  was  her  last  hope, 
thrown  into  irretrievable  confusion,  her  spirit,  which  all  her  past  misfor- 
tunes had  not  been  able  entirely  to  subdue,  sunk  altogether.  In  the  utmost 
consternation,  she  began  her  flight ;  and  so  lively  were  her  impressions  of 
fear,  that  she  never  closed  her  eyes  til!  she  reached  the  abbey  of  Drun- 
drenan  in  Gallowy,  full  sixty  Scottish  miles  from  the  place  of  battle. t 

These  revolutions  in  Mary's  fortune  had  been  no  less  rapid  than  singular. 
In  the  short  space  of  eleven  days  she  had  been  a  prisoner  at  the  mercy  of 
her  most  inveterate  enemies  ;  she  had  seen  a  powerful  army  under  her 
command,  and  a  numerous  train  of  nobles  at  her  devotion :  and  now  she 
was  obliged  to  fly,  in  the  utmost  danger  of  her  life,  and  to  lurk,  with  a  few 
attendants,  in  a  corner  of  her  kingdom.  Not  thinking  herself  safe  even  in 
that  retreat,  her  fears  impelled  her  to  an  action,  the  most  unadvised,  as 
well  as  the  most  unfortunate,  in  her  whole  life.  This  was  her  retiring  into 
England ;  a  step,  which,  on  many  accounts  ought  to  have  appeared  to  her 
rash  and  dangerous. 

Before  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland,  mutual  distrust  and  jealousies  had 
arisen  between  her  and  Elizabeth.  All  their  subsequent  transactions  had 
contributed  to  exasperate  and  inflame  these  passions.  She  had  endeavoured, 
by  secret  negotiations  and  intrigues,  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  Elizabeth's 
government,  and  to  advance  her  own  pretensions  to  the  English  crown. 
Elizabeth,  who  possessed  great  power,  and  acted  wfth  less  reserve,  had 
openly  supported  Mary's  rebellious  subjects,  and  fomented  all  the  dissensions 
and  troubles  in  which  her  reign  had  been  involved.  The  maxims  of  policy 
still  authorized  that  queen  to  pursue  the  same  course  ;  as,  by  keeping  Scot- 
land in  confusion,  she  effectually  secured  the  peace  of  her  own  kingdom. 
The  regent,  after  his  victory,  had  marched  to  Edinburgh,  and,  not  know- 
ing what  course  the  queen  had  taken,  it  was  several  days  before  he  thought 
o.  pursuing  her.J  She  might  have  been  concealed  in  that  retired  corner, 
among  subjects  devoted  to  her  interest,  until  her  party,  which  was  dipersed 
rather  than  broken  by  the  late  defeat,  should  gather  such  strength  that  she 
could  again  appear  with  safety  at  their  head.  There  was  not  any  danger 
which  she  ought  not  to  have  run,  rather  than  throw  herself  into  the  hands 
of  an  enemy,  from  whom  she  had  already  suffered  so  many  injuries,  and 
who  was  prompted,  both  by  inclination  and  by  interest,  to  renew  them 

*  Keith,  477.  t  Ibid.  481.  }  Crawf.  Mem-  SO 


184  THEHISTOltY  |Book  V 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  during  Mary's  confinement,  Elizabeth  had 
declared  against  the  proceedings  of  her  subjects,  and  solicited  foi  her 
liberty,  with  a  warmth  which  had  all  the  appearance  of  sincerity.  She 
had  invited  her  to  take  refuge  in  England,  and  had  promised  to  meet  her  in 
person,  and  to  give  her  such  a  reception  as  was  due  to  a  queen,  a  kins- 
woman, and  anally.*  Whatever  apprehension  Elizabeth  might  entertain 
of  Mary's  designs  while  she  had  power  in  her  hands,  she  was  at  present  the 
object,  not  of  tear,  but  of  pity ;  and  to  take  advantage  of  her  situation 
would  be  both  ungenerous  and  inhuman.  The  horrors  of  a  prison  were 
fresh  in  Mary's  memory  ;  and  if  she  should  fall  a  second  time  into  the  hands 
of  her  subjects,  there  was  no  injury  to  which  the  presumption  of  success 
might  not  embolden  them  to  proceed.  To  attempt  escaping  into  France 
was  dangerous,  and,  in  her  situation,  almost  impossible  ;  nor  couid  she  bear 
the  thoughts  of  appearing  as  an  exile  and  a  fugitive  in  that  kingdom  where 
"he  had  once  enjoyed  all  the  splendour  of  a  queen.  England  remained  her 
uiily  asylum  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  lord  Herries,  Fleming,  and 
her  other  attendants,  who  conjured  her,  even  on  their  knees,  not  to  confide 
in  Elizabeth's  promises  of  generosity,  her  infatuation  was  invincible,  and 
she  resolved  to  fly  thither.  Herries,  by  her  command,  wrote  to  Lowther 
the  deputy  governor  of  Carlisle,  to  know  what  reception  he  would  give 
her;  and,  before  his  answer  could  return,  her  fear  and  impatience  were  so 
great  that  she  got  into  a  fisher-boat  [May  16],  and,  with  about  twenty 
attendants,  landed  at  VVirkington  in  Cumberland,  and  thence  she  was  con- 
ducted with  many  marks  of  respect  to  Carlisle.! 

As  soon  as  Mary  arrived  in  England,  she  wrote  a  long  etter  to  the  queen, 
representing,  in  the  strongest  terms,  the  injuries  which  she  had  suffered 
from  her  own  subjects,  and  imploring  that  pity  and  assistance  which  her 
present  situation  demanded.  J  An  event  so  extraordinary,  and  the  conduct 
which  might  be  proper  in  consequence  of  it,  drew  the  attention,  and 
employed  the  thoughts  of  Elizabeth  and  her  council.  If  their  delibera 
tions  had  been  influenced  by  considerations  of  justice  or  generosity  alone, 
they  would  not  have  found  them  long  or  intricate.  A  queen,  vanquished 
by  her  own  subjects,  and  threatened  by  them  with  the  loss  of  her  liberty 
or  of  her  life,  had  fled  from  their  violence,  and  thrown  herself  into  the  arms 
of  her  nearest  neighbour  and  ally,  from  whom  she  had  received  repeated 
assurances  of  friendship  and  protection.  These  circumstances  entitled  her 
to  respect  and  to  compassion,  and  required  that  she  should  either  be 
restored  to  her  own  kingdom,  or  at  least  be  left  at  full  liberty  to  seek  aid 
from  any  other  quarter.  But  with  Elizabeth  and  her  counsellors  the 
question  was  not,  what  was  most  just  or  generous,  but  what  was  most  benefi- 
cial to  herself  and  to  the  English  nation.  Three  different  resolutions  might 
have  been  taken,  with  regard  to  the  queen  of  Scots.  To  reinstate  her  in  her 
throne  was  one  ;  to  allow  her  to  retire  into  France  was  another ;  to  detain 
her  in  England  was  a  third.  Each  of  these  drew  consequences  after  it,  of 
the  utmost  importance,  which  were  examined,  as  appears  from  papers  still 
extant,§  with  that  minute  accuracy  which  Elizabeth's  ministers  employed 
in  all  their  consultations  upon  affairs  of  moment' 

To  restore  Mary  to  the  full  exercise  of  the  royal  authority  in  Scotland, 
they  observed,  would  render  her  more  powerful  than  ever.  The  nobles 
who  were  most  firmly  attached  to  the  English  interest  would  quickly  feel 
the  utmost  weight  of  her  resentment.  As  the  gratitude  of  princes  is  seldom 
strong  or  lasting,  regard  to  her  own  interest  might  soon  efface  the  memory 
of  her  obligations  to  Elizabeth,  and  prompt  her  to  renew  the  alliance  of  the 
Scottish  nation  with  France,  and  revive  her  own  pretensions  to  the  English 
crown.     Nor  was  it  possible  to  fetter  and  circumscribe  the  Scottish  queen, 

*  Camd.  489.    Anders,  vol.  i  v.  09. 120.     Murdin,  369.  t  Keith,  483     Anders,  vol.  Iv.  4 

t  Anders,  vol.  iv.  29.  J  Ibid.  34.  99.  102. 


Of   SCOTLAND.  186 

uy  any  conditions  that  would  prevent  these  dangers.  Her  party  in  Scot- 
land was  numerous  and  powerful.  Her  return,  even  without  any  support 
from  England,  would  inspire  her  friends  with  new  zeal  and  courage;  a 
single  victory  might  give  them  the  superiority,  which  they  had  lost  by  a 
single  defeat,  and  lender  Mary  a  more  formidable  rival  than  ever  to 
Elizabeth. 

The  dangers  arising  from  suffering  Mary  to  return  into  France  were  no 
less  obvious.  The  French  king  could  not  refuse  his  assistance  towards 
restoring  his  sister  and  ally  to  her  throne.  Elizabeth  would,  once  more, 
see  a  foreign  army  in  the  island,  overawing  the  Scots,  and  ready  to  enter 
\ier  kingdom  ;  and,  if  the  commotions  in  France,  on  account  of  religion, 
were  settled,  the  princes  ofLorrain  might  resume  their  ambitious  projects, 
and  the  united  forces  of  France  and  Scotland  might  invade  England  where 
it  is  weakest  and  most  defenceless. 

Nothing  therefore  remained  but  to  detain  her  in  England ;  and  to  permit  her 
either  to  five  at  liberty  there,  or  to  confine  her  in  a  prison.  The  former  was 
a  dangerous  experiment.  Her  court  would  become  a  place  of  resort  to 
all  the  Roman  Catholics,  to  the  disaffected,  and  to  the  lovers  of  innovation. 
Though  Elizabeth  affected  to  represent  Mary's  pretensions  to  the  Englisl 
crown  as  ill  founded,  she  was  not  ignorant  that  they  did  not  appear  in  tha 
light  to  the  nation,  and  that  many  thought  them  preferable  even  to  her  own 
title.  If  the  activity  of  her  emissaries  had  gained  her  so  many  abettors, 
her  own  personal  influence  was  much  more  to  be  dreaded  :  her  beauty, 
her  address,  her  sufferings,  by  the  admiration  and  pity  which  they  would 
excite,  could  not  fail  of  making  many  converts  to  her  party.* 

It  was  indeed  to  be  apprehended,  that  the  treating  Mary  as  a  prisoner 
would  excite  universal  indignation  against  Elizabeth  ;  and  that  by  this 
unexampled  severity  towards  a  queen,  who  implored  and  to  whom  she  had 
promised  her  protection,  she  would  forfeit  the  praise  of  justice  and 
humanity,  which  was  hitherto  due  to  her  administration.  But  the  English 
monarchs  were  often  so  solicitous  to  secure  theii  kingdom  against  the  Scots, 
as  to  be  little  scrupulous  about  the  means  which  they  employed  for  that 
purpose.  Henry  IV.  had  seized  the  heir  of  the  crown  of  Scotland,  who 
was  forced  by  the  violence  of  a  storm  to  take  refuge  in  one  of  the  ports  of 
his  kingdom  ;  and,  in  contempt  of  the  rights  of  hospitality,  without  regard- 
ing his  tender  age,  or  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  his  father,  detained  him  a 
prisoner  for  many  years.  This  action,  though  detested  by  posterity,  Eli- 
zabeth resolved  now  to  imitate.  Her  virtue  was  not  more  proof  than  that 
of  Henry  had  been,  against  the  temptations  of  interest ;  and  the  possession 
of  a  present  advantage  was  preferred  to  the  prospect  of  future  fame.  The 
satisfaction  which  she  felt  in  mortifying  a  rival,  whose  beauty  and  accom- 
plishments she  envied,  had,  perhaps,  no  less  influence  than  political 
considerations  in  bringing  her  to  this  resolution.  But  at  the  same  time,  in 
order  to  screen  herself  from  the  censure  which  this  conduct  merited,  and 
to  make  her  treatment  of  the  Scottish  queen  look  like  the  effect  of  necessity 
rather  than  of  choice,  she  determined  to  assume  the  appearance  of  concern 
for  her  interest,  and  of  deep  sympathy  with  her  sufferings. 

With  this  view  [May  20],  she  instantly  despatched  Lord  Scrope,  warden 
of  the  west  marches,  and  sir  Francis  Knollys,  her  vice-chamberlain,  to  the 
queen  of  Scots,  with  letters  full  of  expressions  of  kindness  and  condolence. 
But,  at  the  same  time,  they  had  private  instructions  to  watch  all  her  motions, 
and  to  take  care  that  she  should  not  escape  into  her  own  kingdom.!  On  theii 
arrival,  Mary  demanded  a  personal  interview  with  the  queen,  that  she 
might  lay  before  her  the  injuries  which  she  had  suffered,  and  receive  from 
her  those  friendly  offices  which  she  had  been  encouraged  to  expect.  They 
answered,  that  it  was  with  reluctance,  admission  into  the  presence  of  theii 

*  Anders,  vol.  iv.  56.  60.  f  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  36.  70.  92. 

Vol.  Ill  —24 


86  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V 

sovereign  was  at  present  denied  her  ;  that  while  she  lay  under  the  imput  a 
tion  of  a  crime  so  horrid  as  the  murder  of  her  husband,  their  mistress,  tc 
whom  he  was  so  nearly  allied,  couid  not,  without  bringing  a  stain  upon  her 
own  reputation,  admit  her  into  her  presence  ;  but  as  soon  as  she  had  cleared 
herself  from  that  aspersion,  they  promised  her  a  reception  suitable  to  her 
dignity,  and  aid  proportioned  to  her  distress.* 

Nothing  could  be  more  artful  than  this  pretence  ;  and  it  was  the  occasion 
of  leading  the  queen  of  Scots  into  the  -nave  in  which  Elizabeth  and  her 
ministers  wished  to  entangle  her.  Mary  expressed  the  utmost  surprise  at 
this  unexpected  manner  of  evading  her  request  ;  but,  as  she  could  not 
believe  so  many  professions  of  friendship  to  be  void  of  sincerity,  she  frankly 
offered  to  submit  her  cause  to  the  cognizance  of  Elizabeth,  and  undertook 
to  produce  such  proofs  of  her  own  innocence,  and  of  the  falsehood  of  tht 
accusations  brought  against  her,  as  should  fully  remove  the  scruples,  and 
satisfy  the  delicacy  ot  the  English  queen.  This  was  the  very  point  to 
which  Elizabeth  laboured  to  bring  the  matter.  In  consequence  of  this 
appeal  of  the  Scottish  queen,  she  now  considered  herself  as  the  umpire 
between  her  and  her  subjects,  and  foresaw  that  she  would  have  it  entirely 
in  her  own  power  to  protract  the  inquiry  to  any  length,  and  to  perplex  and 
involve  it  in  endless  difficulties.  In  the  mean  time,  she  was  furnished  with 
a  plausible  reason  for  keeping  her  at  a  distance  from  court,  and  for  refusing 
to  contribute  towards  replacing  heron  the  throne.  As  Mary's  conduct  had 
been  extremely  incautious,  and  the  presumptions  of  her  guilt  were  many 
and  strong,  it  was  not  impossible  her  subjects  might  make  good  their 
charge  against  her ;  and  if  this  should  be  the  result  of  the  inquiry,  she 
would  thenceforth  cease  to  be  the  object  of  regard  or  of  compassion,  and 
the  treating  her  with  coldness  and  neglect  would  merit  little  censure.  In 
a  matter  so  dark  and  mysterious,  there  was  no  probability  that  Mary  could 
bring  proofs  of  her  innocence  so  incontested  as  to  render  the  conduct  of  the 
English  queen  altogether  culpable  ;  and,  perhaps,  impatient  under  restraint, 
suspicion  of  Elizabeth's  partiality,  or  the  discovery  of  her  artifices,  mighi 
engage  Mary  in  such  cabals  as  would  justify  the  using  her  with  greatei 
rigour. 

Elizabeth  early  perceived  many  advantages  which  would  arise  from  ar, 
inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  Scottish  queen,  carried  on  under  her  direc 
tion.  There  was  some  danger,  however,  that  Mary  might  discover  hei 
secret  intentions  too  soon,  and,  by  receding  from  the  offer  which  she  had 
made,  endeavour  to  disappoint  them.  But,  even  in  that  event,  she  de- 
termined not  to  drop  the  inquiry,  and  had  thought  of  several  differenl 
expedients  for  carrying  it  on.  The  countess  of  Lennox,  convinced  that 
Mary  was  accessary  to  the  murder  of  her  son,  and  thirsting  for  that  ven- 
geance which  it  was  natural  for  a  mother  to  demand,  had  implored  Eliza- 
beth's justice,  and  solicited  her,  with  many  tears,  in  her  own  name  and  in 
her  husband's,  to  bring;  the  Scottish  queen  to  a  trial  for  that  crime. |  The 
parent  of  the  unhappy  prince  had  a  just  right  to  prefer  this  accusation  ;  noi 
could  she,  who  was  their  nearest  kinswoman,  be  condemned  for  listening 
to  so  equitable  a  demand.  Besides,  as  the  Scottish  nobles  openly  accused 
Mary  of  the  same  crime,  and  pretended  to  be  able  to  confirm  their  charge 
by  sufficient  proof,  it  would  be  no  difficult  matter  to  prevail  on  them  to 
petition  the  queen  of  England  to  take  cognizance  of  their  proceeding  s 
against  their  sovereign ;  and  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  English  council,  that 
it  would  be  reasonable  to  comply  with  the  request. J  At  the  same  time. 
the  obsolete  claim  of  the  superiority  of  England  over  Scotland  began  to 
be  talked  of;  and,  on  that  account,  it  was  pretended  that  the  decision  of 
that  contest  between  Mary  and  her  subjects  belonged  of  right  to  Eliza- 
beth^    But,  though  Elizabeth  revolved  all  these  expedients  in  her  mind, 

•  Anders.  vo«.  Iv.  8.  55.        t  Camd.  412.     Haynes,  469.        J  And.  vol.  iv.  part  I.  3T.         $  Ibid 


OF   SCOTLAND.  IftT 

and  kept  them  in  reserve  to  be  made  use  of  as  occasion  might  require,  sh* 
wished  that  the  inquiry  into  Mary's  conduct  should  appear  to  be  under- 
taken purely  in  compliance  with  her  own  demand,  and  in  order  to  vindi- 
cate her  innocence  ;  and  so  long  as  that  appearance  could  be  preserved, 
none  of  the  other  expedients  were  to  be  employed. 

When  Mary  consented  to  submit  her  cause  to  Elizabeth,  she  was  fa  J 
from  suspecting  that  any  bad  consequences  could  follow,  or  that  any  dan- 

terous  pretensions  could  be  founded  on  her  offer.  She  expected  that 
Ilizabeth  herself  would  receive  and  examine  her  defences  ;*  she  meant 
to  consider  her  as  an  equal,  for  whose  satisfaction  she  was  willing  to 
explain  any  part  of  her  conduct  that  was  liable  to  censure,  not  to  acknow- 
ledge her  as  a  superior,  before  whom  she  was  bound  to  plead  her  cause. 
But  Elizabeth  put  a  very  different  sense  on  Mary's  offer.  She  considered 
herself  as  chosen  to  be  judge  in  the  controversy  between  the  Scottish  queen 
and  her  subjects,  and  began  to  act  in  that  capacity.  She  proposed  to 
appoint  commissioners  to  hear  the  pleadings  of  both  parties,  and  wrote  to 
the  regent  of  Scotland  to  empower  proper  persons  to  appear  before  them 
in  his  name,  and  to  produce  what  he  could  allege  in  vindication  of  his 
proceedings  against  his  sovereign. 
Mary  had  hitherto  relied  with  unaccountable  credulity  on  Elizabeth's 

F)rofessions  of  regard,  and  expected  that  so  many  kind  speeches  would  at 
ast  be  accompanied  with  some  suitable  actions.  But  this  proposal 
entirely  undeceived  her.  She  plainly  perceived  the  artifice  of  Elizabeth's 
conduct,  and  saw  what  a  diminution  it  would  be  to  her  own  honour  to 
appear  on  a  level  with  her  rebellious  subjects,  and  to  stand  together  with 
them  at  the  bar  of  a  superior  and  a  judge.  She  retracted  the  offer  which 
she  had  made,  and  which  had  been  perverted  to  a  purpose  so  contrary  to 
her  intention.  She  demanded,  with  more  earnestness  than  ever,  to  be 
admitted  into  Elizabeth's  presence;  and  wrote  to  her  [July  13], in  a  strain 
very  different  from  what  she  had  formerly  used,  and  which  fully  discovers 
the  grief  and  indignation  that  preyed  on  her  heart.  "In  my  present  situ- 
ation," says  she,  "  I  neither  will  nor  can  reply  to  the  accusations  of  my 
subjects.  I  am  ready,  of  my  own  accord,  and  out  of  friendship  to  you,  to 
satisfy  your  scruples,  and  to  vindicate  my  own  conduct.  My  subjects  are 
not  my  equals;  nor  will  I,  by  submitting  my  cause  to  a  judicial  trial, 
acknowledge  them  to  be  so.  I  fled  into  your  arms,  as  into  those  of  my 
nearest  relation  and  most  perfect  friend.  I  did  you  honour,  as  I  imagined, 
ib  choosing  you  preferably  to  any  other  prince,  to  be  the  restorer  of  an 
injured  queen.  Was  it  ever  known  that  a  prince  was  blamed  for  hearing 
in  person,  the  complaints  of  those  who  appealed  to  his  justice,  against  the 
false  accusations  of  their  enemies?  You  admitted  into  your  presence  my 
bastard  brother,  who  had  been  guilty  of  rebellion  ;  and  you  deny  me  that 
honour !  God  forbid  that  I  should  be  the  occasion  of  bringing  any  stain 
upon  your  reputation  !  I  expected  that  your  manner  of  treating  me  would 
have  added  lustre  to  it.  Suffer  me  either  to  implore  the  aid  ot  other 
princes,  whose  delicacy  on  this  head  will  be  less,  and  their  resentment  ol 
my  wrongs  greater ;  or  let  me  receive  from  your  hands  that  assistance 
which  it  becomes  you,  more  than  any  other  prince,  to  grant ;  and,  by  that 
benefit,  bind  me  to  yourself  in  the  indissoluble  lies  of  gratitude. t 

This  letter  somewhat  disconcerted  Elizabeth's  plan,  but  did  not  divert 
her  from  the  prosecution  of  it.  She  laid  the  matter  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil [June  20],  and  it  was  there  determined,  notwithstanding  the  entreaties 
and  remonstrances  of  the  Scottish  queen,  to  go  on  with  the  inquiry  into  her 
conduct;  and,  until  that  were  finished,  it  was  agreed  that  Elizabeth  could 
not,  consistently  with  her  own  honour,  or  with  the  safety  of  her  govern- 
ment, either  give  her  the  assistance  which  she  demanded,  or  permit  her  to 

•  Anders,  vol.  iv   10.  t  Ibiii   part  i  4)4 


188  THE    HISTORY  [Book  V. 

retire  out  of  the  kingdom.  Lest  she  should  have  an  opportunity  ol 
escaping,  while  she  resided  so  near  to  Scotland,  it  was  thought  advisable 
to  remove  her  to  some  place  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  borders.* 

While  the  English  court  was  occupied  in  these  deliberations,  the  regent 
did  not  neglect  to  improve  the  victory  at  Langside.  That  event  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  him.  It  not  only  drove  the  queen  herself  out  of  the 
kingdom,  but  left  her  adherents  dispersed,  and  without  a  leader,  at  his 
mercy.  He  seemed  resolved,  at  first,  to  proceed  against  them  with  the 
utmost  rigour.  Six  persons  of  some  distinction,  who  had  been  taken  pri 
sonersin  the  battle,  were  tried  and  condemned  to  death,  as  rebels  against 
the  king's  government.  They  were  led  to  the  place  of  execution,  but,  by 
the  powerful  intercession  of  Knox,  they  obtained  a  pardon.  Hamilton  ol 
Bothwelhaugh  was  one  of  the  number,  who  lived  to  give  both  the  regent 
and  Knox  reason  to  repent  of  this  commendable  act  of  lenity .f 

Soon  after  the  regent  marched  with  an  army,  consisting  of  four  thousand 
horse  and  one  thousand  foot,  towards  the  west  borders.  The  nobles  in 
this  part  of  the  kingdom  were  all  the  queen's  adherents ;  but  as  they  had 
no  force  sufficient  to  obstruct  his  progress,  he  must  either  have  obliged 
them  to  submit  to  the  king,  or  would  have  laid  waste  their  lands  with  fire 
and  sword.  But  Elizabeth,  whose  interest  it  was  to  keep  Scotland  in  con- 
fusion, by  preserving  the  balance  between  the  two  parties,  and  who  was 
endeavouring  to  sooth  the  Scottish  queen  by  gentle  treatment,  interposed 
at  her  desire.  After  keeping  the  field  two  weeks,  the  regent,  in  compli- 
ance to  the  English  ambassador,  dismissed  his  forces;  and  an  expedition, 
which  might  have  proved  fatal  to  his  opponents,  ended  with  a  few  acts  of 
severity.^ 

The  resolution  of  the  English  privy  council,  with  regard  to  Mary's  per- 
son, was  soon  carried  into  execution;  and,  without  regarding  her  remon- 
strances or  complaints,  she   was  conducted  to  Boldon,  a  castle  of  lord 
Scrope's,  on  the  borders  of  Yorkshire^  [July  13].     In  this  place  her  cor- 
respondence with  her  friends  in  Scotland  became  more  difficult,  and  any 
prospect  of  making  her  escape  was  entirely  cut  off.     She  now  felt  herself 
to  be  completely  in  Elizabeth's  power,  and  though  treated  as  yet  with  the 
respect  due  to  a  queen,  her  real  condition  was  that  of  a  prisoner.     Maiy 
knew  what  it  was  to  be  deprived  of  liberty,  and  dreaded  it  as  the  worst 
of  all  evils.     While  the  remembrance  of  her  late  imprisonment  was  still 
lively,  and  the  terror  of  a  new  one  filled  her  mind,  Elizabeth  thought  it  a 
proper  juncture  to  renew  her  former  proposition  [July  28],  that  she  would 
suffer  the  regent  and  his  adherents  to  be  called  into  England,  and  consent 
to  their  being  heard  in  defence  of  their  own  conduct.     She  declared  it  to 
be  far  from  her  intention  to  claim  any  right  of  judging  between  Mary  and 
her  subjects,  or  of  degrading  her  so  far  as  to  require  that  she  should  answei 
to  their  accusations.     On  the  contrary,  Murray  and  his  associates  were 
summoned  to  appear,  in  order  to  justify  their  conduct  in  treating  their 
sovereign  so  harshly,  and  to  vindicate  themselves  from  those  crimes  with 
which  she  had  charged  them.     On  her  part,  Elizabeth  promised,  whatever 
should  be  the  issue  of  this  inquiry,  to  employ  all  her  power  and  influence 
towards  replacing  Maiy  on  her  throne,  under  a  few  limitations  by  no  means 
unreasonable      Mary,  deceived  by  this  seeming  attention  to  her  dignity 
as  a  queen,  soothed,  on  one  hand,  by  a  promise  more  flattering  than  any 
which  she  had  hitherto  received  from  Elizabeth,  and  urged  on  the  other, 
by  the  feelings  which  were  natural  on  being  conducted  into  a  more  inte- 
rior part  of  England,  and  kept  there  in  a  more  rigorous  confinement,  com- 
plied at  length  with  what  Elizabeth  required,  and  promised  to  send  com- 
missioners to  the  conferences  appointed  to  be  held  at  York.H 

*  Anders,  vol.  iv.  parti.  102.  t  Cald.  vol.  ii.  99.  t  Ibid.  $  Anders,  vol.  iv.  14 

See  Appendix,  No.  XXV.        ||  Ibid.  vol.  iv.  part  i.  p.  11,  12,  &c.  109,  &c.    Haynes,  468,  &c.  SUU 
Trials,  Edit.  Hargrave,  i.  90 


OF    SCOTLAND.  ift* 

in  order  to  persuade  Elizabeth  that  she  desired  nothing  so  much  as  to 
render  the  union  between  them  as  close  as  possible,  she  showed  a  dispo- 
sition to  relax  somewhat  in  one  point ;  with  regard  to  which,  during  all  her 
past  and  subsequent  misfortunes,  she  was  uniformly  inflexible.  She 
expressed  a  great  veneration  for  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England ;  she 
was  often  present  at  religious  worship,  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
reformed  church;  made  choice  of  a  protestant  clergyman  to  be  her  chap 
lain;  heard  him  preach  against  the  errors  of  popery  with  attention  and 
seeming  pleasure;  and  discovered  all  the  symptoms  of  an  approaching 
conversion.*  Such  was  Mary's  known  and  bigoted  attachment  to  the 
popish  religion  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  her  sincere  in  this  part  of 
her  conduct ;  nor  can  any  thing  mark  more  strongly  the  wretchedness  ol 
her  condition,  and  the  excess  ol  her  fears,  than  that  they  betrayed  her  into 
dissimulation,  in  a  matter  concerning  which  her  sentiments  were,  at  all 
other  times,  scrupulously  delicate. 

At  this  time  the  regent  called  a  parliament  [Aug.  18],  in  order  to  pro 
ceed  to  the  forfeiture  of  those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  the  king's 
authority.  The  queen's  adherents  were  alarmed,  and  Argyll  and  Huntly, 
whom  Mary  had  appointed  her  lieutenants,  the  one  in  the  south,  and  the 
other  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  began  to  assemble  forces  to  obstruct  this 
meeting.  Compassion  for  the  queen,  and  envy  at  those  who  governed  in 
the  king's  name,  had  added  so  much  strength  to  the  party  that  the  regent 
would  have  found  it  difficult  to  withstand  its  efforts.  But  as  Mary  had 
submitted  her  cause  to  Elizabeth,  she  could  not  refuse,  at  her  desire,  to 
command  her  friends  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  wait  patiently  until 
matters  were  brought  to  a  decision  in  England.  By  procuring  this  cessa- 
tion  of  arms,  Elizabeth  afforded  as  seasonable  relief  to  the  regent's  faction, 
as  she  had  formerly  given  to  the  queen's. t 

The  regent,  however,  would  not  consent,  even  at  Elizabeth's  request,  to 
put  off  the  meeting  of  parliament. |  But  we  may  ascribe  to  her  influence, 
as  well  as  to  the  eloquence  of  Maitland,  who  laboured  to  prevent  the  one 
half  of  his  countrymen  from  exterminating  the  other,  any  appearances  of 
moderation  which  this  parliament  discovered  in  its  proceedings.  The 
most  violent  opponents  of  the  king's  government  were  forfeited ;  the  rest 
were  allowed  still  to  hope  for  favour. § 

No  sooner  did  the  queen  of  Scots  submit  her  cause  to  her  rival,  than 
Elizabeth  required  the  regent  to  send  to  York  deputies  properly  instructed 
for  vindicating  his  conduct,  in  presence  of  her  commissioners.  It  was  not 
without  hesitation  and  anxiety  that  the  regent  consented  to  this  measure. 
His  authority  was  already  established  in  Scotland,  and  confirmed  by  par- 
liament. To  suffer  its  validity  now  to  be  called  in  question,  and  subjected 
to  a  foreign  jurisdiction,  was  extremely  mortifying.  To  accuse  his  sove- 
reign before  strangers,  the  ancient  enemies  of  the  Scottish  name,  was  an 
odious  task.  To  fail  in  this  accusation  was  dangerous;  to  succeed  in  it 
was  disgraceful.  But  the  strength  of  the  adverse  faction  daily  increased. 
fie  dreaded  the  interposition  of  the  French  king  in  its  behalf.  In  his  situ- 
ation, and  in  a  matter  which  Elizabeth  had  so  much  at  heart,  her  com- 
mands were  neither  to  be  disputed  nor  disobeyed.il 

The  necessity  of  repairing  in  person  to  York  added  to  the  ignominy  ol 
the  step  which  he  was  obliged  to  take.  All  his  associates  declined  the 
office ;  they  were  unwilling  to  expose  themselves  to  the  odium  and  dangei 
with  which  it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  the  discharge  of  it  would  be 
attended,  unless  he  himself  consented  to  share  these  in  common  with  them 
[Sept.  18.]  The  earl  of  Morton,  Bothwell  bishop  of  Orkney,  Pitcairn  com- 
mendatorof  Dunfermling,  and  lord  Lindsay,  were  joined  with  him  in  com 

•  Anders,  vol  iv.  part  i.  113.    Haynes,  509.    See  Appendix,  No.  XXVI.  t  Anders,  vol.  to 

IW.       t  See  Appendix,  XXVII.  ft  Burn  371.  II  Ibid .372.    See  Append.  Nn.  XXVPl 


3  0  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

mission.  Macgill  of  Rankeilor,  and  Balnaves  of  Hallbill,  two  emmen! 
civilians,  George  Buchanan,  Murray's  faithful  adherent,  a  man  whose 
genius  did  honour  to  the  age,  Maitland,  and  several  others,  were  appointed 
to  attend  them  as  assistants.  Maitland  owed  this  distinction  to  the  regent's 
fear,  rather  than  to  his  affection.  He  had  warmly  remonstrated  against  this 
measure.  He  wished  his  country  to  continue  in  friendship  with  England, 
but  not  to  become  dependent  on  that  nation.  He  was  desirous  of  re-estab- 
lishing the  queen  in  some  degree  of  power,  not  inconsistent  with  that  which 
the  king  possessed;  and  the  regent  could  not,  with  safety,  leave  behind 
him  a  man,  whose  views  were  so  contrary  to  his  own,  and  who,  by  his 
superior  abilities,  had  acquired  an  influence  in  the  nation,  equal  to  that 
which  others  derived  from  the  antiquity  and  power  of  their  families.* 

Mary  empowered  Lesley  bishop  of  Ross,  lord  Lavingston,  lord  Boyd, 
lord  Herries,  Gavin  Hamilton  commendator  of  Kilwilnning,  sir  John  Gordon 
of  Lochinvar,  and  sir  James  Cockburn  of  Stirling  to  appear  m  her  name  t 

Elizabeth  nominated  Thomas  Howard  duke  of  Norfolk,  Thomas  Rad- 
cliff  earl  of  Sussex,  and  sir  Ralph  Sadler,  her  commissioners  to  hear  both 
parties. 

The  4th  of  October  was  the  day  fixed  for  opening  the  conference.  The 
great  abilities  of  the  deputies  on  both  sides,  the  dignity  of  the  judges  before 
vhom  they  were  to  appear,  the  high  rank  of  the  persons  whose  cause  was 
to  be  heard,  and  the  importance  of  the  points  in  dispute,  rendered  the 
whole  transaction  no  less  illustrious  than  it  was  singular.  The  situation  in 
which  Elizabeth  appeared  on  this  occasion  strikes  us  with  an  air  of  mag- 
nificence. Her  rival,  an  independent  queen,  and  the  heir  of  an  ancient 
race  of  monarchs,  was  a  prisoner  in  her  hands,  and  appeared,  by  her 
ambassadors,  before  her  tribunal.  The  regent  of  Scotland,  who  repre- 
sented the  majesty,  and  possessed  the  authority  of  a  king,  stood  in  person 
at  her  bar.  And  the  fate  of  a  kingdom,  whose  power  her  ancestors  had 
often  dreaded,  but  could  never  subdue,  was  now  at  her  disposal. 

The  views,  however,  with  which  the  several  parties  consented  to  this 
conference,  and  the  issue  to  which  they  expected  to  bring  it,  were 
extremely  different. 

Mary's  chief  object  was  the  recovering  her  former  authority.  This 
•nduced  her  to  consent  to  a  measure  against  which  she  had  long  struggled. 
Elizabeth's  promises  gave  her  ground  for  entertaining  hopes  of  being 
restored  to  her  kingdom ;  in  order  to  which  she  would  have  willingly 
made  many  concessions  to  the  king's  party  ;  and  the  influence  of  the  Eng- 
lish queen,  as  well  as  her  own  impatience  under  her  present  situation, 
might  have  led  her  to  many  more.j  The  regent  aimed  at  nothing  but 
securing  Elizabeth's  protection  to  his  party,  and  seems  not  to  have  had 
tbe  most  distant  thoughts  of  coming  to  any  composition  with  Mary.  Eliza- 
beth's views  were  more  various,  and  her  schemes  more  intricate.  She 
seemed  to  be  full  of  concern  for  Mary's  honour,  and  solicitous  that  she 
should  wipe  off  the  aspersions  which  blemished  her  character.  This  she 
pretended  to  be  the  intention  of  the  conference ;  amusing  Mary,  and  eluding 
the  solicitations  of  the  French  and  Spanish  ambassadors  in  her  behalf,  by 
repeated  promises  of  assisting  her,  as  soon  as  she  could  venture  to  do  so 
without  bringing  disgrace  upon  herself.  But  under  this  veil  of  friendship 
and  generosity,  Elizabeth  concealed  sentiments  of  a  different  nature.  She 
expected  that  the  regent  would  accuse  Mary  of  being  accessary  to  the 
murder  of  her  husband.  She  encouraged  him,  as  far  as  decency  would 
permit,  to  like  this  desperate  step.§  And  as  this  accusation  might  termi- 
nate in  two  different  ways,  she  had  concerted  measures  for  her  future  con 
duct  suitable  to  each  of  these.     If  the  charge  against  Mary  should  appear 

*  Buch.  371.    Anders,  vol.  iv.  35.    Melv.  186.  188.         t  Anders  vol.  iv.  33.       %  Ibid,  vol  iv. 
part  n.  33.    Good.  vol.  ii.  337         $  Anders,  vol.  iv.  part  ii         45.     Haynes,  487 


OF   SCOTLAND.  191 

to  be  well  founded,  she  resolved  to  pronounce  her  unworthy  of  wearing  a 
crown,  and  to  declare  that  she  would  never  burden  her  own  conscience 
with  the  guilt  of  an  action  so  detestable  as  the  restoring  her  to  her  king- 
dom.* If  it  should  happen,  that  what  her  accusers  alleged  did  not  amount 
to  a  proof  of  guilt,  but  only  of  maladministration,  she  determined  to  set  on 
foot  a  treaty  for  restoring  her,  but  on  such  conditions  as  would  render  hei 
hereafter  dependent,  not  only  upon  England,  but  upon  her  own  subjects.} 
As  every  step  in  the  progress  of  the  conference,  as  well  as  the  final  result 
of  it,  was  in  Elizabeth's  own  power,  she  would  still  be  at  liberty  to  choose 
which  of  these  courses  she  should  hold;  or,  if  there  appeared  to  be  any 
danger  or  inconveniency  in  pursuing  either  of  them,  she  mi^ht  protract  the 
whole  cause  by  endless  delays,  and  involve  it  in  inextricable  perplexity. § 

The  conference,  however,  was  opened  with  much  solemnity.  But  the 
•rery  first  step  discovered  it  to  be  Elizabeth's  intention  to  inflame,  rathei 
than  to  extinguish,  the  dissensions  and  animosities  among  the  Scots.  Na 
endeavours  were  used  to  reconcile  the  contending  parties, or  to  mollify  the 
fierceness  of  their  hatred,  by  bringing  the  queen  to  offer  pardon  for  what 
was  past,  or  her  subjects  to  promise  more  dutiful  obedience  for  the  future. 
On  the  contrary,  Mary's  commissioners  were  permitted  to  prefer  a  com- 
plaint against  the  regent  and  his  party,  containing  an  enumeration  of  their 
treasonable  actions,  of  their  seizing  her  person  by  force  of  arms,  commit- 
ting her  to  prison,  compelling  her  to  resign  the  crown,  and  making  use  ot 
her  son's  name  to  colour  their  usurpation  of  the  whole  royal  authority ;  and 
of  all  these  enormities  they  required  such  speedy  and  effectual  redress  as 
the  injuries  of  one  queen  demanded  from  the  justice  of  another.  J 

It  was  then  expected  that  the  regent  would  have  disclosed  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  that  unnatural  crime  to  which  he  pretended  the  queen  had 
s>een  accessary,  and  would  have  produced  evidence  in  support  of  his  charge. 
But,  far  from  accusing  Mary,  the  regent  did  not  even  answer  the  complaints 
brought  against  himself.  He  discovered  a  reluctance  at  undertaking  that 
office,  and  started  many  doubts  and  scruples,  with  regard  to  which  he 
lemanded  to  be  resolved  by  Elizabeth  herself.§  His  reserve  and  hesita- 
tion were  no  less  surprising  to  the  greater  part  of  the  English  commissioners 
than  to  his  own  associates.  They  knew  that  he  could  not  vindicate  his 
own  conduct  without  charging  the  murder  upon  the  queen,  and  he  had 
not  hitherto  shown  any  extraordinary  delicacy  on  that  head.  An  intrigue, 
however,  had  been  secretly  carried  on,  since  his  arrival  at  York,  which 
explains  this  mystery. 

The  duke  ot  Norfolk  was,  at  that  time,  the  most  powerful  and  most 
popular  man  in  England.  His  wife  was  lately  dead  ;  and  he  began  already 
to  form  a  project,  which  he  afterwards  more  openly  avowed,  of  mounting 
the  throne  of  Scotland  by  a  marriage  with  the  queen  of  Scots.  He  saw 
the  infamy  which  would  be  the  consequence  of  a  public  accusation  against 
Mary,  and  how  prejudicial  it  might  be  to  her  pretensions  to  the  English 
succession.  In  order  to  save  her  from  this  cruel  mortification,  he  applied 
to  Maitland,  and  expressed  his  astonishment  at  seeing  a  man  of  so  much 
reputation  for  wisdom,  concurring  with  the  regent  in  a  measure  so  dis- 
honourable to  themselves,  to  their  queen,  and  to  their  country ;  submitting 
the  public  transactions  of  the  nation  to  the  judgment  of  foreigners ;  and  publish- 
ing the  ignominy  and  exposing  the  faults  of  their  sovereign,  which  they  were 
bound,  in  good  policy,  as  well  as  in  duty,  to  conceal  and  to  cover.  It  was 
easy  for  Maitland,  whose  sentiments  were  the  same  with  the  duke's,  to 
vindicate  his  own  conduct.  He  assured  him  that  he  had  employed  all  his 
credit  to  dissuade  his  countrymen  from  this  measure;  and  would  still  contri- 
bute, to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  to  divert  them  from  it.  This  encouraged 
Norfolk  to  communicate  the  matter  to  the  regent.      He  repeated  and 

•  Auden.  vol.  lv.  part  iL  11  t  Id-  Ibid.  10  J  Id.  Ibid.  52.        $  Haynet,478. 


192  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

enforced  the  same  arguments  which  he  had  used  with  Maitland.  He 
warned  him  of  the  danger  to  which  he  must  expose  himself  by  such  a 
violent  action  as  the  public  accusation  of  his  sovereign.  Mary  would 
never  forgive  a  man  who  had  endeavoured  to  fix  such  a  brand  of  infamy 
on  her  character.  If  she  ever  recovered  any  degree  of  power,  his  destruc- 
tion would  be  inevitable,  and  he  would  justly  merit  it  at  her  hands.  Noi 
would  Elizabeth  screen  him  from  this,  by  a  public  approbation  of  his 
conduct.  For,  whatever  evidence  of  Mary's  guilt  he  might  produce,  she 
was  resolved  to  give  no  definitive  sentence  in  the  cause.  Let  him  only 
demand  that  the  matter  should  be  brought  to  a  decision  immediately  aftoj 
hearing  the  proof,  and  he  would  be  fully  convinced  how  false  and  insidious 
her  intentions  were,  and,  by  consequence,  how  improper  it  would  be  !> 
him  to  appear  as  the  accuser  of  his  own  sovereign.*  The  candour  w  hie  b 
Norfolk  seemed  to  discover  in  these  remonstrances,  as  well  as  the  truth 
which  they  contained,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  regent.  He  daily 
received  the  strongest  assurances  of  Mary's  willingness  to  be  reconciled 
to  him,  if  he  abstained  from  accusing  her  of  such  an  odious  crime,  together 
with  the  denunciations  of  her  irreconcileable  hatred,  if  he  acted  a  contrary 
part.j  All  these  considerations  concurred  in  determining  him  to  alter  his 
purpose,  and  to  make  trial  of  the  expedient  which  the  duke  had  suggested. 
He  demanded,  therefore  [Oct.  9],  to  be  informed,  before  he  proceeded 
further,  whether  the  English  commissioners  were  empowered  to  declare 
the  queen  guilty,  by  a  judicial  act ;  whether  they  would  promise  to  pass 
sentence,  without  delay  ;  whether  the  queen  should  be  kept  under  such 
restraint,  as  to  prevent  her  from  disturbing  the  government  now  established 
in  Scotland  ;  and  whether  Elizabeth,  if  she  approved  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  king's  party,  would  engage  to  protect  it  for  the  future  ?|  The  paper 
containing  these  demands  was  signed  by  himself  alone,  without  communi- 
cating it  to  any  of  his  attendants,  except  Maitland  and  Melvil.§  But,  lest 
so  many  precautions  should  excite  any  suspicion  of  their  proceedings,  from 
some  consciousness  of  defect  in  the  evidence  which  he  had  to  produce 
against  his  sovereign,  Murray  empowered  Lethington,  Macgill,  and  Bu- 
chanan, to  wait  upon  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  the  earl  of  Sussex,  and  sir  Ralph 
Sadler,  to  lay  before  them,  not  in  their  public  characters  as  commissioners, 
but  as  private  persons,  Mary's  letters  to  Bothwell,  her  sonnets,  and  all  the 
other  papers  upon  which  was  founded  the  charge  of  her  being  accessary 
to  the  murder  of  the  king,  and  to  declare  that  this  confidential  communi 
cation  was  made  to  them,  with  a  view  to  learn  whether  the  queen  ot 
England  would  consider  this  evidence  as  sufficient  to  establish  the  truth  o( 
the  accusation.  Nothing  could  be  more  natural  than  the  regent's  solicitude 
to  know  on  what  footing  he  stood.  To  have  ventuied  on  a  step  so  uncom- 
mon and  dangerous,  as  the  accusing  his  sovereign,  without  previously 
ascertaining  that  he  might  take  it  with  safety,  would  have  been  unpardon- 
able imprudence.  But  Elizabeth,  who  did  not  expect  that  he  would  have 
moved  any  such  difficulty,  had  not  empowered  her  commissioners  to  give 
him  that  satisfaction  which  he  demanded.  It  became  necessary  to  transmit 
the  articles  to  herself,  and  by  the  light  in  which  Norfolk  placed  them,  it 
is  easy  to  see  that  he  wished  that  they  should  make  no  slight  impression 
on  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers.  "Think  not  the  Scots,"  said  he,  "over- 
scrupulous or  precise.  Let  us  view  their  conduct  as  we  would  wish  our 
own  to  be  viewed  in  a  like  situation.  The  game  they  play  is  deep  ;  their 
estates,  their  lives,  their  honour,  are  at  stake.  It  is  now  in  their  own 
power  to  be  reconciled  to  their  queen,  or  to  offend  her  irrecoverably ;  and, 
in  a  matter  of  so  much  importance,  the  utmost  degree  of  caution  is  not 
excessive. "|| 

*  Melv    187.     Haynes,  573  t  Anders,  vol.  iv.  part  ii.  77.    Good.  vol.  ii.  157.    See  Append. 

No.  XXIX.  t  Anders,  vol.  iv.  part  ii  55     Siate  Trials,  I.  91,  Sec.  $  Anders,  vol.  iv.  pari 

!l  56     Me'-   KH)  IJ  Anders,  vol.  i v.  77. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  193 

While  the  English  commissioners  waited  for  fuller  instructions  with 
regard  to  the  regent's  demands,  he  gave  an  answer  to  the  complaint  which 
had  been  offered  in  the  name  of  the  Scottish  queen.  It  was  expressed  in 
terms  perfectly  conformable  to  the  system  which  he  had  at  that  time 
adopted.  It  contained  no  insinuation  of  the  queen's  being  accessary  to  the 
murder  of  her  husband;  the  bitterness  of  style  peculiar  to  the  age  was 
onsiderably  abated;  and  though  he  pleaded,  that  the  infamy  of  the 
marriage  with  Bothwell  made  it  necessary  to  take  arms  in  order  to  dissolve 
it  ;  though  Mary's  attachment  to  a  man  so  odious  justified  the  keeping  her 
for  some  time  under  restraint ;  yet  nothing  more  was  said  on  these  subjects 
than  was  barely  requisite  in  his  own  defence.  The  queen's  commissioners 
lid  not  fail  to  reply.*  But  while  the  article  with  respect  to  the  murder 
remained  untouched,  these  were  only  skirmishes  at  a  distance,  of  no  con- 
sequence towards  ending  the  contest,  and  were  little  regarded  by  Elizabeth 
ui  her  commissioners. 

The  conference  had,  hitherto,  been  conducted  in  a  manner  which  disap- 
pointed Elizabeth's  views,  and  produced  none  of  those  discoveries  which 
she  had  expected.  The  distance  between  York  and  London,  and  the 
necessity  of  consulting  her  upon  every  difficulty  which  occurred,  consumed 
much  time.  Norfolk's  negotiation  with  the  Scottish  regent,  however 
secretly  carried  on,  was  not,  in  all  probability,  unknown  to  a  princess  to 
remarkable  for  her  sagacity  in  penetrating  the  designs  of  her  enemies, 
and  seeing  through  their  deepest  schemes.!  Instead,  thereiore.  of  returning 
any  answer  to  the  regent's  demands,  she  resolved  to  remove  the  conlierence 
to  Westminster,  and  to  appoint  new  commissioners,  in.  whom  she  could 
more  absolutely  confide.  Both  the  queen  of  Scots  and  the  regent  were 
brought,  without  difficulty,  to  approve  of  this  resolution.]; 

We  often  find  Mary  boasting  of  the  superiority  in  argument  obtained 
by  her  commissioners  during  the  conference  at  York,  and  how,  by  the 
strength  of  their  reasons,  they  confounded  her  adversaries,  and  silenced 
all  their  cavils. §  The  dispule  stood,  at  that  time,  on  a  footing  which  ren- 
dered her  victory  not  only  apparent,  but  easy.  Her  participation  of  the 
guilt  of  the  king  s  murder  was  the  circumstance  upon  which  her  subject.5 
must  have  rested,  as  a  justification  of  their  violent  proceedings  against  her 
and,  while  they  industriously  avoided  mentioning  that,  her  cause  gained 
as  much  as  that  of  her  adversaries  lost  by  suppressing  this  capita!  argument 

Elizabeth  resolved  that  Mary  should  not  enjoy  the  same  advantage  it 
the  conference  to  be  held  at  Westminster.  She  deliberated  with  lh< 
utmost  anxiety,  how  she  might  overcome  the  regent's  scruples,  and  persuad* 
him  to  accuse  the  queen.  She  considered  of  the  most  proper  method  K>< 
bringing  Mary's  commissioners  to  ;mswer  such  an  accusation;  and  as  sh« 
foresaw  that  the  promises  with  which  it  was  necessary  to  allure  the  regent 
and  which  it  was  impossible  to  conceal  from  the  Scottish  queen,  wouh 
naturally  exasperate  her  to  a  great  degree,  she  determined  to  guaid  her 
more  narrowly  than  ever  ;  and,  though  lord  Scrope  had  given  her  no  reason 
to  distrust  his  vigilance  or  fidelity,  yet,  because  he  was  the  duke  of  Nor- 
folk's brother-in-law,  she  thought  it  proper  to  remove  the  queen  as  soon  as 
possible  to  Tuthbury  in  Staffordshire,  and  commit  her  to  the  keeping  of 
the  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  to  whom  that  castle  belonged. i| 

Mary  began  to  suspect  the  design  of  this  second  conference  ;  and,  ue! 
withstanding  the  satisfaction  she  expressed  at  seeing  her  cause  taken  more 
immediately  under  the  queen's  own  eye,*ff  she  framed  her  instructions  to 
her  commissioners  in  such  a  manner  as  to  avoid  being  brought  under  the 
necessity  of  answering  the  accusation  of  her  subjects,  it  they  should  be  so 
desperate  as  to  exhibit  one  against  her.**  These  suspicions  were  soon  con- 

*  Anders,  vol.  lv.  pan  ii.  64.  80.  t  Good.  vol.  ii.  160.    Anders,  vol.  iil.  24.  J  Haynes. 

484.    Anders,  vol.  iv.  94.  §  Good.  vol.  i.  186.  284.  350.  ||  llaynes,  487  TF  Anders 

vol.  iv.  part  ii.  95.  **  Good.  vol.  ii.  349. 

Vol.  HI.— 26 


194  THE   HISTORY  IBook  V. 

firmed  by  a  circumstance  extremely  mortifying.  The  regent  having 
arrived  at  London,  in  order  to  be  present  at  the  conference,  was  imme- 
diately admitted  into  Elizabeth's  presence,  and  received  by  her,  not  only 
with  respect,  but  with  affection.  This  Mary  justly  considered  as  an  open 
declaration  of  the  queen's  partiality  towards  her  adversaries.  In  the  first 
emotions  of  her  resentment  [Nov.  22],  she  wrote  to  her  commissioners,  and 
commanded  them  to  complain,  in  the  presence  of  the  English  nobles,  and 
before  the  ambissadors  of  foreign  princes,  of  the  usage  she  had  hitherto 
met  with,  and  tLe  additional  injuries  which  she  had  reason  to  apprehend. 
Her  rebellious  subjects  were  allowed  access  to  the  queen,  she  was  ex- 
cluded from  her  presence  ;  they  enjoyed  full  liberty,  she  languished  under 
a  long  imprisonment ;  they  were  encouraged  to  accuse  her,  in  defending 
herself  she  laboured  under  every  disadvantage.  For  these  reasons  she 
once  more  renewed  her  demand,  of  being  admitted  into  the  queen's  pre- 
sence ;  and  if  that  were  denied,  she  instructed  them  to  declare,  that  she 
recalled  the  consent  which  she  had  given  to  the  conference  at  Westminster, 
and  protested,  that  whatever  was  done  there  should  be  held  to  be  null  and 
invalid.* 

This,  perhaps,  was  the  most  prudent  resolution  Mary  could  have  taken. 
The  pretences  on  which  she  declined  the  conference  were  plausible,  and 
the  juncture  for  offering  them  well  chosen.  But  either  the  queen's  letter 
did  not  reach  her  commissioners  in  due  time,  or  they  suffered  themselves  to 
be  deceived  by  Elizabeth's  professions  of  regard  for  their  mistress,  and 
consented  to  the  opening  of  the  conference. t 

To  the  commissioners  who  had  appeared  in  her  name  at  York  [Nov.  25], 
Elizabeth  had  added  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  keeper  of  the  great  seal,  the 
earls  of  Arundel  and  Leicester,  lord  Clinton,  and  Sir  William  Cecil.J  The 
difficulties  which  obstructed  the  proceedings  at  York  were  quickly  re- 
moved. A  satisfying  answer  was  given  to  the  regent's  demands  ;  nor  was 
he  so  much  disposed  to  hesitate,  and  raise  objections  as  formerly.  His 
negotiation  with  Norfolk  had  been  discovered  to  Morton  by  some  of  Mary's 
attendants,  and  he  had  communicated  it  to  Cecil. §  His  personal  safety, 
as  well  as  the  continuance  of  his  power,  depended  on  Elizabeth.  By 
favouring  Mary,  she  might  at  any  time  ruin  him  ;  and  by  a  question  which 
she  artfully  started,  concerning  the  person  who  had  a  right,  by  the  law  of 
Scotland,  to  govern  the  kingdom  during  a  minority,  she  let  him  see,  that 
even  without  restoring  the  queen,  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  her  to  deprive 
him  of  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs. ||  These  considerations,  which 
were  powerfully  seconded  by  most  of  his  attendants,  at  length  determined 
the  regent  to  produce  his  accusation  against  the  queen. 

He  endeavoured  to  lessen  the  obloquy  with  which  he  was  sensible  this 
action  would  be  attended,  by  protesting  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  reluc- 
tance he  undertook  this  disagreeable  task  ;  that  his  party  had  long  suffered 
their  conduct  to  be  misconstrued,  and  had  borne  the  worst  imputations  in 
silence,  rather  than  expose  the  crimes  of  their  sovereign  to  the  eyes  of 
strangers  ;  but  that  now  the  insolence  and  importunity  of  the  adverse  fac 
tion  forced  them  to  publish  what  they  had  hitherto,  though  with  loss  to 
themselves,  endeavoured  to  conceal. IT  These  pretexts  are  decent ;  and  the 
considerations  which  he  mentions  had,  during  some  time,  a  real  influence 
upon  the  conduct  of  the  party ;  but,  since  the  meeting  of  parliament  held 
in  December,  they  had  discovered  so  little  delicacy  and  reserve  with  respect 
to  the  queen's  actions,  as  renders  it  impossible  to  give  credit  to  those  studied 
professions.  The  regent  and  his  associates  were  drawn,  it  is  plain,  paitly 
by  the  necessity  of  their  affairs,  and  partly  by  Elizabeth's  artifices,  into  a 
situation  where  no  liberty  of  choice  was  left  to  them ;  and  they  were 

*  Good.  vol.  II.  184.  t  Anders  vol.  iii  25.         t  Ibid.  vol.  W.  put  U.  00  t  Melvlt,  101. 

HayiM*.  844.        IT  AucUn  vol.  lv.  part  ii.  115. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  im 

obliged  either  to  acknowledge  themselves  to  be  guilty  of  rebellion,  or  to 
charge  Mary  with  having  been  accessary  to  the  commission  of  murder. 

The  accusation  itself  was  conceived  in  the  strongest  terms.  Mary  was 
charged,  not  only  with  having  consented  (o  the  murder,  but  with  being 
accessary  to  the  contrivance  and  execution  of  it.  Bothwell,  it  was  pre- 
tended, had  been  screened  from  the  pursuits  of  justice  by  her  favour;  and 
she  had  formed  designs  no  less  dangerous  to  the  life  of  the  young  prince, 
than  subversive  of  the  liberties  and  constitution  of  the  kingdom.  If  any 
of  these  crimes  should  be  denied,  an  offer  was  made  to  produce  the  most 
ample  and  undoubted  evidence  in  confirmation  of  the  charge.* 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  commissioners  [Nov.  29],  the  earl  of  Lennox 
appeared  before  them;  and  after  bewailing  the  tragical  and  unnatural  mur- 
der of  his  son,  be  implored  Elizabeth's  justice  against  the  queen  of  Scots, 
whom  he  accused  upon  oath,  of  being  the  author  of  that  crime,  and 
produced  papers,  which,  as  he  pretended,  would  make  good  what  he 
alleged.  The  entrance  of  a  new  actor  on  the  stage  so  opportunely,  and 
at  a  juncture  so  critical,  can  scarce  be  imputed  to  chance.  This  contri- 
vance was  manifestly  Elizabeth's,  in  order  to  increase,  by  this  additional 
accusation,  the  infamy  of  the  Scottish  queen.  | 

Mary's  commissioners  expressed  the  utmost  surprise  and  indignation  at 
the  regent's  presumption  in  loading  the  queen  with  calumnies  [Dec.  4], 
which,  as  they  affirmed,  she  bad  so  little  merited.  But,  instead  of  attempt- 
ing to  vindicate  her  honour,  by  a  reply  to  the  charge,  they  had  recourse  to 
an  article  in  their  instructions,  which  they  had  formerly  neglected  to  men- 
tion in  its  proper  place.  They  demanded  an  audience  of  Elizabeth;  and 
having  renewed  their  mistress's  request  of  a  personal  interview,  they  pro- 
tested, if  that  were  denied  her,  against  all  the  future  proceedings  of  the 
commissioners. J  A  protestation  of  this  nature,  offered  just  at  the  critical 
time  when  such  a  bold  accusation  had  been  preferred  against  Mary,  and 
when  the  proofs  in  support  of  it  were  ready  to  be  examined,  gave  reason 
to  suspect  that  she  dreaded  the  event  of  that  examination.  This  suspicion 
received  the  strongest  confirmation  from  another  circumstance  :  Ross  and 
Herries,  before  they  were  introduced  to  Elizabeth,  in  order  to  make  this 
protestation,  privately  acquainted  Leicester  and  Cecil,  that  as  their  mistress 
had,  from  the  beginning,  discovered  an  inclination  towards  bringing  the 
differences  between  herself  and  her  subjects  to  an  amicable  accommoda- 
tion, so  she  was  still  desirous,  notwithstanding  the  regent's  audacious  accu- 
sation, that  they  should  be  terminated  in  that  manner.§ 

Such  moderation  seems  hardly  to  be  compatible  with  the  strong  resent- 
ment which  calumniated  innocence  naturally  feels;  ui  with  that  eagerness 
to  vindicate  itself  which  it  always  discovers.  In  Mary's  situation,  an  offer 
so  ill  timed  must  be  considered  as  a  confession  of  the  weakness  of  her 
cause.  The  known  character  of  her  commissioners  exempts  them  from 
the  imputation  of  folly,  or  the  suspicion  of  treachery.  Some  secret  con- 
viction, that  the  conduct  of  their  mistress  could  not  bear  so  strict  a  scrutiny 
as  must  be  made  into  it,  if  they  should  reply  to  the  accusation  preferred 
by  Murray  against  her,  seems  to  be  the  most  probable  motive  of  this  im- 
prudent proposal,  by  which  they  endeavoured  to  avoid  it. 

It  appeared  in  this  light  to  Elizabeth  [Dec.  4],  and  afforded  her  a  pre- 
tence for  rejecting  it.  She  represented  to  Mary's  commissioners,  that  in 
the  present  juncture,  nothing  could  be  so  dishonourable  to  their  mistress  as 
an  accommodation  ;  and  that  the  matter  would  seem  to  be  huddled  up  in 
this  manner,  merely  to  suppress  discoveries,  and  to  hide  her  shame  ;  nor 
ivas  it  possible  that  Mary  could  be  admitted,  with  any  decency,  into  her 
presence,  while  she  lay  under  the  infamy  of  such  a  public  accusation. 

•  Anderson,  vol  l»   part  U.  11*        t  Id  lhta  13-2.        ;  Id.  Ibid.  133. 158,  &c        4  Ibid.  It  1S4 
Cabbala,  157 


196  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

Upon  this  repulse  Mary's  commissioners  withdrew;  and  as  they  had 
declined  answering,  there  seemed  now  to  be  no  further  reason  for  the  re 
gent's  producing  the  proofs  in  support  of  his  charge.  But  without  getting 
these  into  her  hands,  Elizabeth's  schemes  were  incomplete  ;  and  her  arti- 
fice for  this  purpose  was  as  mean,  but  as  successful,  as  any  she  had  hitherto 
employed.  She  commanded  her  commissioners  to  testify  her  indignation 
and  displeasure  at  the  regent's  presumption  in  forgetting  so  far  the  duty  o! 
a  subject,  as  to  accuse  his  sovereign  of  such  atrocious  crimes.  He,  in  order 
to  regain  the  good  opinion  of  such  a  powerful  protectress,  offered  to  show 
that  his  accusations  were  not  malicious  or  ill  grounded.  Then  were  pro- 
duced and  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  the  English  commissioners,  the 
acts  of  the  Scottish  parliament  in  confirmation  of  the  regent's  authority, 
and  of  the  queen's  resignation  ;  the  confessions  of  the  persons  executed  for 
the  king's  murder ;  and  the  fatal  casket  which  contained  the  letters,  son- 
nets, and  contracts  that  have  been  so  often  mentioned. 

As  soon  as  Elizabeth  got  these  into  her  possession,  she  laid  them  before 
her  privy  council  [Dec.  14],  to  which  she  joined  on  this  occasion  several 
noblemen  of  the  greatest  eminence  in  her  kingdom  ;  in  order  that  they 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  considering  the  mode  in  which  an  inquiry  ol 
such  public  importance  had  been  hitherto  conducted,  as  well  as  the  amount 
of  the  evidence  now  brought  against  a  person  who  claimed  a  preferable 
right  of  succession  to  the  English  crown.  In  this  respectable  assembly  all 
the  proceedings  in  the  conferences  at  York  and  Westminster  were  review- 
ed,  and  the  evidence  produced  by  the  regent  of  Scotland  against  his  sove- 
reign was  examined  with  attention.  In  particular,  the  letters  and  other 
papers  said  to  be  written  by  the  queen  of  Scots,  were  carefully  compared, 
"  for  the  manner  of  writing  and  orthography,"  with  a  variety  of  letters 
which  Elizabeth  had  received  at  different  times  from  the  Scottish  queen ; 
and,  as  the  result  of  a  most  accurate  collation,  the  members  of  the  privy 
council,  and  noblemen  conjoined  with  them,  declared  that  no  difference 
between  these  could  be  discovered.*  Elizabeth  having  established  a  fact 
so  unfavourable  to  her  rival,  began  to  lay  aside  the  expressions  of  friend- 
ship and  respect  which  she  had  hitherto  used  in  all  her  letters  to  the  Scot- 
tish queen.  She  now  wrote  to  her  in  such  terms,  as  if  the  presumptions  of 
her  guilt  had  amounted  almost  to  certainty  ;  she  blamed  her  for  refusing  to 
vindicate  herself  from  an  accusation  which  could  not  be  left  unanswered, 
without  a  manifest  injury  to  her  character;  and  plainly  intimated,  that 
unless  that  were  done,  no  change  would  be  made  in  her  present  situation.! 
She  hoped  that  such  a  discovery  of  her  sentiments  would  intimidate  Mary, 
who  was  hardly  recovered  from  the  shock  of  the  regent's  attack  on  her 
reputation,  and  force  her  to  confirm  her  resignation  of  the  crown,  to  ratify 
Murray's  authority  as  regent,  and  to  consent  that  both  herself  and  her  sor 
should  reside  in  England,  under  English  protection.  This  scheme  Eliza 
heth  had  much  at  heart ;  she  proposed  it  both  to  Mary  and  to  her  commis 
sioners,  and  neglected  no  argument  or  artifice  that  could  possibly  recom 
mend  it.  Mary  saw  how  fatal  this  would  prove  to  her  reputation,  to  hei 
pretensions,  and  even  to  her  personal  safety.  She  rejected  it  without  hesi- 
tation. "  Death,"  said  she,  "  is  less  dreadful  than  such  an  ignominious 
step.  Rather  than  give  away,  with  my  own  hands,  the  crown  which  de- 
scended to  me  from  my  ancestors,  I  will  part  with  life  ;  but  the  last  words 
I  utter,  shall  be  those  of  a  queen  of  Scotland."! 

At  the  same  time  she  seems  to  have  been  sensible  how  open  her  repu- 
tation lay  to  censure,  while  she  suffered  such  a  public  accusation  to  remain 
unanswered  ;  and  though  the  conference  was  now  dissolved,  she  empow- 
ered her  commissioners  to  present  a  reply  to  the  allegations  of  her  ene» 

»  Anderson,  vol.  iv.  part  it.  170,  &c  f  Id  ibid.  179. 183     Good.  vol.  11.  96%        }  Hayne*, 

»77   See  Append.  No.  XXX.    Good.  vol.  ii.  274.  301. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  197 

mies,  in  which  she  denied  in  the  strongest  terms  me  crimes  imputed  tc 
her  ;  and  recriminated  upon  the  regent  and  his  party,  by  accusing  thern  of 
having  devised  and  executed  the  murder  of  the  king*  [Dec.  24].  The 
regent  and  his  associates  asserted  their  innocence  with  great  warmth. 
Mary  continued  to  insist  on  a  personal  interview,  a  condition  which  she 
knew  would  never  be  granted.!  Elizabeth  urged  her  to  vindicate  her  own 
honour.  But  it  is  evident  from  the  delays,  the  evasions,  and  subterfuges,  to 
which  both  queens  had  recourse  by  turns,  that  Mary  avoided,  and  Eliza- 
beth did  not  desire  to  make  any  further  progress  in  the  inquiry. 

The  regent  was  now  impatient  to  return  into  Scotland,  where  his  adver- 
saries were  endeavouring,  in  his  absence,  to  raise  some  commotions.  Be- 
fore he  set  out  [Feb.  2],  he  was  called  into  the  privy  council  to  receive  a 
final  declaration  of  Elizabeth's  sentiments.  Cecil  acquainted  him,  in  hei 
name,  that,  on  one  hand,  nothing  had  been  objected  to  his  conduct,  which 
she  could  reckon  detrimental  to  his  honour,  or  inconsistent  with  his  duty; 
nor  had  he,  on  the  otlier  hand,  produced  any  thing  against  his  sovereign, 
on  which  she  could  found  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  her  actions  ;  and,  tor 
this  reason,  she  resolved  to  leave  all  the  affairs  of  Scotland  precisely  in  the 
same  situation  in  which  she  had  found  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
ference. The  queen's  commissioners  were  dismissed  much  in  the  same 
manner. J 

After  the  attention  of  both  nations  had  been  fixed  so  earnestly  on  this 
conference  upwards  of  four  months,such  a  conclusion  of  the  whole  appears, 
at  first  sight,  trifling  and  ridiculous.  Nothing,  however,  could  be  more 
favourable  to  Elizabeth's  future  schemes.  Notwithstanding  her  seeming 
impartiality,  she  had  no  thoughts  of  continuing  neuter ;  nor  was  she  at 
any  loss  on  whom  to  bestow  her  protection.  Before  the  regent  left  Lon- 
don, she  supplied  him  with  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and  engaged  to 
support  the  king's  authority  to  the  utmost  of  her  power.§  Mary,1byber 
own  conduct,  fortified  this  resolution.  Enraged  at  the  repeated  instances 
of  Elizabeth's  artifice  and  deceit,  which  she  had  discovered  during  the 
progress  of  the  conference,  and  despairing  of  ever  obtaining  any  succour 
from  her,  she  endeavoured  to  rouse  her  own  adherents  in  Scotland  to  arms 
by  imputing  such  designs  to  Elizabeth  and  Murray,  as  could  not  fail  tc 
inspire  every  Scotchman  with  indignation.  Murray,  she  pretended,  had 
agreed  to  convey  the  prince  her  son  into  England ;  to  surrender  to  Eliza- 
beth the  places  of  greatest  strength  in  the  kingdom  ;  and  to  acknowledge 
the  dependence  of  the  Scottish  upon  the  English  nation.  In  return  for 
this,  Murray  was  to  be  declared  the  lawful  heir  to  the  crown  of  Scotland; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  the  question  with  regard  to  the  English  succession 
was  to  be  decided  in  favour  of  the  Earl  of  Hartford,  who  had  promised 
to  marry  one  of  Cecil's  daughters.  An  account  of  these  wild  and  chimeri- 
cal projects  was  spread  industriously  among  the  Scots.  Elizabeth,  per- 
ceiving it  was  calculated  on  purpose  to  bring  her  government  into  disre- 
Eutation,  laboured  to  destroy  its  effects  by  a  counter  proclamation,  and 
ecame  more  disgusted  than  ever  with  the  Scottish  queen. || 

The  regent,  on  his  return,  found  the  kingdom  in  the  utmost  tranquillity. 
But  the  rage  of  the  queen's  adherents,  which  had  been  suspended  in 
expectation  that  the  conference  in  England  would  terminate  to  her  advan- 
tage, was  now  ready  to  break  out  with  all  the  violence  of  civil  war.  They 
were  encouraged  too  by  the  appearance  of  a  leader,  whose  high  quality 
and  pretensions  entitled  him  to  great  authority  in  the  nation.  This  was 
the  duke  of  Chatelherault,  who  had  resided  for  some  years  in  France,  and 
was  now  sent  over  by  that  court  with  a  small  supoly  of  money,  in  hopes 
that  the  presence  of  the  first  nobleman  in  the  kingdom  would  strengthen 

•  Good.  it.  285.  t  Ibid.  283.     Cal.baia,  157.  \  Good,  ii  315.  333.  $  Ibid.  U  313. 

Vaoc,  lil.  478.  i'  Haynea,  500.  503.     See  Append.  No.  XXXI. 


198  THE    HISTORY  [Book  V 

the  queen  s  party.  Elizabeth  had  detained  him  in  England  for  some 
months,  under  vari(  us  pretences,  but  was  obliged  at  last  to  suffer  him  to 
proceed  on  his  journey.  Before  his  departure  [Feb.  25],  Mary  invested 
him  with  the  high  dignity  of  her  lieutenant  general  in  Scotland,  togethei 
with  the  fantastic  title  of  her  adopted  father. 

The  regent  did  not  give  him  time  to  form  his  party  into  any  regjlar 
body.  He  assembled  an  army  with  his  usual  expedition,  and  marched  to 
Glasgow.  The  followers  of  Argyll  and  Huntly,  who  composed  the  chief 
part  of  the  queen's  faction,  being  seated  in  corners  of  the  kingdom  very 
distant  from  each  other,  and  many  of  the  duke's  dependants  having  been 
killed  or  taken  in  the  battle  of  Langside,  the  spirit  and  strength  til  his 
adherents  were  totally  broken,  and  an  accommodation  with  the  regent  was 
the  only  thing  which  could  prevent  the  ruin  of  his  estate  and  vassals.  This 
was  effected  without  difficulty,  and  on  no  unreasonable  terms.  The  duke 
promised  to  acknowledge  the  authority  both  of  the  king  and  of  the  regent ; 
and  to  claim  no  jurisdiction  in  consequence  of  the  commission  which  he 
had  received  from  the  queen.  The  regent  bound  himself  to  repeal  the 
act  which  had  passed  for  attainting  several  of  the  queen's  adherents  :  to 
restore  all  who  would  submit  to  the  king's  government  to  the  possession  of 
their  estates  and  honours  ;  and  to  hold  a  convention,  wherein  all  the  differ- 
ences between  the  two  parties  should  be  settled  by  mutual  consent.  The 
duke  gave  hostages  for  his  faithful  performance  of  the  treaty;  and,  in 
token  of  their  sincerity,  he  and  lord  Herries  accompanied  the  regent  to 
Stirling,  and  visited  the  young  king.  The  regent  set  at  liberty  the  pri 
soners  taken  at  Langside.* 

Argyll  and  Huntly  refused  to  be  included  in  this  treaty.  A  secret  ne- 
gotiation was  carrying  on  in  England,  in  favour  of  the  captive  queen, 
with  so  much  success  that  her  affairs  began  to  wear  a  better  aspect,  and 
her  return  into  her  own  kingdom  seemed  to  be  an  event  not  very  distant. 
The  French  king  had  lately  obtained  such  advantages  over  the  Hugonots, 
that  the  extinction  of  that  party  appeared  to  be  inevitable,  and  France,  by 
recovering  domestic  tranquillity,  would  be  no  longer  prevented  from  pro 
tecting  her  friends  in  Britain.  These  circumstances  not  only  influenced 
Argyll  and  Huntly,  but  made  so  deep  an  impression  on  the  duke,  that  be 
appeared  to  be  wavering  and  irresolute,  and  plainly  discovered  that  he 
wished  to  evade  the  accomplishment  of  the  treaty.  The  regent  saw  the 
danger  of  allowing  the  duke  to  shake  himself  loose,  in  this  manner,  from 
his  engagements  ;  and  instantly  formed  a  resolution  equally  bold  and  po- 
litic. He  commanded  his  guards  to  seize  Chatelherault  in  his  own  house 
in  Edinburgh,  whither  he  had  come  in  order  to  attend  the  convention  agreed 
upon  ;  and,  regardless  either  of  his  dignity  as  the  first  nobleman  in  the 
kingdom  and  next  heir  to  the  crown,  or  of  the  promises  of  personal  security, 
on  which  he  had  relied,  committed  him  and  lord  Herries  prisoners  to  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh.!  A  blow  so  fatal  and  unexpected  dispirited  the  party. 
Argyll  submitted  to  the  king's  government,  and  made  his  peace  with  the 
regent  on  very  easy  terms  ;  and  Huntly  being  left  alone,  was  at  last  obliged 
to  lay  down  his  arms. 

Soon  after,  lord  Boyd  returned  into  Scotland,  and  brought  letters  to  the 
regent,  both  from  the  English  and  Scottish  queens.  A  convention  was  held 
at  Perth,  in  order  to  consider  them.  Elizabeth's  letter  contained  three 
different  proposals  with  regard  to  Mary  ;  that  she  should  either  be  restored 
to  the  full  possession  of  her  former  authority;  or  be  admitted  to  reign 
jointly  with  the  king  her  son  ;  or  at  least  be  allowed  to  reside  in  Scotland 
in  some  decent  retirement,  without  any  share  in  the  administration  of  go- 
vernment. These  overtures  were  extorted  by  the  importunity  of  Fene'cn 
the  French  ambassador,  and  have  some  appearance  of  being  favouraV'» 

•  Cabbala,  .'61.    Crawf.  Mem.  106  T  Crawf.  Mem-  111.    MelT.  90S. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  199 

O  the  captive  queen.  They  were,  however,  perfectly  suitable  to  Eliza- 
beth's general  system  with  regard  to  Scottish  affairs.  Among  propo- 
sitions so  unequal  and  disproportionate,  she  easily  saw  where  tne  choice 
would  fall.  The  two  former  were  rejected  ;  and  long  delays  must  ne- 
cessarily have  intervened,  and  many  difficulties  have  arisen,  before  every 
circumstance  relative  to  the  last  could  be  finally  adjusted.* 

Mary,  in  her  letter,  demanded  that  her  marriage  with  Bothwell  should 
be  reviewed  by  the  proper  judges,  and,  if  found  invalid,  should  be  dis- 
solved by  a  legal  sentence  of  divorce.  This  fatal  marriage  was  the  prin- 
cipal source  of  all  the  calamities  she  had  endured  for  two  years ;  a  divorce 
was  the  only  thing  which  could  repair  the  injuries  her  reputation  had  suf- 
fered by  that  step.  It  was  her  interest  to  have  proposed  it  early ;  and  it  is  not 
easy  to  account  for  her  long  silence  with  respect  to  this  point.  Her  par- 
ticular motive  for  proposing  it  at  this  time  began  to  be  so  well  known, 
that  the  demand  was  rejected  by  the  convention  of  estates.t  They  im- 
puted it  not  so  much  to  any  abhorrence  of  Bothwell,  as  to  her  eagerness 
to  conclude  a  marriage  with  the  duke  of  Norfolk. 

This  marriage  was  the  object  of  that  secret  negotiation  in  England 
which  I  have  already  mentioned.  The  fertile  and  projecting  genius  of 
Maitland  first  conceived  this  scheme.  During  the  conference  at  York,  he 
communicated  it  to  the  duke  himself,  and  to  the  bishop  of  Ross.  The 
former  readily  closed  with  a  scheme  so  flattering  to  his  ambition.  The 
latter  considered  it  as  a  probable  device  for  restoring  his  mistress  to  liberty, 
and  replacing  her  on  her  throne.  Nor  was  Mary,  with  whom  Norfolk 
held  a  correspondence  by  means  of  his  sister  lady  Scrope,  averse  from  a 
measure,  which  would  have  restored  her  to  her  kingdom  with  so  much 
splendour.  J  The  sudden  removal  of  the  conference  from  York  to  West- 
minster suspended,  but  did  not  break  off  this  intrigue.  Maitland  and 
Ross  were  still  the  duke's  prompters  and  his  agents  ;  and  many  letters  and 
love-tokens  were  exchanged  between  him  and  the  queen  of  Scots. 

But  as  he  could  not  hope,  that  under  an  administration  so  vigilant  as 
Elizabeth's  such  an  intrigue  could  be  kept  long  concealed,  he  attempted  to 
deceive  her  by  the  appearance  of  openness  and  candour,  an  artifice  which 
seldom  fails  of  success.  He  mentioned  to  her  the  rumour  that  was  spread 
of  his  marriage  with  the  Scottish  queen  ;  he  complained  of  it  as  a  groundless 
calumny;  and  disclaimed  all  thoughts  of  that  kind,  with  many  expressions 
full  of  contempt  both  for  Mary's  character  and  dominions.  Jealous  as 
Elizabeth  was  of  every  thing  relative  to  the  queen  of  Scots,  she  seems  to 
have  credited  these  professions. §  But,  instead  of  discontinuing  the  nego- 
tiation, he  renewed  it  with  greater  vigour,  and  admitted  into  it  new  asso- 
ciates. Among  these  was  the  regent  of  Scotland.  He  had  given  great 
offence  to  Norfolk,  by  his  public  accusation  of  the  queen,  in  breach  of  the 
concert  into  which  he  had  entered  at  York.  He  was  then  ready  to  return 
into  Scotland.  The  influence  of  the  duke  in  the  north  of  England  was 
great.  The  earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmorland,  the  most  powerful 
noblemen  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom,  threatened  to  revenge  upon  the 
regent  the  injuries  which  he  had  done  his  sovereign.  Murray,  in  order  to 
secure  a  safe  return  into  Scotland,  addressed  himself  to  Norfolk  ;  and  after 
some  apology  for  his  past  conduct,  he  insinuated  that  the  duke's  scheme  of 
marrying  the  queen  his  sister  was  no  less  acceptable  to  him  than  beneficial 
to  both  kingdoms,  and  that  he  would  concur  with  the  utmost  ardour  in 
promoting  so  desirable  an  event.H  Norfolk  heard  him  with  the  credulity 
natural  to  those  who  are  passionately  bent  upon  any  design     He  wrote  to 

*  Spotswond,  230. 

t  Spotsw.  231.    In  a  privy  council,  hold  July  30,  1569,  this  demand  was  considered;  and,  of 
fifty-one  members  present,  (inly  seven  voted  to  comply  with  the  queen's  request.    Records  Priv 
Counc.  MS.  in  the  Lyon  Office,  p.  148. 

1  Camd.  419.    Haynea,  573.    State  Trials,  i.  73.  $  Haynes,  574.    State  Trials,  i.  79, 80.  UU. 

Q  Andv-«.  iii.  34. 


fOO  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

the  two  eails  to  desist  from  any  hostile  attempt  against  Murray,  and  to  that 
he  owed  his  passage  through  the  northern  counties  without  disturbance. 

Encouraged  by  his  success  in  gaining  the  regent,  he  next  attempted  to 
draw  the  English  nobles  to  approve  his  design.  The  nation  began  to 
despair  of  Elizabeth's  marrying.  Her  jealousy  kept  the  question  with 
regard  to  the  right  of  succession  undecided.  The  memory  of  the  civil 
wars  which  had  desolated  England  for  more  than  a  century,  on  account  ol 
the  disputed  titles  of  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster,  was  still  recent. 
Almost  all  the  ancient  nobility  had  perished,  and  the  nation  itself  had  been 
brought  to  the  brink  of  destruction  in  that  unhappy  contest.  The  Scottish 
queen,  though  her  right  of  succession  was  generally  held  to  be  undoubted, 
might  meet  with  formidable  competitors.  She  might  marry  a  foreign  and 
a  popish  prince,  and  bring  both  liberty  and  religion  into  danger.  Hut,  by 
marrying  her  to  an  Englishman,  a  zealous  protestant,  the  most  powerful 
and  most  universally  beloved  of  all  the  nobility,  an  effectual  remedy  seemed 
to  be  provided  against  all  these  evils.  The  greater  part  of  the  peers,  either 
directly  or  tacitly,  approved  of  it,  as  a  salutary  project.  The  earls  of  Arundel, 
Pembroke,  Leicester,  and  lord  Lumley,  subscribed  a  letter  to  the  Scottish 
queen,  written  with  Leicester's  hand,  in  which  they  warmly  recommended 
the  match,  but  insisted,  by  way  of  preliminary,  on  Mary  s  promise,  that 
she  should  attempt  nothing,  in  consequence  of  her  pretensions  to  the  Eng- 
lish crown,  prejudicial  to  Elizabeth,  or  to  her  posterity ;  that  she  should 
consent  to  a  league,  offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  two  kingdoms ; 
that  she  should  confirm  the  present  establishment  of  religion  in  Scotland, 
and  receive  into  favour  such  of  her  subjects  as  had  appeared  in  arms 
against  her.  Upon  her  agreeing  to  the  marriage  and  ratifying  these  articles, 
they  engaged  that  the  English  nobles  would  not  only  concur  in  restoring  her 
immediately  to  her  own  throne,  but  in  securing  to  her  that  of  England  in 
reversion.  Mary  readily  consented  to  all  these  proposals,  except  the 
second,  with  regard  to  which  she  demanded  some  time  for  consulting  her 
ancient  ally  the  French  king.* 

The  whole  of  this  negotiation  was  industriously  concealed  from  Eliza- 
beth. Her  jealousy  of  the  Scottish  queen  was  well  known,  nor  could  it 
be  expected  that  she  would  willingly  come  into  a  measure  which  tended 
so  visibly  to  save  the  reputation  and  to  increase  the  power  of  her  rival. 
But,  in  a  matter  of  so  much  consequence  to  the  nation,  the  taking  a  few 
steps  without  her  knowledge  could  hardly  be  reckoned  criminal  ;  and 
while  every  person  concerned,  even  Mary  and  Norfolk  themselves,  de- 
clared, that  nothing  should  be  concluded  without  obtaining  her  consent, 
the  duty  and  allegiance  of  subjects  seemed  to  be  fully  preserved.  The 
greater  part  of  the  nobles  regarded  the  matter  in  this  light.  Those  who 
conducted  the  intrigue  had  further  and  more  dangerous  views.  The)7  saw 
the  advantages  which  Mary  would  obtain  by  this  treaty,  to  be  present  and 
certain  ;  and  the  execution  of  the  promises  which  she  came  under,  to  be 
distant  and  uncertain.  They  had  early  communicated  their  scheme  to  the 
kiti2;s  of  France  and  Spain,  and  obtained  their  approbation.!  A  treaty 
concerning  which  they  consulted  foreign  princes,  while  they  concealed  it 
from  their  own  sovereign,  could  not  be  deemed  innocent.  They  hoped, 
however,  that  the  union  of  such  a  number  of  the  chief  persons  in  the 
kingdom  would  render  it  necessary  for  Elizabeth  to  comply ;  they  flattered 
themselves  that  a  combination  so  strong  would  be  altogether  irresistible  ; 
and  such  was  their  confidence  of  success,  that  when  a  plan  was  concerted 
in  the  north  of  England  for  rescuing  Mary  out  of  the  hands  of  her  keepers, 
Norfolk,  who  was  afraid  that  if  she  recovered  her  liberty  her  sentiments 
in  his  favour  might  change,  used  all  his  interest  to  dissuade  the  conspirator! 
from  attempting  it.J 

*  A  rider*,  rd.  Ill  51.     Cam*  430.  f  Anders,  yd.  UL  83  J  Camd.«B 


OF   SCOTLAND.  201 

In  this  situation  did  the  affair  remain,  when  Lord  Boyd  arrived  from 
England ;  and,  besides  the  letters  which  he  produced  publicly,  brought 
others  in  ciphers  from  Norfolk  and  Throkmorton,  to  the  regent,  and  to 
Maitland.  These  were  full  of  the  most  sanguine  hopes.  All  the  nobles 
of  England  concurred,  said  they,  in  favouring  the  desian.  Every  prelimi- 
nary was  adjusted  ;  nor  was  it  possible  that  a  scheme  so  deep  laid,  con- 
ducted with  so  much  art,  and  supported  both  by  power  and  by  numbers, 
could  miscarry,  or  be  defeated  in  the  execution.  Nothing  was  now  wanting 
but  the  concluding  ceremony.  It  depended  on  the  regent  to  hasten  that, 
by  procuring  a  sentence  of  divorce,  which  would  remove  the  only  obstacle 
that  stood  in  the  way.  This  whs  expected  of  him,  in  consequence  of  his 
promise  to  Norfolk  ;  and  if  he  regarded  either  his  interest  or  his  fame,  or 
even  his  safety,  he  would  not  fail  to  fulfil  these  engagements.* 

But  the  regent  was  now  in  very  different  circumstances  from  those  which 
had  formerly  induced  him  to  afreet  an  approbation  of  Norfolk's  schemes. 
He  saw  that  the  downfall  of  his  own  power  must  be  the  first  consequence 
of  the  duke's  success  ;  and  if  the  queen,  who  considered  him  as  the  chief 
author  of  all  her  misfortunes,  should  recover  her  ancient  authority,  he  could 
never  expect  favour,  nor  scarce  hope  for  impunity.  No  wonder  he  declined 
a  step  so  fatal  to  himself,  and  which  would  have  established  the  grandeur 
of  another  on  the  ruins  of  his  own.  This  refusal  occasioned  a  delay. 
But,  as  every  other  circumstance  was  settled,  the  bishop  of  Ross,  in  the 
name  of  his  mistress,  and  the  duke,  in  person,  declared,  in  presence  of  the 
French  ambassador,  their  mutual  consent  to  the  marriage,  and  a  contract 
to  this  purpose  was  signed,  and  intrusted  to  the  keeping  ot  the  ambassador.! 

The  intrigue  was  now  in  so  many  hands,  that  it  could  not  long  remain 
a  secret.  It  began  to  be  whispered  at  court ;  and  Elizabeth  calling  the 
duke  into  her  presence  [Aug.  13],  expressed  the  utmost  indignation  at  his 
conduct,  and  charged  him  to  lay  aside  all  thoughts  of  prosecuting  such  a 
dangerous  design.  Soon  after  Leicester,  who  perhaps  had  countenanced 
the  project  with  no  other  intention,  revealed  all  the  circumstances  of 
it  to  the  queen.  Pembroke,  Arundel,  Lumley,  and  Throkmorton,  were 
confined  and  examined.  Mary  was  watched  more  narrowly  than  ever ; 
and  Hastings,  earl  of  Huntingdon,  who  pretended  to  dispute  with  the 
Scottish  queen  her  right  to  the  succession,  being  joined  in  commission  with 
Shrewsbury,  rendered  her  imprisonment  more  intolerable  by  the  excess 
of  his  vigilance  and  rigour. J  The  Scottish  regent,  threatened  with  Eliza- 
beth's displeasure,  meanly  betrayed  the  duke  ;  put  his  letters  into  her 
hands,  and  furnished  all  the  intelligence  in  his  povver.§  The  duke  himself 
letired  first  to  Howard  House,  and  then,  in  contempt  of  the  summons  to 
appear  before  the  privy  council,  fled  to  his  seat  in  Norfolk.  Intimidated 
by  the  imprisonment  of  his  associates ;  coldly  received  by  his  friends  in  that 
county ;  unprepared  for  a  rebellion ;  and  unwilling  perhaps  to  rebel  ;  he 
hesitated  for  some  days,  and  at  last  obeyed  a  second  call,  and  repaired  to 
Windsor  [Oct.  3].  He  was  first  kept  as  a  prisoner  in  a  private  house,  and 
then  sent  to  the  tower.  After  being  confined  there  upwards  of  nine  months, 
he  was  released  upon  his  humble  submission  to  Elizabeth,  giving  her  a 
promise,  on  his  allegiance,  to  hold  no  further  correspondence  with  the 
queen  of  Scots.ll  During  the  progress  of  Norfolk's  negotiations,  the  queen's 
partisans  in  Scotland,  who  made  no  doubt  of  their  issuing  in  her  restoration 
to  the  throne,  with  an  increase  of  authority,  were  wonderfully  elevated. 
Maitland  was  the  soul  of  that  party,  and  the  person  whose  activity  and 
ability  the  regent  chiefly  dreaded.  He  had  laid  the  plan  of  that  intrigue 
which  had  kindled  such  combustion  in  England.  He  continued  to  foment 
♦he  spirit  of  disaffection  in  Scotland,  and  had  seduced  from  the  regent  lord 

*  Haynea,  520.    Spotsw.  330.    See  Append   No  XXXII.        t  Cane,  vol.  iii.  486.        t  Hajrnei 
595, 526.  530.  532.  $  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXIII.  ||  Hames,  525  507 

Vol.  Ill  —26 


202  THEHISTORY  [Book  V 

Home,  Kirkaldy,  and  several  of  his  former  associates.  While  he  enjoyed 
liberty,  the  regent  could  not  reckon  his  own  power  secure.  For  this 
reason,  having  by  an  artifice  allured  Maitland  to  Stirling,  be  employed 
Captain  Crawford,  one  of  his  creatures,  to  accuse  him  of  being  accessary 
to  the  murder  of  the  king;  and  under  that  pretence  he  was  arrested  and 
carried  as  a  prisoner  to  Edinburgh.  He  would  soon  have  been  brought  to- 
trial,  but  was  saved  by  the  friendship  of  Kirkaldy,  governor  of  the  castle, 
who,  by  pretending  a  warrant  for  that  purpose  from  the  regent,  got  him 
out  of  the  hands  ot  the  person  to  whose  care  he  was  committed,  and  con- 
ducted him  into  the  castle,  which  from  that  time  was  entirely  under  Mait- 
land's  command.*  The  loss  of  a  place  of  so  much  importance,  and  the 
defection  of  a  man  so  eminent  for  military  skill  as  Kirkaldy,  brought  the 
regent  into  some  disreputation,  for  which,  however,  the  success  of  his  ally 
Elizabeth,  about  this  time,  abundantly  compensated. 

The  intrigue  carried  on  for  restoring  the  Scottish  queen  to  liberty  having 
been  discovered  and  disappointed,  an  attempt  was  made  to  the  same  pur- 
pose by  force  of  arms  ;  but  the  issue  of  it  was  not  more  fortunate.  The 
earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmorland,  though  little  distinguished 
by  their  personal  abilities,  were  two  of  the  most  ancient  and  powerful  of 
the  English  peers.  Their  estates  in  the  northern  counties  were  great,  and 
they  possessed  that  influence  over  the  inhabitants,  which  was  hereditary 
in  the  popular  and  martial  families  of  Percy  and  of  Nevil.  They  were 
both  attached  to  the  popish  religion,  and  discontented  with  the  court,, 
where  new  men  and  a  new  system  prevailed.  Ever  since  Mary's  arrival 
in  England,  they  had  warmly  espoused  her  interest ;  and  zeal  for  popery,, 
opposition  to  the  court,  and  commiseration  of  her  sufferings,  had  engaged 
them  in  different  plots  for  her  relief.  Notwithstanding  the  vigilance  of 
her  keeper,  they  held  a  close  correspondence  with  her,  and  communicated 
to  her  all  their  designs.!  They  were  privy  to  Norfolk's  schemes  ;  but  the 
caution  with  which  he  proceeded  did  not  suit  their  ardour  and  impetuosity. 
The  liberty  of  the  Scottish  queen  was  not  their  sole  object.  They  aimed 
at  bringing  about  a  change  in  the  religion,  and  a  revolution  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  kingdom.  For  this  reason  they  solicited  the  aid  of  the  king 
of  Spain,  the  avowed  and  zealous  patron  of  popery  in  that  age.  Nothing 
could  be  more  delightful  to  the  restless  spirit  of  Philip,  or  more  necessary 
towards  facilitating  his  schemes  in  the  Netherlands  than  the  involving 
England  in  the  confusion  and  miseries  of  a  civil  war.  The  duke  of  Alva, 
by  his  direction,  encouraged  the  two  earls,  and  promised,  as  soon  as  they 
either  took  the  field  with  their  forces,  or  surprised  any  place  of  strength, 
or  rescued  the  queen  of  Scots,  that  he  would  supply  them  both  with 
money  and  a  strong  body  of  troops.  La  Mothe,  the  governor  of  Dunkirk, 
in  the  disguise  of  a  sailor,  sounded  the  ports  where  it  would  be  most 
proper  to  land.  And  Chiapini  Vitelli,  one  of  Alva's  ablest  officers,  was 
despatched  into  England,  on  pretence  of  settling  some  commercial  differ- 
ences between  the  two  nations  ;  but  in  reality  that  the  rebels  might  be  sure 
of  a  leader  of  experience  as  soon  as  they  ventured  to  take  arms.J 

The  conduct  of  this  negotiation  occasioned  many  meetings  and  mes- 
sages between  the  two  earls.  Elizabeth  was  informed  of  these  ;  and 
though  she  suspected  nothing  of  their  real  design,  she  concluded  that  they 
were  among  the  number  of  Norfolk's  confidants.  They  were  summoned, 
for  this  reason,  to  repair  to  court.  Conscious  of  guilt,  and  afraid  of  discovery, 
they  delayed  giving  obedience.  A  second  and  more  peremptory  order 
was  issued  [Nov.  9].  This  they  could  not  decline,  without  shaking  off 
their  allegiance  ;  and,  as  no  time  was  left  for  deliberation,  they  instantly 
erected  their  standard  against  their  sovereign.     The  re-establishing  *he 

*  Spotew.232.  t  Havnw"   S95     Munien,  44.  63,  &c.  1  Carte,  vol.  lii.  489,  490. 

Cund  421. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  *03 

Catholic  religion ;  the  settling  the  order  of  succession  to  the  crown  ;  the 
defence  of  the  ancient  nobility ;  were  the  motives  which  they  alleged  to 
justify  their  rebellion.*  Many  of  the  lower  people  Hocked  to  them  with  such 
arms  as  they  could  procure  ;  and,  had  the  capacity  of  their  leaders  been 
in  any  degree  equal  to  the  enterprise,  it  must  have  soon  grown  to  be 
extremely  formidable.  Elizabeth  acted  with  prudence  and  vigour,  and 
was  served  by  her  subjects  with  fidelity  and  ardour.  On  the  first  rumour 
of  an  insurrection,  Mary  was  removed  to  Coventry,  a  place  of  strength, 
which  could  not  be  taken  without  a  regular  siege  ;  a  detachment  of  the 
rebels,  which  was  sent  to  rescue  her,  returned  without  success.  Troop- 
were  assembled  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  as  they  advanced,  the 
malecontents  retired.  In  their  retreat  their  numbers  dwindled  away,  an  I 
their  spirits  sunk.  Despair  and  uncertainty  whither  to  direct  their  flight, 
kept  together  for  some  time  a  small  body  of  them  among  the  mountains 
of  Northumberland  ;  but  they  were  at  length  obliged  to  disperse,  and  the 
chiefs  took  refuge  among  the  Scottish  borderers  [Dec.  21].  The  two  earls, 
together  with  the  countess  of  Northumberland,  wandering  for  some  days 
in  the  wastes  of  Liddisdale,  were  plundered  by  the  banditti,  exposed  to 
the  rigour  of  the  season,  and  left  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Westmorland  was  concealed  by  Scott  of  Buccleugh  and  Ker  of  Ferniherst, 
and  afterwards  conveyed  into  the  Netherlands.  Northumberland  was 
seized  by  the  regent,  who  had  marched  with  some  troops  towards  the 
borders,  to  prevent  any  impression  the  rebels  might  make  on  those  mutinous 
provinces.t 

Amidst  so  many  surprising  events,  the  affairs  of  the  church,  for  two 
years,  have  almost  escaped  our  notice.  Its  general  assemblies  were  held 
regularly;  but  no  business  of  much  importance  employed  their  attention. 
As  the  number  of  the  protestant  clergy  daily  increased,  the  deficiency  oi 
the  funds  set  apart  for  their  subsistence  became  greater,  and  was  more 
sensibly  felt.  Many  efforts  were  made  towards  recovering  the  ancient 
patrimony  of  the  church,  or  at  least  as  much  of  it  as  was  possessed  by  the 
popish  incumbents,  a  race  of  men  who  were  now  not  only  useless  but 
burdensome  to  the  nation.  But  though  the  manner  in  which  the  regent 
received  the  addresses  and  complaints  of  the  general  assemblies  was  very 
different  from  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  no  effectual  remedy 
was  provided  ;  and  while  they  suffered  intolerable  oppression,  and  groaned 
under  extreme  poverty,  fair  words  and  liberal  promises  were  all  they 
were  able  to  obtain.* 

Elizabeth  now  began  to  be  weary  of  keeping  such  a  prisoner  as  the 
queen  of  Scots.  During  the  former  year,  the  tranquillity  of  her  govern- 
ment had  been  disturbed,  first  by  a  secret  combination  of  some  of  her 
nobles,  then  by  the  rebellion  of  others  ;  and  she  often  declared,  not  without 
reason,  that  Mary  was  the  hidden  cause  of  both.  Many  of  her  own  subjects 
favoured  or  pitied  the  captive  queen  ;  the  Roman  catholic  princes  on  the 
continent  were  warmly  interested  in  her  cause.  The  detaining  her  any 
longer  in  England,  she  foresaw,  would  be  made  the  pretext  or  occasion  of 
perpetual  cabals  ana  insurrections  among  the  former ;  and  might  expose 
her  to  the  hostile  attempts  of  the  latter.  She  resolved,  therefore,  to  give 
up  Mary  into  the  hands  of  the  regent,  after  stipulating  with  him,  not  only 
that  her  days  should  not  be  cut  short,  either  by  a  judicial  sentence  or  by 
secre*  violence,  but  that  she  should  be  treated  in  a  manner  suited  to  her 
rank  ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  his  observance  of  tin's,  she  required  that  six 
of  the  chief  noblemen  in  the  kingdom  should  be  sent  into  England  as 
hostages.§  With  respect  to  the  safe  custody  of  the  queen,  she  reiied  on 
Murray'"  vigilance,  whose  security-  no  less  than  her  own,  depended  on 
preventii-g  Mary  from  re-ascendiny  the  throne.     The  negotiation  for  this 

•  Strype,  vol.  i.  547.        f  Cabbala.  IT  I      Caind  4*2.        t  Caid.  vol.  it.  80.  &c         $  Haynei,  324 


204  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V. 

purpose  was  carried  some  length,  when  it  was  discovered  by  the  vigilance 
of  the  bishop  of  Ross,  who,  together  with  the  French  and  Spanish  ambassa- 
dors, remonstrated  against  the  infamy  of  such  an  action,  and  represented  the 
surrendering  the  queen  to  her  rebellious  subjects  to  be  the  same  thing  as  if 
Elizabeth  should,  by  her  own  authority,  condemn  her  to  instant  death. 
This  procured  a  delay ;  and  the  murder  of  the  regent  prevented  the  revival 
of  that  design.* 

Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh  was  the  person  who  committed  this  bar- 
barous action.  He  had  been  condemned  to  death  soon  after  the  battle  of 
Langside,  as  I  have  already  related,  and  owed  his  life  to  the  regent's 
clemency.  But  part  of  his  estate  had  been  bestowed  upon  one  of  the 
regent's  favourites,  who  seized  his  house,  and  turned  out  his  wife  naked, 
in  a  cold  night,  into  the  open  fields,  where,  before  next  morning,  she 
became  furiously  mad.  This  injury  made  a  deeper  impression  upon  him 
than  the  benefit  which  he  had  received,  and  from  that  moment  he  vowed 
to  be  revenged  upon  the  regent.  Party-rage  strengthened  and  inflamed  bis 
private  resentment.  His  kinsmen,  the  Hamiltons,  applauded  the  enter- 
prise. The  maxims  of  that  age  justified  the  most  desperate  course  which 
he  could  take  to  obtain  vengeance.  He  followed  the  regent  for  some  time, 
and  watched  for  an  opportunity  to  strike  the  blow.  He  resolved  at  last  to 
wait  till  his  enemy  should  arrive  at  Linlithgow,  through  which  he  was  to 
pass  in  his  way  from  Stirling  to  Edinburgh.  He  took  his  stand  in  a  wooden 
gallery,  which  had  a  window  towards  the  streets  ;  spread  a  feather  bed  on 
the  floor,  to  hinder  the  noise  of  his  feet  from  being  heard  ;  hung  up  a  black 
cloth  behind  him,  that  his  shadow  might  not  be  observed  from  without ; 
and  after  all  this  preparation  calmly  expected  the  regent's  approach,  who 
had  lodged  during  the  night  in  a  part  of  the  town  not  far  distant.  Some 
indistinct  information  of  the  danger  which  threatened  him  had  been  con- 
veyed to  the  regent,  and  he  paid  so  much  regard  to  it  that  he  resolved  to 
return  by  the  same  gate  through  which  he  had  entered,  and  to  fetch  a  com- 
pass round  the  town.  But  as  the  crowd  about  the  gate  was  great,  and  he 
himself  unacquainted  with  fear,  he  proceeded  directly  along  the  street ; 
and,  the  throng  of  the  people  obliging  him  to  move  very  slowly,  gave  the 
assassin  time  to  take  so  true  an  aim,  that  he  shot  him  with  a  single  bullet 
through  the  lower  part  of  his  belly,  and  killed  the  horse  of  a  gentleman 
who  rode  on  his  other  side.  His  followers  instantly  endeavoured  to  break 
into  the  house  whence  the  blow  had  come,  but  they  found  the  door  strongly 
barricaded ;  and  before  it  could  be  forced  open,  Hamilton  had  mounted  a 
fleet  horse,  which  stood  ready  for  him  at  a  back  passage,  and  was  got  far 
beyond  their  reach.     The  regent  died  the  same  night  of  his  wound.f 

There  is  no  person  in  that  age  about  whom  historians  have  been  more 
divided,  or  whose  character  has  been  drawn  in  such  opposite  colours. 
Personal  intrepidity,  military  skill,  sagacity,  and  vigour  in  the  administra- 
tion of  civil  affairs,  are  virtues  which  even  his  enemies  allowed  him  to  have 
possessed  in  an  eminent  degree.  His  mora!  qualities  are  more  dubious, 
and  ought  neither  to  be  praised  nor  censured  without  greai  reserve,  and 
many  distinctions.  In  a  fierce  age  he  was  capable  of  using  victory  with 
humanity,  and  of  treating  the  vanquished  with  moderation.  A  patron  of 
kaining,  which,  among  martial  nobles,  wis  chiie?  unknown  or  despised. 
Zealous  for  religion,  to  a  degree  which  distinguished  him  even  at  a  time 
when  professions  of  that  kind  were  nri  uncommon.  His  confidence  in  his 
friends  was  extreme, and  inferior  only  to  his  liberality  low  :rds  them,  which 
knew  no  bounds.  A  disinterested  passion  for  the  liberty  of  his  country, 
prompted  him  to  oppose  the  pernicious  system  which  the  princes  of  Lor- 
rain  had  obliged  the  queen-mother  to  pursue.  On  Mary's  return  into 
Scotland,  ue  served  her  with  a  zeal  and  affection,  to  which  he  sacrificed 

*  Out*,  vol.  ill  491.    Anden.  vol.  iii.  84.        t  Bushan.  385.    Crawf.  Mem  124.    Cabbala,  171 


()  F   S  C  O  T  LAND.  206 

tne  lnendship  of  those  who  were  most  attached  to  his  person.  But,  on  the 
othei  hand,  his  ambition  was  immoderate;  and  events  happened  that 
opened  to  him  vast  projects,  which  allured  his  enterprising  genius,  and  led 
him  to  actions  inconsistent  with  die  duty  of  a  subject.  His  treatment  of  the 
queen,  to  whose  bounty  he  was  so  much  indebted,  was  unbrotherly  and 
ungrateful.  The  dependence  en  Elizabeth,  under  which  he  brought 
Scotland,  was  disgraceful  to  the  nation,  lie  deceived  and  betrayed  Nor- 
folk with  a  baseness  unworthy  of  a  man  of  honour.  His  elevation  to  such 
unexpected  dignity  inspired  him  with  new  passions,  with  haughtiness  and 
reserve  ;  and  instead  of  his  natural  manner,  which  was  blunt  and  open,  he 
iffected  the  arts  of  dissimulation  and  refinement.  Fond,  towards  the  end 
if  his  life,  ot  Hattery,  and  impatient  of  advice,  his  creatures,  by  soothing 
his  vanity,  led  him  astray,  while  his  ancient  friends  stood  at  a  distance,  and 
predicted  his  approaching  fall.  But  amidst  the  turbulence  and  confusion 
of  that  factious  period,  he  dispensed  justice  with  so  much  impartiality,  he 
repressed  the  licentious  borderers  with  so  much  courage,  and  established 
such  uncommon  order  and  tranquillity  in  the  country,  that  his  administration 
was  extremely  popular,  and  he  was  long  and  affectionately  remembered 
among  the  commons,  by  the  name  of  the  good  regent. 


BOOK  VI. 


1570.]  The  unexpected  blow,  by  which  the  regent  was  cut  off,  strucR 
the  king's  party  with  the  utmost  consternation.  Elizabeth  bewailed  his 
death  as  the  most  fatal  disaster  which  could  have  befallen  her  kingdom  ; 
and  was  inconsolable  to  a  degree  that  little  suited  her  dignity.  Mary's 
adherents  exulted,  as  if  now  her  restoration  were  not  only  certain,  but  near 
at  hand.  The  infamy  of  the  crime  naturally  fell  on  those  who  expressed 
such  indecent  joy  at  the  commission  of  it :  and,  as  the  assassin  made  his 
escape  on  a  horse  which  belonged  to  lord  Claud  Hamilton,  and  fled 
directly  to  Hamilton,  where  he  was  received  in  triumph,  it  was  concluded 
that  the  regent  had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  the  resentment  of  the  queen's  party, 
rather  than  to  the  revenge  of  a  private  man.  On  the  day  after  the  murder, 
Scott  of  Buccleugh,  and  Ker  of  Ferniherst,  both  zealous  abetters  of  the 
queen's  cause,  entered  Encjand  in  a  hostile  manner,  and  plundered  and 
burned  the  country,  the  inhabitants  of  which  expected  no  such  outrage. 
If  the  regent  had  been  alive,  they  would  scarce  have  ventured  on  such  an 
irregular  incursion,  nor  could  it  well  have  happened  so  soon  after  his 
death,  unless  they  had  been  privy  to  the  crime. 

This  was  not  the  only  irregularity  to  which  the  anarchy  that  followed  the 
regent's  death  gave  occasion.  During  such  general  confusion,  men  hoped 
for  universal  impunity,  and  broke  out  into  excesses  of  every  kind.  As  it 
was  impossible  to  restrain  these  Avithout  a  settled  form  of  government,  a 
convention  of  the  nobles  was  held,  in  order  to  deliberate  concerning  the 
election  of  a  regent  [Feb.  12].  The  queen's  adherents  refused  to  be  pre- 
sent at  *he  meeting,  and  protested  against  its  proceedings.  The  king's 
own  party  was  irresolute,  and  divided  in  opinion.  Maitland,  whom  Kir- 
kaldy  had  set  at  liberty,  and  who  obtained  trom  the  nobles  then  assembled 
a  declaration  acquitting  him  of  the  crime  which  had  been  laid  to  his  charge, 
endeavoured  to  bring  about  a  coalition  of  the  two  parties,  by  proposing  to 
admit  the  queen  to  the  joint  administration  of  government  with  her  son. 
Elizabeth,  adhering  to  her  ancient  system  with  regard  to  Scottish  affairs, 
laboured,  notwithstanding  the  solicitations  of  Mary's  friends,*  to  multiply 

*  See  Appendix,  No  XXXIV. 


»*  THE  HISTORY  [Book 

and  to  perpetuate  the  factions  which  tore  in  pieces  the  kingdom.  Ran- 
dolph, whom  she  despatched  into  Scotland  on  the  first  news  of  the  regent's 
death,  and  who  was  her  usual  agent  for  such  services,  found  all  parties  so 
exasperated  by  mutual  injuries,  and  so  full  of  irreconcilable  rancour,  that  it 
cost  him  little  trouble  to  inflame  their  animosity.  The  convention  broke 
up  without  coming  to  any  agreement  ;  and  a  new  meeting,  to  which  the 
nobles  of  all  parties  were  invited,  was  appointed  on  the  1st  of  May.* 

Meantime,  Maitland  and  Kirkaldy,  who  still  continued  to  acknowledge 
the  king's  authority,  were  at  the  utmost  pains  to  restore  some  degree  of 
h?  rtnony  among  their  countrymen.  They  procured  for  this  purpose  an 
amicable  conference  among  the  leaders  of  the  two  factions.  But  while  the 
one  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  queen,  as  the  only  thing  whch  could 
re-establish  the  public  tranquillity;  while  the  other  esteemed  the  king's 
authority  to  be  so  sacred  that  it  was  on  no  account  to  be  called  in  question 
or  impaired ;  and  neither  of  thein  would  recede  in  the  least  point  from 
their  opinions,  they  separated  without  any  prospect  of  concord.  Both  were 
rendered  more  averse  from  reconcilement,  by  the  hope  of  foreign  aid. 
An  envoy  arrived  from  France  with  promises  of  powerful  succour  to  the 
queen's  adherents  ;  and,  as  the  civil  wars  in  that  kingdom  seemed  to  be 
on  the  point  of  terminating  in  peace,  it  was  expected  that  Charles  would 
soon  be  at  liberty  to  fulfil  what  he  promised.  On  the  other  hand,  the  earl 
of  Sussex  was  assembling  a  powerlul  army  on  the  borders,  and  its  opera- 
tions could  not  fail  of  adding  spirit  and  strength  to  the  king's  party. t 

Though  the  attempt  towards  a  coalition  of  the  factions  proved  ineffec- 
tual, it  contributed  somewhat  to  moderate  or  suspend  their  rage;  but  they 
soon  began  to  act  with  their  usual  violence.  Morton,  the  most  vigilant  and 
able  leader  on  the  king's  side,  solicited  Elizabeth  to  interpose,  without 
delay,  for  the  safety  of  a  party  so  devoted  to  her  interest,  and  which  stood 
so  much  in  need  of  her  assistance.  The  chiefs  of  the  queen's  faction, 
assembling  at  Linlithgow  [April  10],  marched  thence  to  Edinburgh;  and 
Kirkaldy,  who  was  both  governor  of  the  castle  and  provost  of  the  town, 
prevailed  on  the  citizens,  though  with  some  difficulty,  to  admit  them 
within  the  gates.  Together  with  Kirkaldy,  the  earl  ol  Athole  and  Mait- 
land acceded  almost  openly  to  their  party  ;  and  the  duke  and  lord  Her- 
ries,  having  recovered  liberty  by  Kirkaldy's  favour,  resumed  the  places 
which  they  had  formerly  held  in  their  councils.  Encouraged  by  the 
acquisition  of  persons  so  illustrious  by  their  birth,  and  so  eminent  for  their 
abilities,  they  published  a  proclamation,  declaring  their  intention  to  sup 
port  the  queen's  authority,  and  seemed  resolved  not  to  leave  the  city 
before  the  meeting  of  the  approaching  convention,  in  which,  by  their  num- 
bers and  influence,  they  did  not  doubt  of  securing  a  majority  of  voices  on 
their  side.J 

At  the  same  time  they  had  formed  a  design  of  kindling  war  between 
the  two  kingdoms.  If  they  could  engage  them  in  hostilities,  and  revive 
their  ancient  emulation  ana  antipathy,  they  hoped  not  only  to  dissolve  a 
confederacy  of  great  advantage  to  the  king's  cause,  but  to  reconcile  their 
countrymen  to  the  queen,  Elizabeth's  natural  and  most  dangerous  rival 
With  this  view  they  had,  immediately  after  the  murder  01  the  regent, 
prompted  Scott  and  Ker  to  commence  hostilities,  and  had  suite  instigated 
them  to  continue  and  extend  their  depredations.  As  Elizabeth  foresaw, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  dangerous  consequences  of  rendering  this  a  national 
quarrel ;  and  resolved,  on  the  other,  not  to  sutler  such  an  insult  on  her 
government  to  pass  with  impunity;  she  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring 
that  she  imputed  the  outrages  which  had  been  committed  on  the  borders 
not  to  thv.-  Scottish  nation,  but  to  a  few  desperate  and  ill  designing  persons ; 
that  with  the  former  she  was  resolved  to  maintain  an  inviolable  friendship, 

•  Crawf.  Mem.  131     Calderw.  11.  157.         t  Crawl.  Mem.  134.  t  Ibid.  137.    Cald.   U.17B. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  f07 

whereas  the  duty  which  she  owed  to  her  own  subjects  obliged  her  to 

chastise  the  licentiousness  of  the  latter.*  Sussex  and  Scrope  accordingly 
entered  Scotland,  the  one  on  the  east,  the  other  on  the  west  borders,  and 
laid  waste  the  adjacent  countries  with  fire  and  sword. t  Fame  magnified 
the  number  and  progress  of  their  troops  ;  and  Mary's  adherents,  not  think- 
ing themselves  safe  in  Edinburgh, the  inhabitants  whereof  were  ill  affected 
to  their  cause,  retired  to  Linlithgow  [April  28].  There,  by  a  public  pro- 
clamation, they  asserted  the  queen's  authority,  and  forbad  giving  obedi- 
ence to  any  but  the  duke,  or  the  earls  of  Argyll  and  Huntly,  whom  she 
had  constituted  her  lieutenants  in  the  kingdom. 

The  nobles,  who  continued  faithful  to  the  king,  though  considerably 
weakened  by  the  defection  of  so  many  of  their  friends,  assembled  at 
Edinburgh  on  the  day  appointed.  They  issued  a  counter  proclamation, 
declaring  such  as  appeared  for  the  queen  enemies  of  their  country;  and 
charging  them  with  the  murder  both  of  the  late  king  and  of  the  regent 
[May  lj.  They  could  not,  however,  presume  so  much  on  their  own 
strength  as  to  venture  either  to  elect  a  regent,  or  to  take  the  field  against 
the  queen's  party ;  but  the  assistance  which  they  received  from  Elizabeth 
enabled  them  to  do  both.  By  her  order  sir  William  Drury  marched  into 
Scotland  with  a  thousand  foot  and  three  hundred  horse ;  the  king's  adherents 
joined  him  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops;  and  advancing  towards 
Glasgow,  where  the  adverse  party  had  already  begun  hostilities  by  attack- 
ing the  castle,  they  forced  them  to  retire,  plundered  the  neighbouring 
country,  which  belonged  to  the  Hamiltons,  and  after  seizing  some  of  their 
castles,  and  razing  others,  returned  to  Edinburgh. 

Under  Drury's  protection  the  earl  of  Lennox  returned  into  Scotland. 
It  was  natural  to  commit  the  government  of  the  kingdom  to  him  during  the 
minority  of  his  grandson.  His  illustrious  birth,  and  alliance  with  the  royal 
family  of  England  as  well  as  of  Scotland,  rendered  him  worthy  of  that 
honour.  His  resentment  against  Mary  being  implacable,  and  his  estate 
lying  in  England,  and  his  family  residing  there,  Elizabeth  considered  him 
as  a  man  who,  both  from  inclination  and  from  interest,  would  act  in  con- 
cert with  her,  and  ardently  wished  that  he  might  succeed  Murray  in  the 
office  of  regent.  But,  on  many  accounts,  she  did  not  think  it  prudent  to 
discover  her  own  sentiments,  or  to  favour  his  pretensions  too  openly.  The 
civil  wars  in  France,  which  had  been  excited  partly  by  real  and  partly  by 
pretended  zeal  for  religion,  and  carried  on  with  a  fierceness  that  did  it  real 
dishonour,  appeared  now  to  be  on  the  point  of  coming  to  an  issue  ;  and 
after  shedding  the  best  blood  and  wasting  the  richest  provinces  in  the  king- 
dom, both  parties  desired  peace  with  an  ardour  that  facilitated  the  nego- 
tiations which  were  carrying  on  for  that  purpose.  Charles  IX.  was  known 
to  be  a  passionate  admirer  of  Mary's  beauty.  Nor  could  he  in  honour 
suffer  a  queen  of  France,  and  the  most  ancient  ally  of  his  crown,  to  languish 
in  her  present  cruel  situation  without  attempting  to  procure  her  relief.  He 
had  hitherto  been  obliged  to  satisfy  himself  with  remonstrating,  by  his 
ambassadors,  against  the  indignity  with  which  she  had  been  treated.  But 
if  he  w»re  once  at  full  liberty  to  pursue  his  inclinations,  Elizabeth  would 
have  e/ery  thing  to  dread  from  the  impetuosity  of  his  temper  and  the 
power  of  his  arms.  It  therefore  became  necessary  for  her  to  act  with  some 
reserve,  and  not  to  appear  avowedly  to  countenance  the  choice  of  a  regent, 
in  contempt  of  Mary's  authority.  The  jealousy  and  prejudices  ot  the 
Scots  required  no  less  management.  Had  she  openly  supported  Lennox's 
claim  ;  had  she  recommended  him  to  the  convention,  as  the  candidate  of 
whom  she  approved  ;  this  might  have  roused  the  independent  spirit  of  the 
nobles,  and  by  too  plain  a  discovery  of  her  intention  she  might  have 
defeated  its  success.     For  these  reasons  she  hesitated  long,  and  retr~»ied 

•  Calderw.  ii.  181.  t  Cabbala,  174. 


*<>«  THEHISTORY  f  Book  VJ 

ambiguous  answers  to  all  the  messages  which  she  received  from  the  king's 
party.  A  more  explicit  declaration  of  her  sentiments  was  at  last  obtained, 
and  an  event  of  an  extraordinary  nature  seems  to  have  been  the  occasion 
of  it.  Pope  Pius  V.  having  issued  a  bull,  whereby  he  excommunicated 
Elizabeth,  deprived  her  other  kingdom,  and  absolved  her  subjects  from 
their  oath  of  allegiance,  Felton,  an  Englishman,  had  the  boldness  !o  affix  it 
on  the  gates  of  the  bishop  of  London's  palace.  In  former  ages  a  pope, 
moved  by  his  own  ambition,  or  pride,  or  bigotry,  denounced  mis  fatal  sen- 
tence against  the  most  powerful  monarchs  ;  but  as  the  authority  of  the  court 
of  Rome  was  now  less  regarded,  its  proceedings  were  more  cautious;  and 
it  was  only  when  they  were  roused  by  some  powerful  prince  that  the 
thunders  of  the  church  were  ever  heard.  Elizabeth,  therefore,  imputed  this 
step  which  the  pope  had  taken,  to  a  combination  of  the  Roman  catholic 
princes  against  her,  and  suspected  that  some  plot  was  formed  in  favour  ot 
the  Scottish  queen.  In  that  event  she  knew  that  the  safety  of  her  own 
kingdom  depended  on  preserving  her  influence  in  Scotland ;  and  in  order 
to  strengthen  this  she  renewed  her  promises  of  protecting  the  king's  ad- 
herents, encouraged  them  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  regent,  and  even 
ventured  to  point  out  the  earl  of  Lennox  as  the  person  who  had  the  best 
title.  That  honour  was  accordingly  conferred  upon  him  in  a  conventi  ;ii 
of  the  whole  party  held  on  the  12th  of  July.* 

The  regent's  hrst  care  was  to  prevent  the  meeting  of  the  parliament, 
which  the  queen's  party  had  summoned  to  convene  at  Linlithgow.  Having 
effected  that,  he  marched  against  the  earl  of  Huntly,  Mary's  lieutenant  in 
the  north,  and  forced  the  garrison  which  he  had  placed  in  Brechin  to  sur- 
render at  discretion.  Soon  after  he  made  himself  master  of  some  othei 
castles.  Emboldened  by  this  successful  beginning  of  his  administration, 
as  well  as  by  the  appearance  of  a  considerable  army,  with  which  the  earl 
of  Sussex  hovered  on  the  borders,  he  deprived  Maitland  of  his  office  ol 
secretaiy,  and  proclaimed  him,  the  duke,  Huntly,  and  other  leaders  of  the 
queen's  party,  traitors  and  enemies  of  their  country.! 

In  this  desperate  situation  of  their  affairs,  the  queen's  adherents  had 
recourse  to  the  king  of  Spain,!  vv'th  whom  Mary  had  held  a  close  corres- 
pondence ever  since  her  confinement  in  England.  They  prevailed  on  the 
duke  of  Alva  to  send  two  of  his  officers  to  take  a  view  of  the  country,  and  to 
examine  its  coasts  and  harbours ;  and  obtained  from  them  a  small  supply 
of  money  and  arms,  which  were  sent  to  the  earl  of  Huntly .§  But  this  aid, 
so  disproportionate  to  their  exigencies,  would  have  availed  them  little. 
They  were  indebted  for  their  safety  to  a  treaty  which  Elizabeth  was 
carrying  on,  under  colour  of  restoring  the  captive  queen  to  her  throne. 
The  first  steps  in  this  negotiation  had  been  taken  in  the  month  of  May ; 
but  hitherto  little  progress  was  made  in  it.  The  peace  concluded  between 
the  Roman  catholics  and  Hugonots  in  France,  and  her  apprehensions  that 
Charles  would  interpose  with  vigour  in  behalf  of  his  sister-in-law,  quick- 
ened Elizabeth's  motions.  She  affected  to  treat  her  prisoner  with  more 
indulgence,  she  listened  more  graciously  to  the  solicitations  of  foreign 
imbassadors  in  her  favour,  and  seemed  fully  determined  to  replace  her  on 
the  throne  of  her  ancestors.  As  a  proof  ot  her  sincerity,  she  laboured  to 
procure  a  cessation  of  arms  between  the  two  contending  factions  in  Scot- 
land. Lennox,  elated  with  the  good  fortune  which  had  hitherto  attended 
his  administration,  and  flattering  himself  with  an  easy  triumph  over  enemies 
whose  estates  were  wasted,  and  their  forces  dispirited,  refused  for  some 
time  to  come  into  this  measure.  It  was  not  safe  tor  him,  however,  to  dis- 
pute- the  will  of  his  protectress.  A  cessation  of  hostilities  during  two 
months,  to  commence  on  the  third  of  September,  was  agreed  upon;  and, 

•  Spoww.  240.  Cald.  ii.  186.    See  Appendix,  No.  XXXV.        T  Crawf.  Mem.  159.    Cald.  U.  108 
♦  See  Appendix,  No.  XX  XVI.        $  Anders,  iii .  1 22.    Oawf  Mem  '53. 


uf    SCOTLAND  20? 

being  renewed  f.om  time  to  time,  it  continued  till  the  first  of  April  nexl 
year.* 

Soon  alter,  Elizabeth  despatched  Cecil  and  sir  Walter  Mildmay  to  the 
queen  of  Scots.  The  dignity  of  these  ambassadors,  the  former  her  prime 
minister,  the  latter  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  and  one  of  her  ablest  coun- 
sellors, convinced  all  parties  that  the  negotiation  was  serious,  and  the  hour 
of  Mary's  liberty  was  now  approaching.  The  propositions  which  they 
made  to  her  were  advantageous  to  Elizabeth,  but  such  as  a  prince  in  Mary  s 
situation  had  reason  to  expect.  The  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Edin- 
burgh; the  renouncing  any  pretensions  to  the  English  crown,  during 
Elizabeth's  own  life,  or  that  of  her  posterity;  the  adhering  to  the  alliance 
between  the  two  kingdoms;  the  pardoning  her  subjects  who  had  taken 
arms  against  her ;  and  her  promising  to  hold  no  correspondence,  and  to 
countenance  no  enterprise,  that  might  disturb  Elizabeth's  government; 
were  among  the  chiei  articles.  By  way  of  security  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  these,  they  demanded  that  some  persons  of  rank  should  be  given  as 
hostages,  that  the  prince  her  son  should  reside  in  England,  and  that  a  few 
castles  on  the  border  should  be  put  into  Elizabeth's  hands.  To  some  oi 
these  propositions  Mary  consented ;  some  she  endeavoured  to  mitigate; 
and  others  she  attempted  to  evade.  In  the  mean  time,  she  transmitted 
copies  of  them  to  the  pope,  to  the  kings  of  France  and  Spain,  and  to  the 
duke  of  Alva.  She  insinuated,  that  without  some  timely  and  vigorous 
interposition  in  her  behalf,  she  would  be  obliged  to  accept  of  these  hard 
conditions,  and  to  purchase  liberty  at  any  price.  But  the  pope  was  a  dis- 
tant and  feeble  ally,  and  by  his  great  efforts  at  this  time  against  the  Turks, 
his  treasury  was  entirely  exhausted.  Charles  had  alreadj'  begun  to  medi- 
tate that  conspiracy  against  the  Hugonots,  which  marks  his  reign  with  such 
infamy;  and  it  required  much  leisure  and  perfect  tranquillity  to  bring  that 
execrable  plan  to  maturity.  Philip  was  employed  in  fitting  out  that  fleet 
which  acquired  so  much  renown  to  the  Christian  arms,  by  the  victory  over 
the  infidels  at  Lepanto ;  the  Moors  in  Spain  threatened  an  insurrection; 
and  his  subjects  in  the  Netherlands,  provoked  by  much  oppression  and 
many  indignities,  were  breaking  out  into  open  rebellion.  All  of  them,  for 
these  different  reasons,  advised  Mary,  without  depending  on  their  aid,  to 
conclude  the  treaty  on  the  best  terms  she  could  procure.! 

Mary  accordingly  consented  to  many  of  Elizabeth's  demands,  and  dis- 
covered a  facility  of  disposition  which  promised  still  further  concessions. 
But  no  concession  she  could  have  made  would  have  satisfied  Elizabeth, 
who,  in  spite  ot  her  repeated  professions  of  sincerity  to  foreign  ambassadors, 
and  notwithstanding  the  solemnity  with  which  she  carried  on  the  treaty, 
had  no  other  object  in  it  than  to  amuse  Mary's  allies,  and  to  gain  time.]; 
Alter  having  so  long  treated  a  queen,  who  fled  to  her  for  refuge,  in  so 
ungenerous  a  manner,  she  could  not  now  dismiss  her  with  safety.  Under 
all  the  disadvantages  of  a  rigorous  confinement,  Mary  had  found  means  to 
excite  commotions  in  England  which  were  extremely  formidable.  Yv  hat 
desperate  effects  of  her  just  resentment  mis;ht  be  expected,  if  she  were  set 
at  liberty,  and  recovered  her  former  power?  What  engagements  could 
bind  her  not  to  revenge  the  wrongs  which  she  had  suffered,  nor  to  take 
advantage  of  the  favourable  conjunctures  that  might  present  themselves? 
Was  it  possible  for  her  to  give  such  security  for  her  behaviour  in  times  to 
come,  as  might  remove  all  suspicions  and  fears  ?  And  was  there  not  good 
cause  to  conclude,  that  no  future  benefits  could  ever  obliterate  the  memory 
of  past  injuries  ?  It  was  thus  Elizabeth  reasoned  ;  though  she  continued 
to  act  as  if  her  views  had  been  entirely  different.  She  appointed  seven  of 
her  privy  counsellors  to  be  commissioners  for  settling  the  articles  of  the 
treaty;  and  as  Mary  had  already  named  the  bishops  of  Ross  and  Galloway 

*  Spotsw.  243.  t  Anders,  vol.  iij.  119, 120.  t  Diggeg.  Compl.  Amb.  78. 

Vol.  III.— 27 


*10  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

and  Lord  Livingston,  for  her  ambassadors,  she  required  the  regent  to 
emnower  propei  persons  to  appear  in  behalf  of  the  king.  The  earl  of 
lior'cn  Pitcairn  ibbotof  Dumfermling,  and  sir  James  Macgil,  were  the  per- 
sons chosen  by  the  regent.  They  prepared  for  their  journey  as  slowly  as 
LI /doeth  herself  could  have  wished  [Feb.  19,  1571].  At  length  they 
arrived  at  London,  and  met  the  commissioners  of  the  two  queens.  Mary  s 
ambassadors  discovered  the  strongest  inclination  to  comply  with  every 
thing  that  would  remove  the  obstacles  which  stood  in  the  way  of  their 
mistress's  liberty.  But  when  Morton  and  his  associates  were  called  upon 
to  vindicate  their  conduct,  and  to  explain  the  sentiments  of  their  party, 
they  began,  in  justification  of  their  treatment  of  the  queen,  to  advance 
such  maxims  concerning  the  limited  powers  of  princes,  and  the  natural  right 
of  subjects  to  resist  and  to  control  them,  as  were  extremely  shocking  to 
Elizabeth,  whose  notions  of  regal  prerogative,  as  has  been  formerly 
observed,  were  very  exalted.  With  regard  to  the  authority  which  the  king 
now  possessed,  they  declared  they  neither  had,  nor  could  possibly  receive, 
instructions  to  consent  to  any  treaty  that  tended  to  subvert  or  even  to  impair 
it  in  the  least  degree.*  Nothing  could  be  more  trifling  and  ridiculous  than 
such  a  reply  from  the  commissioners  of  the  king  of  Scots  to  the  queen  of 
England.  His  party  depended  absolutely  on  her  protection ;  it  was  by 
persons  devoted  to  her  he  had  been  seated  on  the  throne,  and  to  her  power 
he  owed  the  continuance  of  his  reign.  With  the  utmost  ease  she  could 
have  brought  them  to  hold  very  different  language  ;  and  whatever  condi- 
tions she  might  have  thought  fit  to  subscribe,  they  would  have  had  no  other 
choice  but  to  submit.  This  declaration,  however,  she  affected  to  consider 
as  an  insuperable  difficulty  ;  and  rinding  that  there  was  no  reason  to  dread 
any  danger  from  the  French  king,  who  had  not  discovered  that  eagerness  in 
support  of  Mary  which  was  expected,  the  reply  made  by  Morton  [March 
24],  furnished  her  with  a  pretence  for  putting  a  stop  to  the  negotiation, 
until  the  regent  should  send  ambassadors  with  more  ample  powers.  Thus, 
after  being  amused  for  ten  months  with  the  hopes  of  liberty,  the  unhappy 
queen  of  Scots  remained  under  stricter  custody  than  ever,  and  without  any 
prospect  of  escaping  from  it ;  while  those  subjects  who  still  adhered  to  her 
were  exposed,  without  ally  or  protector,  to  the  rage  of  enemies,  whom 
their  success  in  this  negotiation  rendered  still  more  insolent.) 

On  the  day  after  the  expiration  of  the  truce,  which  had  been  observed 
with  little  exactness  on  either  side,  Captain  Crawford  of  Jordan  Hill,  a  gal- 
lant and  enterprising  officer,  performed  a  service  of  great  importance  to  the 
regent,  by  surprising  the  castle  of  Dumbarton.  This  was  the  only  fortified 
place  in  the  kingdom  of  which  the  queen  had  kept  possession  ever  since 
the  commencement  of  the  civil  wars.  Its  situation,  on  the  top  of  a  high 
and  almost  inaccessible  rock  which  rises  in  the  middle  ot  a  plain,  rendered 
it  extremely  strong,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  that  age,  impregnable  :  as  it 
commanded  the  river  Clyde,  it  was  of  great  consequence,  and  was  deemed 
the  most  proper  place  in  the  kingdom  for  landing  any  foreign  troops  that 
might  come  to  Mary's  aid.  The  strength  of  the  place  rendered  lord  Flem- 
ing, the  governor,  more  secure  than  he  ought  to  have  been,  considering  its 
importance.  A  soldier  who  had  served  in  the  garrison,  and  had  been  dis- 
gusted by  some  ill  usage,  proposed  the  scheme  to  the  regent,  endeavoured 
to  demonstrate  that  it  was  practicable,  and  offered  himself  to  go  the  fore- 
most mar  on  the  enterprise.  It  was  thought  prudent  to  risk  any  danger 
f->r  «<►  great  a  prize.  Scaling-ladders,  and  whatever  else  might  be  neces- 
sary, were  prepared  with  the  utmost  secrecy  and  despatch.  All  the  avenue* 
to  the  castle  were  seized,  that  no  intelligence  of  the  design  might  reach  th«* 
governor.  Towards  evening  Crawford  marched  from  Glasgow  with  » 
small  but  determined  band.     By  midnight  they  arrived  at  the  bottom  of  tb* 

*  CaU.  a.  834.    Digs**.  51     Haynes,  523,  524  t  Anders.  Ui.  81, 4M 


OF    SCOTLAND.  211 

rock.  The  moon  was  set,  and  the  sky,  which  .had  Hitherto  heen  extremely 
Hear,  was  covered  with  a  thick  fog;.  It  was  where  the  rooK  was  highest 
that  the  assailants  made  their  attempt,  because  in  that  place  there  weie 
few  sentinels,  and  they  hoped  to  find  them  least  alert.  Tne  first  ladder 
was  scarcely  fixed,  when  the  weight  and  eagerness  of  those  who  mounted 
night  it  to  the  ground.  None  of  the  assailants  were  hurt  bv  tne  tall,  and 
none  of  the  garrison  alarmed  at  the  noise.  Their  guide  ai  d  Crawford 
scrambled  up  the  rock,  and  fastened  the  ladder  to  the  roots  of  a  tree  which 
grew  in  a  cleft.  This  place  they  all  reached  with  the  utmost  difficulty, 
but  were  still  at  a  great  distance  from  die  foot  of  the  wall.  Tneir  laddei 
was  made  fast  a  second  time  ;  but  in  the  middle  of  the  ascent  they  mei 
with  an  unforeseen  difficulty.  One  of  their  companions  was  seized  with 
some  sudden  fit,  and  clung,  seemingly  without  life,  to  the  ladder.  All 
were  at  a  stand.  It  was  impossible  to  pass  him.  To  tumble  him  head- 
long was  cruel  ;  and  might  occasion  a  discovery.  But  Crawford's  presence 
of  mind  did  not  forsake  him.  He  ordered  the  soldier  to  be  bound  fast  to 
the  ladder,  that  he  might  not  fall  when  the  fit  was  over ;  and  turning  the 
other  side  of  the  ladder,  they  mounted  with  ease  over  his  belly.  Day  now 
began  to  break,  and  there  still  remained  a  high  wall  to  scale  ;  but  after 
surmounting  so  many  great  difficulties,  this  was  soon  accomplished.  A  sentry 
observed  the  first  man  who  appeared  on  the  parapet,  and  had  just  time 
to  give  the  alarm,  before  he  was  knocked  on  the  head.  The  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  garrison  ran  out  naked,  unarmed,  and  more  solicitous  about 
their  own  safety  than  capable  of  making  resistance.  The  assailants  rushed 
forwards,  with  repeated  shouts  and  with  the  utmost  fury ;  took  possession 
of  the  magazine  ;  seized  the  cannon,  and  turned  them  against  their  enemies. 
Lord  Fleming  got  into  a  small  boat,  and  fled  all  alone  into  Argyllshire. 
Crawford,  in  reward  of  his  valour  and  good  conduct,  remained  master  ot 
the  castle  ;  and  as  he  did  not  lose  a  single  man  in  the  enterprise,  he  enjoyed 
his  success  with  unmixed  pleasure.  Lady  Fleming,  Verac,  the  French 
envoy,  and  Hamilton,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  were  the  prisoners  of 
greatest  distinction.* 

Verac's  character  protected  him  from  the  usage  which  he  merited  by 
his  activity  in  stirring  up  enemies  against  the  king.  The  regent  treated 
the  lady  with  great  politeness  and  humanity.  But  a  very  different  fate 
awaited  the  archbishop  ;  he  was  carried  under  a  strong  guard  to  Stirling ; 
and  as  he  had  formerly  been  attainted  by  act  of  parliament,  he  was,  without 
any  formal  trial,  condemned  to  be  hanged  ;  and  on  the  fourth  day  after  he 
was  taken,  the  sentence  was  executed.  An  attempt  was  made  to  convict 
him  of  being  accessary  to  the  murder  both  of  the  king  and  regent,  but  these 
accusations  were  supported  by  no  proof.  Our  historians  observe,  that  he 
was  the  first  bishop  in  Scotland  who  died  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner. 
The  high  offices  he  had  enjoyed,  both  in  church  and  state,  ought  to  have 
exempted  him  from  a  punishment  inflicted  only  on  the  lowest  criminals. 
But  his  zeal  for  the  queen,  his  abilities,  and  his  profession,  rendered  him 
odious  and  formidable  to  the  king's  adherents.  Lennox  hated  him  as  the 
person  by  whose  counsels  the  reputation  and  power  of  the  house  of  Hamil 
ton  were  supported.  Party  rage  and  personal  enmity  dictated  that  inde 
cent  sentence,  for  which  some  colour  was  sought  by  imputing  to  him  sucb 
odious  crimes. f 

The  loss  of  Dumbarton,  and  the  severe  treatment  of  the  archbishop,  per- 
plexed no  less  than  they  enraged  the  queen's  party:  and  hostilities  were 
renewed  with  all  the  fierceness  which  disappointment  and  indignation  can 
inspire.  Kirkaldy,  who,  during  the  truce,  had  taken  care  to  increase  rne 
number  of  his  garrison,  and  to  provide  every  thing  necessary  for  his  defence 
issued  a  proclamation  declaring  Lennox's  authority  to  be  uniawfo»  ami 

*  Buchan.  394.  t  Spotswood,  252. 


212  THE  HISTORY  [BookVI. 

usurped ;  commanded  all  who  favoured  his  cause  to  leave  the  town  within 
six  hours ;  seized  the  arms  belonging  to  the  citizens  ;  planted  a  battery  on 
the  steeple  of  St.  Giles's,  repaired  the  walls,  and  fortified  the  gates  of  the 
city ;  and,  though  the  affections  of  the  inhabitants  leaned  a  different  way, 
held  out  the  metropolis  against  the  regent.  The  Duke,  Huntly,  Home, 
Henries,  and  other  chiefs  of  that  faction,  repaired  to  Edinburgh  with  their 
followers;  and,  having  received  a  small  sum  of  money  and  some  ammuni- 
tion from  France,  formed  no  contemptible  army  within  the  walls.  On  the 
other  side,  Morton  seized  Leith  and  fortified  it ;  and  the  regent  joined  him 
with  a  considerable  body  of  men.  While  the  armies  lay  so  near  each 
other,  daily  skirmishes  happened,  and  with  various  success.  The  queen's 
party  was  not  strong  enough  to  take  the  field  against  the  regent,  nor  was . 
nis  superiority  so  great  as  to  undertake  the  siege  of  the  castle  or  of  the 
town.* 

Some  time  before  Edinburgh  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  the  regent 
had  summoned  a  parliament  to  meet  in  that  place.  In  order  to  prevent 
any  objection  against  the  lawfulness  of  the  meeting,  the  members  obeyed 
the  proclamation  as  exactly  as  possible  [May  14],  and  assembled  in  a 
house  at  the  head  of  the  Canongate,  which,  though  without  the  walls,  lies 
within  the  liberties  of  the  city.  Kirkaldy  exe.ted  himself  to  the  utmost  to 
interrupt  their  meeting;  but  they  were  so  strongly  guarded  that  all  efforts 
were  vain.  They  passed  an  act  attainting  Maitland  and  a  kw  others, 
and  then  adjourned  to  the  28th  of  August.! 

The  other  party,  in  order  that  their  proceedings  might  be  countenanced 
by  the  same  show  of  legal  authority,  held  a  meeting  of  parliament  soon 
after.  There  was  produced  in  this  assembly  a  declaration  by  the  queen 
of  the  invalidity  of  that  deed  whereby  she  had  resigned  the  crown,  and 
consented  to  the  coronation  of  her  son.  Conformable  to  this  declaration, 
an  act  was  passed  pronouncing  the  resignation  to  have  been  extorted  by 
fear;  lobe  null  in  itself,  and  in  all  its  consequences :  and  enjoining  all 
good  subjects  to  acknowledge  the  queen  alone  to  be  their  lawful  sovereign 
and  to  support  those  who  acted  in  her  name.  The  present  establishment 
of  the  protestant  religion  was  confirmed  by  another  statute  ;  and,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  adverse  party,  a  new  meeting  was  appointed  on  the  26th  of 
August.J 

Meanwhile  all  the  miseries  of  civil  war  desolated  the  kingdom.  Fellow 
citizens,  friends,  brothers  took  different  sides,  and  ranged  themselves  under 
the  standards  of  the  contending  factions.  In  every  county,  and  almost  in 
every  town  and  village,  kin^s  men,  and  queen's  men  were  names  of  dis- 
tinction. Political  hatre  I  dissolved  all  natural  ties,  and  extinguished  the 
reciprocal  good  will  and  confidence  which  holds  mankind  together  in 
society.  Religious  zeal  mingled  itself  with  these  civil  distinctions,  and 
contributed  not  a  little  to  heighten  and  to  inflame  them. 

The  factions  which  divided  the  kingdom  were,  in  appearance,  only  two; 
but  in  both  these  there  were  persons  with  views  and  principles  so  different 
from  each  other  that  they  ought  to  be  distinguished.  With  some,  con- 
siderations of  religion  were  predominant,  and  they  either  adhered  to  the 
queen,  because  they  hoped  by  her  means  to  re-establish  popery,  or  they 
defended  the  king's  authority  as  the  best  support  of  the  protestant  faith. 
Among  these  the  opposition  was  violent  and  irreconcileable.  Others  were 
influenced  by  political  motives  only,  or  allured  by  views  of  interest :  the 
reger*  aimed  at  uniting  these,  and  did  not  despair  of  gaining,  by  gentle 
arts,  many  ci  Mary's  adherents  to  acknowledge  the  king's  authority. 
Maitland  and  Kirkaldy  had  formed  the  same  design  of  a  coalition,  but  on 
3uch  terms  that  the  queen  might  be  restored  to  some  share  in  the  govern 
ment,  and  the  kingdom  shake  off  its  dependence  upon  England.    Morton 

•  Cald.  ii.  233,  Ice  f  Crawf.  Menu  177.  t  Id.  lbtd- 


OF   SCOTLAND.  113 

the  ablest,  the  most  ambitious,  and  the  most  powerful  man  of  the  king's 
party,  held  a  particular  course;  and,  moving  only  as  he  was  prompted  by 
the  court  of  England,  thwarted  every  measure  that  tended  towards  a  recon- 
cilement of  the  factions  ;  and  as  he  served  Elizabeth  with  much  fidelity,  he 
derived  both  power  and  credit  from  her  avowed  protection. 

The  time  appointed  by  both  parties  for  the  meeting  of  their  parliaments 
now  approached.  Only  three  peers  and  two  bishops  appeared  in  that 
which  was  held  in  the  queen's  name  at  Edinburgh.  But,  contemptible  as 
their  numbers  were,  they  passed  an  act  for  attainting  upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred of  the_adverse  faction.     The  meeting  at  Stirling  was  numerous  and 

"s  ot 


splendid.  The  regent  had  prevailed  on  the  earls  of  Argyll,  Eglington, 
Cassils,  and  lord  Boyd,  to  acknowledge  the  king's  authority.  The  three 
earls  were  among  the  most  powerful  noblemen  in  the  kingdom,  and  had 
hitherto  been  zealous  in  the  queen's  cause.  Lord  Boyd  had  been  one  ol 
Mary's  commissioners  at  York  and  Westminster,  and  since  that  timt  had 
been  admitted  into  all  her  most  secret  councils.  But,  during  that  turbulent 
period,  the  conduct  of  individuals,  as  well  as  the  principles  of  factions, 
varied  so  often,  that  the  sense  of  honour,  a  chief  preservative  of  consistence 
in  character,  was  entirely  lost ;  and,  without  any  regard  to  decorum,  men 
suddenly  abandoned  one  party,  and  adopted  all  the  violent  passions  of  the 
other.  The  defection,  however,  of  so  many  persons  of  distinction,  not  only 
weakened  the  queen's  party,  but  added  reputation  to  her  adversaries. 

After  the  example  of  the  parliament  at  Edinburgh,  that  at  Stirling 
began  with  framing  acts  against  the  opposite  faction.  But  in  the  midst  of 
all  the  security,  which  confidence  in  their  own  numbers  or  distance  from 
danger  could  inspire,  they  were  awakened  early  in  the  morning  of  Sep- 
tember the  third  by  the  shouts  of  the  enemy  in  the  heart  of  the  town.  In 
a  moment  the  houses  of  every  person  of  distinction  were  surrounded,  and 
before  they  knew  what  to  think  of  so  strange  an  event,  the  regent,  the 
earls  of  Argyll,  Morton,  Glencairn,  Cassils,  Eglington,  Montrose,  Buchan, 
the  lords  Sempil,  Cathcart,  Ogilvie,  were  all  made  prisoners,  and  mounted 
behind  troopers,  who  were  ready  to  carry  them  to  Edinburgh.  Kirkaldy 
was  the  author  of  this  daring  enterprise  ;  and  if  he  had  not  been  induced 
by  the  ill-timed  solicitude  of  his  friends  about  his  safety,  not  to  hazard  his 
own  person  in  conducting  it,  that  day  might  have  terminated  the  contest 
between  the  two  factions,  and  have  restored  peace  to  his  country.  By  his 
direction,  four  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of  Huntly,  lord  Claud 
Hamilton,  and  Scott  of  Buccleugh,  set  out  from  Edinburgh,  and,  the  better 
to  conceal  their  design,  marched  towards  the  south.  But  they  soon 
wheeled  to  the  right,  and,  horses  having  been  provided  for  the  infantry, 
rode  straight  to  Stirling.  By  four  in  the  morning  they  arrived  there;  not 
one  sentry  was  posted  on  the  walls,  not  a  single  man  was  awake  about  the 
place.  They  met  with  no  resistance  from  any  person  whom  they  attempted 
to  seize,  except  Morton.  He  defending  his  house  with  obstinate  valour, 
they  were  obliged  to  set  it  on  fire,  and  he  did  not  surrender  till  forced  out 
of  it  by  the  flames.  In  performing  this,  some  time  was  consumed;  and 
the  private  men  unaccustomed  to  regular  discipline,  left  their  colours,  and 
began  to  rifle  the  houses  and  shops  of  the  citizens.  The  noise  and  uproai 
in  the  town  reached  the  castle.  The  earl  of  Mar  sallied  out  with  thirty 
soldiers,  fired  briskly  upon  the  enemy,  of  whom  almost  none  but  the  officers 
kept  together  in  a  body.  The  townsmen  took  arms  to  asssist  th»ir 
governor;  a  sudden  panic  struck  the  assailants;  some  fled,  some  suiien- 
dered  themselves  to  their  own  prisoners  ;  and  had  not  the  borderers,  who 
followed  Scott,  prevented  a  pursuit,  by  carrying  off"  all  the  horses  within 
the  place,  not  a  man  would  have  escaped.  If  the  regent  had  not  unfor.u- 
nately  been  killed,  the  loss  on  the  king's  side  would  have  been  as  incon- 
siderable as  the  alarm  was  great.  Think  on  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's, 
was  the  word  among  the  queen's  soldiers ;  and  Lennox  fell  a  sacrifice  to 


v.l  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

his  memory.  The  officer  to  whom  he  surrendered,  endeavouring  to  pro 
tect  him,  lost  his  own  life  in  his  defence.  He  was  slain  according  to  the 
general  opinion,  by  command  of  lord  Ciaud  Hamilton.  Kirkaldy  had  the 
glory  of  concerting  this  plan  with  great  secrecy  and  prudence  ;  but  Morton's 
fortunate  obstinacy,  and  the  want  of  discipline  among  his  troops,  depri\ed 
him  of  success,  the  only  thing  wanting  to  render  this  equal  to  the  most 
applauded  military  enterprises  of  the  kind.* 

As  so  many  of  the  nobles  were  assembled,  they  proceeded  without 
delay  to  the  election  of  a  regent  [Sept.  6].  Argyll,  Morton,  and  Mar  were 
candidates  for  the  office.  Mar  was  chosen  by  a  majority  of  voices.  Amidst 
all  the  fierce  dissensions  which  had  prevailed  so  long  in  Scotland,  he  had 
distinguished  himself  by  his  moderation,  his  humanity,  and  his  disinterest 
edness.  As  his  power  was  far  inferior  to  Argyll,  and  his  abilities  not  so 
great  as  Morton's,  he  was,  for  these  reasons,  less  formidable  to  the  other 
nobles.  His  merit,  too,  in  having  so  lately  rescued  the  leaders  of  the  party 
from  imminent  destruction,  contributed  not  a  little  to  his  preferment. 

While  these  things  were  carrying  on  in  Scotland,  the  transactions  in 
England  were  no  less  interesting  to  Mary,  and  still  more  fatal  to  her  cause. 
The  parliament  of  that  kingdom,  which  met  in  April,  passed  an  act,  by 
which  it  was  declared  to  be  high  treason  to  claim  any  right  to  the  crown 
during  the  life  of  the  queen ;  to  affirm  that  the  title  of  any  other  person 
was  better  than  hers,  or  to  maintain  that  the  parliament  had  not  power  to 
settle  and  to  limit  the  order  of  succession.  This  remarkable  statute  was 
intended  not  only  for  the  security  of  their  own  sovereign,  but  to  curb  the 
restless  and  intriguing  spirit  of  the  Scottish  queen  and  her  adherents.! 

At  this  time  a  treaty  of  marriage  between  Elizabeth  and  the  duke  of 
Anjou,  the  French  king's  brother,  was  well  advanced.  Both  courts  seemed  to 
desire  it  with  equal  ardour,  and  gave  out,  with  the  utmost  confidence,  that 
it  could  not  fail  of  taking  place.  Neither  of  them,  however,  wished  it 
success;  and  they  encouraged  it  lor  no  other  end,  but  because  it  served  to 
cover  or  to  promote  their  particular  designs.  The  whole  policy  of  Cathe- 
rine of  Medicis  was  bent  towards  the  accomplishment  of  her  detestable 
project  for  the  destruction  of  the  Hugonot  chiefs ;  and  by  carrying  on  a 
negotiation  for  the  marriage  of  her  son  with  a  princess  who  was  justly 
esteemed  the  protectress  of  that  party,  by  yielding  some  things  in  point  of 
religion,  and  by  discovering  an  indifference  with  regard  to  others  she  hoped 
to  amuse  ail  the  protestants  in  Europe,  and  to  lull  asleep  the  jealousy  even 
of  the  Hugonots  themselves.  Elizabeth  flattered  herself  with  reaping 
advantages  of  another  kind.  During  the  dependence  of  the  negotiation, 
the  French  could  not  with  decency  give  any  open  assistance  to  the  Scot- 
tish queen :  if  they  conceived  any  hopes  of  success  in  the  treaty  of  mar- 
riage, they  would  of  course  interest  themselves  but  coldly  in  her  concerns; 
Mary  herself  must  be  dejected  at  losing  an  ally,  whom  she  had  hitherto 
reckoned  her  most  powerful  protector ;  and,  by  interrupting  her  corres- 
pondence with  France,  one  source,  at  least,  of  the  cabals  and  intrigues 
which  disturbed  the  kingdom  would  be  stopped.  Both  queens  succeeded 
in  their  schemes.  Catherine's  artifices  imposed  upon  Elizabeth,  and 
blinded  the  Hugonots.  The  French  discovered  the  utmost  indifference 
about  the  interest  of  the  Scottish  queen  ;  and  Mary,  considering  that  court 
as  already  united  with  her  rival,  turned  for  protection  with  more  eagerness 
than  ever  towards  the  king  of  Spain. J  Philip,  whose  dark  and  thoughtful 
mind  delighted  in  the  mystery  of  intrigue,  had  held  a  secret  correspondence 
with  Mary  for  some  time,  by  means  oftbe  bishop  of  Ross,  and  had  supplied 
both  herself  and  her  adherents  in  Scotland  with  small  sums  of  money. 
Ridolphi,  a  Florentine  gentleman,  who  resided  at  London  under  the  cha- 
racter of  a  banker,  and  who  acted  privately  as  an  agent  for  the  pope,  was 

•  MeJv.  i&O     Crawf.  Mem.  204  t  <;amd.  430.  t  Digge*.  144. 148.    Camd.  434. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  *16 

trie  person  whom  the  bishop  intrusted  with  this  negotiation.  Mary  thought 
it  necessary  likewise  to  communicate  the  secret  to  the  duke  oi  N<  rfolk, 
whom  Elizabeth  had  lately  restored  to  liberty,  upon  his  solemn  promise 
to  have  no  further  intercourse  with  the  queen  of  Scots.  This  promise) 
however,  he  regarded  so  little  that  he  continued  to  keep  a  constant  cor- 
respondence with  the  captive  queen  ;  while  she  laboured  to  nourish  his 
ambitious  hopes,  and  to  strengthen  his  amorous  attachment  by  letters 
written  in  the  fondest  caressing  strain.  Some  of  these  he  must  have  re- 
ceived at  the  very  time  when  he  made  that  solemn  promise  ol  holding  no 
further  intercourse  with  her,  in  consequence  of  which  Elizabeth  restored 
him  to  liberty.  Mary,  still  considering  him  as  her  future  husband,  took  no 
■step  in  any  matter  of  moment  without  his  advice.  She  early  -.ommunicated 
to  him  her  negotiations  with  Ridolphi  ;  and  in  a  long  letter,  which  she. 
wrote  to  him  in  ciphers,*  after  complaining  of  the  baseness  with  which 
the  French  court  had  abandoned  her  interest,  she  declared  her  intention  of 
imploring  the  assistance  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  which  was  now  her  only 
resource;  and  recommended  Ridolphi  to  his  confidence,  as  a  person 
capable  both  of  explaining  and  advancing  the  scheme.  The  duke  com- 
manded Hickford,  his  secretary,  to  decipher,  and  then  to  burn  this  letter, 
but,  whether  he  had  been  already  gained  by  the  court,  or  resolved  at  that 
time  to  betray  his  master,  he  disobeyed  the  latter  part  of  the  order,  and 
hid  the  letter,  together  with  other  treasonable  papers,  under  the  duke's 
own  bed. 

Ridolphi,  in  a  conference  with  Norfolk,  omitted  none  of  those  arguments, 
and  spared  none  of  those  promises  which  are  the  usual  incentives  to  re- 
bellion. The  pope,  he  told  him,  had  a  great  sum  in  readiness  to  bestow 
in  so  good  a  cause.  The  duke  of  Alva  had  undertaken  to  land  ten  thousand 
men  not  far  from  London.  The  catholics,  to  a  man,  would  rise  in  arms. 
Many  of  the  nobles  were  ripe  for  a  revolt,  and  wanted  only  a  leader. 
Half  their  nation  had  turned  their  eyes  towards  him,  and  called  on  him 
to  revenge  the  unmerited  injuries  which  he  himself  had  suffered;  and 
to  rescue  an  unfortunate  queen,  who  offered  him  her  hand  and  her 
crown  as  the  reward  of  his  success.  Norfolk  approved  of  the  design,  and 
though  he  refused  to  give  Ridolphi  any  letter  of  credit,  allowed  him  to 
use  his  name  in  negotiating  with  the  pope  and  Alva.f  The  bishop  oi 
Ross,  who,  from  the  violence  of  his  temper,  and  impatience  to  procure 
relief  for  his  mistress,  was  apt  to  run  into  rash  and  desperate  designs,  ad- 
vised the  duke  to  assemble  secretly  a  few  of  his  followers,  and  at  once  to 
seize  Elizabeth's  person.  But  this  the  duke  rejected  as  a  scheme  equally 
wild  and  hazardous.  Meanwhile,  the  English  court  had  received  some 
imperfect  information  of  the  plot,  by  intercepting  one  of  Ridolphi's  agents  ; 
and  an  accident  happened,  which  brought  to  light  all  the  circumstances  oi 
it.  The  duke  had  employed  Hickford  to  transmit  to  lord  Herries  some 
money,  which  was  to  be  distributed  among  Mary's  friends  in  Scotland.  A 
person  not  in  the  secret  was  intrusted  with  conveying  it  to  the  borders  ; 
and  he,  suspecting  it  from  the  weight  to  be  gold,  whereas  he  had  been 
told  that  it  was  silver,  carried  it  directly  to  the  privy  council.  The  duke, 
his  domestics,  and  all  who  were  privy  or  could  be  suspected  of  being 
privy  to  the  design,  were  taken  into  custody.  Never  did  the  accomplices 
in  a  conspiracy  discover  less  firmness,  or  servants  betray  an  indulgent 
master  with  greater  baseness  [Sept.  7].  Every  one  confessed  the  whole 
of  what  he  knew.  Hickford  gave  directions  how  to  find  the  papers  which 
he  had  hidden.  The  duke  himself,  relying  at  first  on  the  fidelity  of  his 
associates,  and  believing  all  dangerous  papers  to  have  been  destroyed,  con- 
fidently asserted  his  own  innocence ;  but  when  their  depositions  and  tin 

*  Haynes,  597,  598.    Hardw.  State  Papers,  i.  190,  &c.     Digges'i  Complete  Ambaa.  147 
t  Anders,  ill.  161 


218  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

papers  themselves  were  produced,  astonished  at  their  treachery,  he  ac- 
knowledged his  guilt,  and  implored  the  queen's  mercy.  His  offence  was 
too  heinous,  and  too  often  repeated,  to  obtain  pardon  ;  and  Elizabeth 
thought  it  necessary  to  deter  her  subjects,  by  his  punishment,  from  holding 
correspondence  with  the  queen  of  Scots  or  her  emissaries.  Being  tried  by 
his  peers,  he  was  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  and,  after  several  delays, 
suffered  death  for  the  crime.* 

The  discovery  of  this  conspiracy  produced  many  effects  extremely  de- 
trimental to  Mary's  interest.  The  bishop  of  Ross,  who  appeared,  by  the 
confession  of  all  concerned,  to  he  the  prime  mover  in  every  cabal  against 
Elizabeth,  was  taken  into  custody,  his  papers  searched,  himself  committed 
to  the  tower,  treated  with  the  utmost  rigour,  threatened  with  capita! 
punishment,  and,  after  a  long  confinement,  set  at  liberty  on  condition  that 
he  should  leave  the  kingdom.  Mary  was  not  only  deprived  of  a  servant 
equally  eminent  for  his  zeal  and  his  abilities,  but  was  denied  from  that 
time  the  privilege  of  having  an  ambassador  at  the  English  court.  The 
Spanish  ambassador,  whom  the  power  and  dignity  of  the  prince  he  repre- 
sented exempted  from  such  insults  as  Ross  had  suffered,  was  commanded 
to  leave  England.!  As  there  was  now  the  clearest  evidence  that  Mary, 
from  resentment  of  the  wrongs  she  had  suffered,  and  impatience  of  the 
captivity  in  which  she  was  held,  would  not  scruple  to  engage  in  the  most 
hostile  and  desperate  enterprises  against  the  established  government  and 
religion,  she  began  to  be  regarded  as  a  public  enemy,  and  was  kept  under 
a  stricter  guard  than  formerly ;  the  number  of  her  domestics  was  abridged 
and  no  person  permitted  to  see  her  but  in  presence  of  her  keepers.! 

At  the  same  time,  Elizabeth,  foreseeing  the  storm  which  was  gathering 
on  the  continent  against  her  kingdom,  began  to  wish  that  tranquillity  were 
restored  in  Scotland  ;  and,  irritated  by  Mary's  late  attempt  against  her 
government,  she  determined  to  act  without  disguise  or  ambiguity  in  favour 
of  the  king's  party.  This  resolution  she  intimated  to  the  leaders  of  both 
factions  [Oct.  23].  Mary,  she  told  them,  had  held  such  a  criminal  cor- 
respondence with  her  avowed  enemies,  and  had  excited  such  dangerous 
conspiracies  both  against  her  crown  and  her  life,  that  she  would  henceforth 
consider  her  as  unworthy  of  protection,  and  would  never  consent  to  restore 
her  to  liberty,  far  less  to  replace  her  on  her  throne.  She  exhorted  them, 
therefore,  to  unite  in  acknowledging  the  king's  authority.  She  promised  to 
procure,  by  her  mediation,  equitable  terms  for  those  who  had  hitherto 
opposed  it.  But  if  they  still  continued  refractory,  she  threatened  to  employ 
her  utmost  power  to  compel  them  to  submit. §  Though  this  declaration  did 
not  produce  an  immediate  effect;  though  hostilities  continued  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh  ;  though  Huntly's  brother,  Sir  Adam  Gordon, 
by  nis  bravery  and  good  conduct,  had  routed  the  king's  adherents  in  the 
North  in  many  encounters ;  yet,  such  an  explicit  discovery  of  Elizabeth's 
sentiments  contributed  not  a  little  to  animate  one  party,  and  to  depress  the 
spirit  and  hopes  of  the  other.ll 

1572.]  As  Morton,  who  commanded  the  regent's  forces,  lay  at  Leith,  and 
Kirkaldy  still  held  out  the  town  and  castle  of  Edinburgh,  scarce  a  day 
passed  without  a  skirmish;  and  while  both  avoided  any  decisive  action, 
they  harassed  each  other  by  attacking  small  parties,  beating  up  quarters, 
»nd  intercepting  convoys.  These  operations,  though  little  memorable  in 
themselves,  kept  the  passions  of  both  factions  in  perpetual  exercise  and 
agitation,  and  wrought  them  up,  at  last,  to  a  degree  of  fury  which  ren- 
dered them  regardless  not  only  of  the  laws  of  war,  but  of  the  principles 
of  humanity.  Nor  was  it  in  the  field  alone,  and  during  the  heat  of  combat 
that  this  implacable  rage  appeared;  both  parties  hanged  the  prisoners 

*  AnJere.  ill.  149.     State  Trials,  185.  t  Digges,  163.  {  Strype,  Ann.  U.  BO 

$  See  Appendix,  No  XXXVII.  ||  Cald.  ii.  289.  294.    Strype,  il  76. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  217 

which  they  took,  of  whatever  rank  or  quality,  without  mercy  and  without 
trial.  Great  numbers  suffered  in  this  shocking  manner ;  the  unhappy  vic- 
tims were  led  by  fifties  at  a  time  to  execution ;  and  it  was  not  till  both 
sides  had  smarted  severely  that  they  discontinued  this  barbarous  practice, 
so  reproachful  to  the  character  of  the  nation.*  Meanwhile,  those  in  the 
town  and  castle,  though  they  had  received  a  supply  of  money  from  the 
duke  of  Alva,t  began  to  suffer  for  want  of  provisions.  As  Morton  had 
destroyed  all  the  mills  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city,  and  had  planted 
small  garrisons  in  all  the  houses,  of  strength  around  it,  scarcity  daily 
increased.  At  last  all  the  miseries  of  famine  were  felt,  and  they  must 
have  been  soon  reduced  to  such  extremities  as  would  have  forced  them  to 
capitulate  if  the  English  and  French  ambassadors  had  not  procured  a  sus- 
pension of  hostilities  between  the  two  parties. J 

Though  the  negotiation  for  marriage  between  Elizabeth  and  the  duke 
of  Anjou  had  been  fruitless,  both  Charles  and  she  were  desirous  of  con- 
cluding a  defensive  alliance  between  the  two  crowns.  He  considered  such 
a  treaty  not  only  as  the  best  advice  for  blinding  the  protestants,  against 
whom  the  conspiracy  was  now  almost  ripe  for  execution  ;  but  as  a  good 
precaution,  likewise,  against  the  dangerous  consequences  to  which  that 
atrocious  measure  might  expose  him.  Elizabeth,  who  had  hitherto  reigned 
without  a  single  ally,  now  saw  her  kingdom  so  threatened  with  intestine 
commotions,  or  exposed  to  invasions  from  abroad,  that  she  was  extremely 
solicitous  to  secure  the  assistance  of  so  powerful  a  neighbour.  The  diffi- 
culties arising  from  the  situation  of  the  Scottish  queen  were  the  chief  oc- 
casions of  any  delay.  Charles  demanded  some  terms  of  advantage  for 
Mary  and  her  party.  Elizabeth  refused  to  listen  to  any  proposition  of  that 
kind.  Her  obstinacy  overcame  the  faint  efforts  of  the  French  monarch. 
Mary's  name  was  not  so  much  as  mentioned  in  the  treaty;  and  with  regard 
to  Scottish  affairs,  a  short  article  was  inserted,  in  general  and  ambiguous 
terms  [April  11],  to  this  purpose:  "That  the  parties  contracting  shall 
make  no  innovations  in  Scotland  ;  nor  suffer  any  stranger  to  enter  and  to 
foment  the  factions  there  ;  but  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  queen  of  England 
to  chastise,  by  force  of  arms,  those  Scots  who  shall  continue  to  harbour 
the  English  rebels  now  in  Scotland. "§  In  consequence  of  this  treaty, 
France  and  England  affected  to  act  in  concert  with  regard  to  Scotland,  and 
Le  Croc  and  Sir  YVilliam  Drury  appeared  there  in  the  name  of  their  re- 
spective sovereigns.  By  their  mediation,  a  truce  for  two  months  was  agreed 
upon,  and  during  that  time  conferences  were  to  be  held  between  the 
leaders  of  the  opposite  factions,  in  order  to  accommodate  their  differences, 
and  restore  peace  to  the  kingdom.  This  truce  afforded  a  seasonable 
interval  of  tranquillity  to  the  queen's  adherents  in  the  South  ;  but  in  the 
North  it  proved  fatal  to  her  interest.  Sir  Adam  Gordon  had  still  main- 
tained his  reputation  and  superiority  there.  Several  parties,  under  differ- 
ent officers,  were  sent  against  him.  Some  of  them  he  attacked  in  the 
field  ;  against  others  he  employed  stratagem  ;  and  as  his  courage  and 
conduct  were  equal,  none  of  his  enterprises  failed  of  success.  He  made 
war  too  with  the  humanity  which  became  so  gallant  a  man,  and  gained 
ground  by  that,  no  less  than  by  the  terror  of  his  arms.  If  he  had  not  been 
obliged  by  the  truce  to  suspend  his  operations,  he  would  in  all  probability 
have  brought  that  part  of  the  kingdom  to  submit  entirely  to  the  queen  s 
authority.il 

Notwithstanding  Gordon's  bravery  and  success,  Mary's  interest  was  on 
the  decline,  not  only  in  her  own  kingdom,  but  among  the  English.     Nothing 
could  be  more  offensive  to  that  nation,  jealous  of  foreigners,  and  terrified  a 
the  prospect  of  the  Spanish  yoke,  than  her  negotiations  with  the  duke  o 

*  Crawf.  Mem.  218  890.  t  Cald.  ii.  345.  t  lb.  346.  $  Diggea,  170.  191. 

Camden,  444.  ||  Crawf.  Mem. 

Vol.  III.— 28 


?I8  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

Alva.  The  parliament  which  met  in  May,  proceeded  against  her  as  the 
most  dangerous  enemy  of  the  kingdom  ;  and,  after  a  solemn  conference 
between  the  lords  and  commons,  both  houses  agreed  in  bringing  in  a  bill  to 
declare  her  guilty  of  high  treason,  and  to  deprive  her  of  all  right  of  suc- 
cession to  the  crown.  This  great  cause,  as  it  was  then  called,  occupied 
them  during  the  whole  session,  and  was  carried  on  with  much  unanimity. 
Elizabeth,  though  she  applauded  their  zeal,  and  approved  greatly  of  tht- 
course  they  were  taking,  was  satisfied  with  showing  Mary  what  she  might 
expect  from  the  resentment  of  the  nation  ;  but  as  she  did  not  yet  think  it 
time  to  proceed  to  the  most  violent  extremity  against  her,  she  prorogued 
the  parliament.* 

These  severe  proceedings  of  the  English  parliament  were  not  more  mor- 
tifying to  Mary  than  the  coldness  and  neglect  of  her  allies  the  French. 
The  duke  of  Montmorency,  indeed,  who  came  over  to  ratify  the  league 
with  Elizabeth,  made  a  show  of  interesting  himself  in  favour  of  the  Scot- 
tish queen  :  but,  instead  of  soliciting  for  her  liberty,  or  her  restoration  to 
her  throne,  all  that  he  demanded  was  a  slight  mitigation  of  the  rigour  of 
her  imprisonment.  Even  this  small  request  he  urged  with  so  little  warmth 
or  importunity  that  no  regard  was  paid  to  it.t 

The  alliance  with  France  afforded  Elizabeth  much  satisfaction,  and  she 
expected  from  it  a  great  increase  of  security.  She  now  turned  her  whole 
attention  towards  Scotland,  where  the  animosities  of  the  two  factions  were 
still  so  high,  and  so  many  interfering  interests  to  be  adjusted,  that  a  general 
pacification  seemed  to  be  at  a  great  distance.  But  while  she  laboured  to 
bring  them  to  some  agreement,  an  event  happened  which  filled  a  great 
part  of  Europe  with  astonishment  and  with  horror.  This  was  the  massacre 
of  Paris  ;  an  attempt,  to  which  there  is  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind, either  for  the  long  train  of  craft  and  dissimulation  with  which  it  was 
contrived,  or  for  the  cruelty  and  barbarity  with  which  it  was  carried  into 
execution.  By  the  m#st  solemn  promises  of  safety  and  of  favour,  the 
leaders  of  the  protestants  were  drawn  to  court ,  ^nd  though  doomed  to 
destruction,  they  were  received  with  caresses,  loaded  with  honours,  and 
treated,  for  seven  months,  with  every  possible  mark  of  familiarity  and  of 
confidence.  In  the  midst  of  their  security  [Aug.  24],  the  warrant  for  their 
destruction  was  issued  by  their  sovereign,  on  whose  word  they  had  relied, 
and,  in  obedience  to  it,  their  countrymen,  their  fellow-citizens,  and  com- 
panions imbrued  their  hands  in  their  blood.  Ten  thousand  protestants, 
without  distinction  of  age,  or  sex,  or  condition,  were  murdered  in  Paris 
alone.  The  same  barbarous  orders  were  sent  to  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, and  a  like  carnage  ensued.  This  deed,  which  no  popish  writer  in 
the  present  age  mentions  without  detestation,  was  at  that  time  applauded 
in  Spain  ;  and  at  Rome  solemn  thanksgivings  were  offered  to  God  for  its 
success.  But  among  the  protestants  it  excited  incredible  horror  ;  a  striking 
picture  of  which  is  drawn  by  the  French  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Eng- 
land, in  his  account  of  his  first  audience  after  the  massacre.  "  A  gloomy 
sorrow,"  says  he,  "  sa*  on  every  face  ;  silence,  as  in  the  dead  of  night, 
reigned  through  all  the  chambers  of  the  royal  apartment ;  the  ladies  and 
courtiers  were  ranged  on  each  side,  all   clad   in  deep  mourning,  and  as  I 

{>assed  through  them,  not  one  bestowed  on  me  a  civil  look,  or  made  the 
east  return  to  my  salutes. ''J 

But  horror  was  not  the  only  passion  with  which  this  event  inspired  the 
protestants^  it  filled  them  with  fear.  They  considered  it  as  the  prelude 
to  some  greater  blow,  and  believed,  not  without  much  probability,  that  ail 
the  popish  princes  had  conspired  the  destruction  of  their  sect.  This  opinion 
was  of  no  small  disservice  to  Mary's  affairs  in  Scotland.  Many  of  her  ad- 
herents were  protestants ;  and,  though  they  wished  her  restoration,  werv 

*  D  Ewes,  Journ.  206,  &c.  t  Jebb  ii-  512.  J  Carte,  hi.  522. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  219 

not  willing,  on  that  account,  to  sacrifice  the  faith  which  they  professed 
They  dreaded  her  attachment  to  a  religion  which  allowed  its  votaries  to 
violate  the  most  solemn  engagements,  ami  prompted  them  to  perpetrate  the 
most  barbarous  crimes.  A  general  confedeiacy  of  the  protestants  seemed 
to  them  the  only  thing  that  could  uphold  the  reformation  against  the  league 
which  was  formed  to  overturn  it.  Nor  could  the  present  establishment  of 
religion  be  long  maintained  in  Britain,  but  by  a  strict  union  with  Eliza- 
beth, and  by  the  concurrence  of  both  nations  in  espousing  the  defence  of  it 
a;  a  common  cause.* 

Encouraged  by  this  general  disposition  to  place  confidence  in  her,  Eliza 
beth  resumed  a  scheme  which  she  had  formed  during  the  regency  of  the 
earl  of  Murray,  of  sending  Mary  as  a  prisoner  into  Scotland.  But  her  sen- 
timents and  situation  were  now  very  different  from  what  they  had  been 
during  her  negotiation  with  Murray.  Her  animosity  against  the  queen  of 
Scots  was  greatly  augmented  by  recent  experience,  which  taught  her  that 
she  had  inclination  as  well  as  power,  not  only  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  ot 
her  reign,  but  to  wrest  from  her  the  crown  :  the  party  in  Scotland,  favour 
able  to  Mary,  was  almost  entirely  broken  ;  and  there  was  no  reason  to 
dread  any  danger  from  France,  which  still  continued  to  court  her  friend- 
ship. She  aimed,  according!)-,  at  something  very  different  from  that  which 
she  had  in  view  three  years  before.  Then  she  discovered  a  laudable 
solicitude,  not  only  for  the  safety  of  Mary's  life,  but  lor  securing  to  hei 
treatment  suited  to  her  rank.  Now  she  required,  as  an  express  condition, 
that  immediately  after  Mary's  arrival  in  Scotland,  she  should  be  brought 
to  public  trial ;  and,  having  no  doubt  that  sentence  would  be  passed  ac- 
cording to  her  deserts,  she  insisted  that,  for  the  good  of  both  kingdoms,  it 
should  be  executed  without  delay. t  No  transaction,  perhaps,  in  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  merits  more  severe  censure.  Eager  to  cut  short  the  days  of 
a  rival,  the  object  both  of  her  hatred  and  dread,  and  no  less  anxious  to 
avoid  the  blame  to  which  such  a  deed  of  violence  might  expose  her,  she 
laboured,  with  timid  and  ungenerous  artifice,  to  transfer  the  odium  of  it 
from  herself  to  Mary's  own  subjects.  The  earl  of  Mar,  happily  for  the 
honour  of  his  country,  had  more  virtue  than  to  listen  to  such  an  ignominious 
proposal ;  and  Elizabeth  did  not  venture  to  renew  it. 

While  she  was  engaged  in  pursuing  this  insidious  measure,  the  regent 
was  more  honourably  employed  in  endeavouring  to  negotiate  a  general 
peace  among  his  countrymen.  As  he  laboured  for  this  purpose  with  the 
utmost  zeal,  and  the  adverse  faction  placed  entire  confidence  in  his  integrity, 
his  endeavours  could  hardly  have  failed  of  being  successful.  Maitland 
and  Kirkaldy  came  so  near  to  an  agreement  with  him  that  scarce  any  thing 
remained,  except  the  formality  of  signing  the  treaty.  But  Morton  had  not 
forgotten  the  disappointment  he  had  met  with  in  his  pretensions  to  the 
regency ;  his  abilities,  his  wealth,  and  the  patronage  of  the  court  of 
England,  gave  him  greater  sway  with  the  party  than  even  the  regent 
himself:  and  he  took  pleasure  in  thwarting  every  measure  pursued  by 
him.  He  was  afraid  that,  if  Maitland  and  his  associates  recovered  any 
share  in  the  administration,  his  own  influence  would  be  considerably 
diminished  ;  and  the  regent,  by  their  means,  would  acquire  that  ascendant 
which  belonged  to  his  station.  With  him  concurred  all  those  who  were 
in  possession  of  the  lands  which  belonged  to  any  of  the  queen's  party. 
His  ambition,  and  their  avarice,  frustrated  the  regent's  pious  intentions, 
and  retarded  a  blessing  so  necessary  to  the  kingdom  as  the  establishment 
of  peace.| 

Such  a  discovery  of  the  selfishness  and  ambition  which  reigned  among 
his  party  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  regent,  who  loved  his  country, 
and  wished  for  peace  with  much  ardour.     This  inward  grief  bioke  his 

*  Digest,  244.  267  T  Murdin,  224.  I  Melv.  233.    Crawf.  Mem.  887. 


220  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

spirit,  and  by  degrees  brought  on  a  settled  melancholy,  that  ended  in  a 
distemper,  of  which  he  died  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  October.  He  was 
perhaps,  the  only  person  in  the  kingdom  who  could  have  enjoyed  the 
office  of  regent  without  envy,  and  have  left  it  without  loss  of  reputation 
Notwithstanding  their  mutual  animosities,  both  factions  acknowledged  his 
views  to  be  honourable,  and  his  integrity   o  *:e  uncouupted.* 

No  competitor  now  appeared  against  Morton.  The  queen  of  England 
powerfully  supported  his  claim,  and,  notwithstanding  the  fears  of  the 
people,  and  the  jealousy  of  the  nobles,  he  was  elected  regent  [Nov. 
24j  ;  the  fourth  who,  in  the  space  of  five  years,  had  held  that  dungerots 
office. 

As  the  truce  had  been  prolonged  to  the  first  of  January,  this  gave  him 
an  opportunity  of  continuing  the  negotiations  with  the  opposite  party. 
which  had  been  set  on  foot  by  his  predecessor.  They  produced  no  effects, 
however,  till  the  beginning  of  the  next  year. 

Before  we  proceed  to  these,  some  events,  hitherto  untouched,  deserve 
our  notice. 

The  earl  of  Northumberland,  who  had  been  kept  prisoner  in  Lochlevin 
ever  since  his  flight  into  Scotland,  in  the  year  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-nine,  was  given  up  to  lord  Hudson,  governor  of  Berwick  ;  and, 
being  carried  to  York,  suffered  there  the  punishment  of  his  rebellion. 
The  king's  party  were  so  sensible  of  their  dependence  on  Elizabeth's 
protection  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  for  them  to  refuse  putting  into  her 
hands  a  person  who  had  taken  up  arms  against  her  ;  but,  as  a  sum  of  money 
was  paid  on  that  account,  and  shared  between  Morton  and  Douglas  ot 
Lochlevin,  the  former  of  whom,  during  his  exile  in  England,  had  been 
much  indebted  to  Northumberland's  friendship,  the  abandoning  this  unhappy 
nobleman,  in  such  a  manner,  to  certain  destruction,  was  universally  con- 
demned as  a  most  un»ratelul  and  mercenary  action.! 

This  year  was  remarkable  for  a  considerable  innovation  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church.  Soon  after  the  reformation,  the  popish  bishops  had 
been  confirmed  by  law  in  possession  of  part  oi  their  benefices ;  but  the 
spiritual  jurisdiction,  which  belonged  to  their  order,  was  exercised  by 
superintendants,  though  with  more  moderate  authority.  On  the  death  ot 
the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's  Morton  obtained  from  the  crown  a  grant 
of  the  temporalities  of  that  see.  But  as  it  was  thought  indecent  for  a  lay- 
man to  hold  a  benefice  to  which  the  cure  of  souls  was  annexed,  he  pro- 
cured Douglas,  rector  of  the  university  of  St.  Andrew's,  to  be  chosen 
archbishop;  and,  allotting  him  a  small  pension  out  of  the  revenues  of  the 
see,  retained  the  remainder  in  his  own  hands.  The  nobles,  who  saw  the 
advantages  which  they  might  reap  from  such  a  practice,  supported  hirn  in 
the  execution  of  fn>  plan.  It  gave  great  offence,  however,  to  the  clergy, 
who,  instead  of  perpetuating  an  order  w  hose  name  and  power  w  ere  odious 
to  them,  wished  that  the  revenues  which  had  belonged  to  it  might  be  em- 
ployed in  supplying  such  parishes  as  were  still  unprovided  with  settled 
pastors.  But,  on  the  one  hand,  it  would  have  been  rash  in  the  clergy  to 
have  irritated  too  much  noblemen,  on  whom  the  very  existence  of  the 
protestant  church  in  Scotland  depended;  and  Morton,  on  the  other,  con- 
ducted his  schemes  with  such  dexterity,  and  managed  them  with  so  much 
art,  that  it  was  at  last  agreed,  in  a  convention  composed  of  the  leading  men 
among  the  clergy,  together  with  a  committee  of  privy  council,  "  That  the 
name  and  office  of  archbishop  and  bishop  should  be  continued  during  the 
king's  minority,  and  these  dignities  be  conferred  upon  the  best  qualified 
among  the  protestant  ministers ;  but  that,  with  regard  to  their  spiritual 
jurisdictions,  they  should  be  subject  to  the  general  assembly  of  the  church." 
Tfce  rules  to  be  observed  in  their  election,  and  the  persons  who  were  to 

*  Crawl".  Mem.  241  I   !  hid.  55.  222.     Camd.  445 


OF    SCOTLAND.  *21 

supply  the  place  and  enjoy  the  privileges  which  belonged  to  the  dean  and 
chapter  in  times  of  popery,  were  likewise  particularly  specified.*  The 
whole  being  laid  before  the  general  assembly,  after  some  exceptions  to 
the  name  of  archbishop,  dean,  chapter,  &ic,  and  a  protestation  that  it  should 
be  considered  only  as  a  temporary  constitution,  until  one  more  perfect 
could  be  introduced,  it  obtained  the  approbation  of  that  court. t  Even 
Knox,  who  was  prevented  from  attending  the  assembly  by  the  ill  state  ot 
his  health,  though  he  declaimed  loudly  against  the  simoniacal  paction  to 
which  Douglas  owed  his  preferment,  and  biamed  the  nomination  of  a 
person  worn  out  with  age  and  infirmities,  to  an  office  which  required  unim- 
paired vigour  both  of  body  and  mind,  seems  not  to  have  condemned  the 
proceedings  of  the  convention  ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  the  assembly,  approved 
of  some  ol  the  regulations  with  respect  to  Ihe  election  of  bishops,  as  worthy 
of  being  carefully  observed.;};  In  consequence  of  the  assembly's  consent 
to  the  plan  agreed  upon  in  the  convention,  Douglas  was  installed  in  his 
office,  and  at  the  same  time  an  archbishop  of  Glasgow  and  a  bishop  ot 
Dunkeld  were  chosen  from  among  the  protestant  clergy.  They  were  all 
admitted  to  the  place  in  parliament  which  belonged  to  the  ecclesiastical 
order.  But  in  imitation  of  the  example  set  by  Morton,  such  bargains  were 
made  with  them  by  different  noblemen,  as  gave  them  possession  only  of  a 
very  small  part  ol  the  revenues  which  belonged  to  their  sees.§ 

Soon  after  the  dissolution  of  this  assembly  [Nov.  27j,  Knox,  the  prime 
instrument  of  spreading  and  establishing  the  reformed  religion  in  Scotland, 
ended  his  life  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  Zeal,  intrepidity, 
disinterestedness,  were  virtues  which  he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree. 
He  was  acquainted  too  with  the  learning  cultivated  among  divines  in  that 
age  ;  and  excelled  in  that  species  of  eloquence  which  is  calculated  to 
rouse  and  to  inflame.il  His  maxims,  however,  were  often  too  severe,  and 
the  impetuosity  of  his  temper  excessive.  Rigid  and  uncomplying  himself, 
he  showed  no  indulgence  to  the  infirmities  of  others.  Regardless  of  the 
distinctions  of  rank  and  character,  he  uttered  his  admonitions  with  an 
acrimony  and  vehemence  more  apt  to  irritate  than  to  reclaim.  This  often 
betrayed  him  into  indecent  and  undutiful  expressions  with  respect  to 
the  queen's  person  and  conduct.  Those  very  qualities,  however,  which 
now  render  his  character  less  amiable,  fitted  him  to  be  the  instrument  ol 
Providence  for  advancing  the  reformation  among  a  fierce  people,  and 
enabling  him  to  face  dangers,  and  to  surmount  opposition,  from  which  a 
person  of  a  more  gentle  spirit  would  have  been  apt  to  shrink  back,  ffy 
an  unwearied  application  to  study  and  to  business,  as  well  as  by  the 
frequency  and  fervour  of  his  public  discourses,  he  had  worn  out  a  constitu- 
tion naturally  robust.  During  a  lingering  iilness  he  discovered  the  utmost 
fortitude ;  and  met  the  approaches  ol  death  with  a  magnanimity  inseparable 
from  his  character.  He  was  constantly  employed  in  acts  of  devotion,  and 
comforted  himself  with  those  prospects  of  immortality  which  not  only 

*  Cald.  ii.  305.  t  Id-  354.  t  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXVIll.  $  Spotsw.  361. 

||  A  striking  description  of  that  species  of  eloquence  for  winch  Knox  was  distinguished,  is  given 
by  one  of  his  cotemporaiies,  Mr.  James  Melville,  minister  of  Ansttutber.  "  But  of  all  the  benefits 
I  had  that  year  [1571],  was  the  coining  of  lhat  most  notable  prophet  and  apostle  of  our  nation,  Mr. 
John  Knox,  to  St.  Andrew's,  who  by  the  faction  of  the  queen  occupying  the  castle  and  town  of 
Edinburgh,  was  compelled  to  remove  therefra  with  a  number  of  the  best,  and  chused  to  come  to 
St  Andrew's.  I  heard  him  teach  there  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  that  summer  and  the  winter 
following.  I  had  ray  pen  and  little  buike,  and  took  away  sic  things  as  I  could  comprehend.  In  the 
opening  of  his  text,  he  was  moderate  the  space  of  half  an  hour ;  but  when  lie  entered  to  applica- 
tion, he  made  me  so  to  grue  [thrill]  and  tremble  that  1  could  not  hald  the  pen  to  write. He  was 

very  weak.  I  saw  him  every  day  of  his  doctrine  go  liulie  [slowly]  and  fair,  with  a  furring  of  mar- 
ticks  about  his  neck,  a  staff  in  the  one  hand,  and  good  godlie  Richart  Ballenden  holding  him  up  by 
the  oxter  [under  the  arm]  from  the  abbey  to  the  parish  kirk ;  and  he  the  said  Richart  and  anothei 
servant  lifted  him  up  to  the  pulpit,  where  he  behoved  to  lean  at  his  first  entrie;  but  ere  he  was  done 
with  his  sermon,  he  was  so  active  and  vigorous,  that  he  was  like  to  ding  the  palpit  in  blads  [beal 
the  pulpit  to  pieces!  and  fly  out  of  it."  MS.  Life  of  Mr.  James  Melville,  communicated  to  me  by 
Mr.  Paton  of  the  Custom-house,  Edinburgh,  p.  14.  21. 


222  THE   HISTORY  |  Book  VI. 

preserve  good  men  from  desponding,  but  fill  them  with  exultation  in  theii 
last  moments.  The  earl  of  Morton,  who  was  present  at  his  funeral,  pro- 
nounced his  eulogium  in  a  few  words,  the  more  honourable  for  Knox,  as 
they  came  from  one  whom  he  had  often  censured  with  peculiar  severity . 
"  i  here  lies  He,  who  never  feared  the  lace  of  man."* 

1573.]  Though  Morton  did  not  desire  peace  from  such  generous  motives 
as  the  former  regent,  he  laboured,  however,  in  good  earnest,  to  establish  it. 
The  public  confusions  and  calamities,  to  which  he  owed  his  power  and 
importance  when  he  was  only  the  second  person  in  the  nation,  were 
extremely  detrimental  to  him  now  that  he  was  raised  to  be  the  first.  While 
so  many  of  the  nobles  continued  in  arms  against  him,  his  authority  as  regent 
was  partial,  feeble,  and  precarious.  Elizabeth  was  no  less  desirous  of 
extinguishing  the  flame  which  she  had  kindled  and  kept  so  long  alive  in 
Scotland.!  She  had  discovered  the  alliance  with  France,  from  which  she 
had  expected  such  advantages,  to  be  no  foundation  of  security.  Though 
appearances  of  friendship  still  subsisted  between  her  and  that  court,  and 
Charles  daily  renewed  his  protestations  of  inviolable  adherence  to  the 
treaty,  she  was  convinced,  by  a  fatal  example,  how  little  she  ought  to  rely 
on  the  promises  or  oaths  of  that  perfidious  monarch.  Her  ambassador 
warned  her  that  the  French  held  secret  correspondence  with  Mary's 
adherents  in  Scotland,  and  encouraged  them  in  their  obstinacy.  J  The  duke 
of  Alva  carried  on  his  intrigues  in  that  kingdom  with  less  disguise.  She 
was  persuaded  that  they  would  embrace  the  first  serene  interval,  which 
the  commotions  in  France  and  in  the  Netherlands  would  allow  them, 
and  openly  attempt  to  land  a  body  of  men  in  Scotland.  She  resolved, 
therefore,  to  prevent  their  getting  any  footing  in  the  island,  and  to  cut  oft 
all  their  hopes  of  finding  any  assistance  there,  by  uniting  the  two  parties. 

The  situation  of  Mary's  adherents  enabled  the  regent  to  carry  on  his 
negotiations  with  them  to  great  advantage.  They  were  now  divided  into 
two  factions.  At  the  head  of  the  one  were  Chatelherault  and  Huntly. 
Maitland  and  Kirkaldy  were  the  leaders  of  the  other.  Their  high  ranK, 
their  extensive  property,  and  the  numbers  of  their  followers,  rendered  the 
former  considerable.  The  latter  were  indebted  for  their  importance  to 
their  personal  abilities,  and  to  the  strength  of  the  castle  of  Edinburgh, 
which  was  in  their  possession.  The  regent  had  no  intention  to  compre- 
hend both  in  the  same  treaty ;  but  as  he  dreaded  that  the  queen's  party, 
if  it  remained  entire,  would  be  able  to  thwart  and  embarrass  his  administra- 
tion, he  resolved  to  divide  and  weaken  it  by  a  separate  negotiation.  He 
made  the  first  overture  to  Kirkaldy  and  his  associates,  and  endeavoured  to 
renew  the  negotiation  with  them,  which,  during  the  life  of  his  predecessor, 
had  been  broken  off  by  his  own  artifices.  But  Kirkaldy  knew  Morton's 
views,  and  system  of  government,  to  be  very  different  from  those  of  the 
former  regent.  Maitland  considered  him  as  a  personal  and  implacable 
»nemy.  They  received  repeated  assurances  of  protection  from  France  ; 
and  though  the  siege  of  Rochelle  employed  the  French  arms  at  that  time, 
the  same  hopes,  wnich  had  so  often  deceived  the  party,  still  amused  them, ' 
and  they  expected  that  the  obstinacy  of  the  Hugonots  would  soon  be  sub- 
dued, and  that  Charles  would  then  be  at  liberty  to  act  with  vigour  in 
Scotland.  Meanwhile  a  supply  of  money  was  sent,  and  if  the  castle  could 
be  held  out  till  Whitsunday,  effectual  aid  was  promised. §  Maitland's 
genius  delighted  in  forming  schemes  that  were  dangerous  ;  and  Kirkaldy 
possessed  the  intrepidity  necessary  for  putting  them  in  execution.  The 
castle,  they  knew,  was  so  situated  that  it  might  defy  all  the  regent's  power. 
Elizabeth,  they  hoped,  would  not  violate  the  treaty  with  France,  by  send- 
ing forces  to  his  assistance  ;  and  if  the  French  should  he  able  to  land  any 
considerable  body  of  men,  it  might  be  possible  to  deliver  the  queen  from 

*  Bpoow.m    0«li  U-K3  t  Dim*  2M  I  Ib.8M.31S.  t  £k£M4. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  223 

captivity,  or  at  least  to  balance  the  influence  of  France  and  England  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  rescue  Scotland  from  the  dishonourable  dependence 
upon  the  latter,  under  which  it  had  fallen.  This  splendid  but  chimerical 
project  they  preferred  to  the  friendship  of  Morton.  They  encouraged  the 
negotiation,  however,  because  it  served  to  gain  time  ;  they  proposed,  for 
the  same  purpose,  that  the  whole  of  the  queen's  party  should  be  compre- 
hended in  it,  and  that  Kirkaldy  should  retain  the  command  of  the  castle 
six  months  after  the  treaty  was  signed.  His  interest  prompted  the  regent 
to  reject  the  former;  his  penetration  discovered  the  danger  of  complying 
with  the  latter;  and  all  hopes  of  accommodation  vanished.* 

As  soon  as  the  truce  expired,  Kirkaldy  began  to  fire  on  the  city  oi 
Edinburgh,  which,  by  the  return  of  the  inhabitants  whom  he  had  expelled, 
was  devoted  as  zealously  as  ever  to  the  king's  cause.  But,  as  the  regent 
had  now  set  on  foot  a  treaty  with  Chatelherault  and  Huntly,  the  cessation 
of  arms  still  continued  with  them. 

They  were  less  scrupulous  than  the  other  party,  and  listened  eagerly  to 
his  overtures.  The  duke  was  naturally  unsteady,  and  the  approach  of  old 
age  increased  his  irresolution,  and  aversion  to  action.  The  miseries  oi 
civil  discord  had  afflicted  Scotland  almost  five  years,  a  length  of  time  far 
beyond  the  duration  of  any  former  contest.  The  war,  instead  of  doing 
service,  had  been  detrimental  to  the  queen  ;  and  more  ruinous  than  any 
foreign  invasion  to  the  kingdom.  In  prosecuting  it,  neither  party  had  gained 
much  honour  ;  both  had  suffered  great  losses,  and  had  exhausted  their  owr 
estates  in  wasting  those  of  their  adversaries.  The  commons  were  in  the 
utmost  misery,  and  longed  ardently  for  a  peace,  which  might  terminate  this 
fruitless  but  destructive  quarrel. 

A  great  step  was  taken  towards  this  desirable  event,  by  the  treaty  con- 
cluded at  Perth  [Feb.  23],  between  the  regent  on  one  hand,  and  Chatelhe- 
rault and  Huntly  on  the  other,  under  the  mediation  of  Killegrew,  Eliza- 
beth's ambassador.!  The  chief  articles  in  it  were  these  :  That  all  the 
parties  comprehended  in  the  treaty  should  declare  their  approbation  of  the 
reformed  religion  now  established  in  the  kingdom ;  that  they  should  sub- 
mit to  the  king's  government,  and  own  Morton's  authority  as"  regent ;  that 
they  should  acknowledge  every  thing  done  in  opposition  to  the  king,  since 
his  coronation,  to  be  illegal ;  that  on  both  sides  the  prisoners  who  had  been 
taken  should  be  set  at  liberty,  and  the  estates  which  had  been  forfeited 
should  be  restored  to  their  proper  owners ;  that  the  act  of  attainder  passed 
against  the  queen's  adherents  should  be  repealed,  and  indemnity  granted 
for  all  the  crimes  of  which  they  had  been  guilty  since  the  fifteenth  of  June, 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven ;  and  that  the  treaty  should  be 
ratified  by  the  common  consent  of  both  parties  in  parliament. J 

Kirkaldy,  though  abandoned  by  his  associates,  who  neither  discovered 
solicitude  nor  made  provision  for  his  safety,  did  not  lose  courage,  nor  enter- 
tain any  thoughts  of  accommodation. 6  Though  all  Scotland  had  now  sub- 
mitted to  the  king,  he  still  resolvea  to  defend  the  castle  in  the  queen's 
name,  and  to  wait  the  arrival  of  the  promised  succours.  The  regent  wa9 
in  want  of  every  thing  necessary  for  carrying  on  a  siege.  But  Elizabeth, 
who,  determined  at  any  rate  to  bring  the  dissensions  in  Scotland  to  a  period 

*  Melv.  235,  &c.  t  See  Appendix,  No.  XXXIX.  J  Crawf.  Mem.  251. 

$  Melvil,  whose  brother,  sir  Robert,  was  one  of  those  who  joined  with  Kirkaldy  in  the  defence 
of  the  castle,  and  who  was  himself  strongly  attached  to  their  party,  asserts  that  Kirkaldy  offered  to 
accept  of  any  reasonable  terms  of  composition,  but  that  all  his  offers  were  rejected  by  the  regent 
Melv.  240.  But,  as  Elizabeth  was  at  that  time  extremely  desirous  of  restoring  peace  in  Scotland, 
and  her  ambassador  Killegrew,  as  well  as  the  earl  of  Rothes,  used  their  utmost  endeavours  to  per- 
suade Kirkaldy  to  accede  to  the  treaty  of  Perth,  it  seems  more  credible  to  impute  the  continuar.ee  of 
hostilities  to  Kirkaldy's  obstinacy,  his  distrust  of  Morton,  or  his  hope  of  foreign  aid,  than  to  any 
other  cause 

That  this  was  really  the  case  is  evident  from  the  positive  testimony  of  Spotsw.  269,  270.  Camd. 
448.  Johnst.  Hist.  3,  4.  Digges,  334.  Crawford's  account  agrees,  in  the  main,  with  theirs. 
Mem.  263. 


224  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VI 

before  the  French  could  find  leisure  to  take  part  in  the  quarrel,  soon 
afforded  him  sufficient  supplies.  Sir  William  Drury  marched  into  Scot- 
land with  fifteen  hundred  foot,  and  a  considerable  train  of  artillery.  The 
regent  joined  him  with  all  his  forces  ;  and  trenches  were  opened  and 
approaches  regularly  carried  on  against  the  castle  [April  25].  Kirkaldy, 
though  discouraged  by  the  loss  of  a  great  sum  of  money  remitted  to  him 
from  France,  and  which  fell  into  the  regent's  hands  through  the  treachery 
uf  sir  James  Balfour,  the  most  corrupt  man  of  that  age,  defended  himself 
with  bravery  augmented  by  despair.  Thiso-p.nd-thirty  days  he  resisted 
all  the  efforts  of  the  Scotch  and  English,  who  pushed  on  their  attacks  with 
courage  and  with  emulation.  Nor  did  he  demand  a  parley,  till  the  forti- 
fications were  battered  down,  and  one  of  the  wells  in  the  castle  dried  up, 
and  the  other  choked  with  rubbish.  Even  then,  his  spirit  was  unsubdued, 
and  he  determined  rather  to  fall  gloriously  behind  the  last  entrenchment 
than  to  yield  to  his  inveterate  enemies.  But  his  garrison  was  not  animated 
with  the  same  heroic  or  desperate  resolution,  and,  rising  in  a  mutiny, 
forced  him  to  capitulate.  He  surrendered  himself  to  Drury  [May  29], 
who  promised,  in  the  name  of  his  mistress,  that  he  should  be  favourably 
treated.  Together  with  him,  James  Kirkaldy  his  brother,  lord  Home, 
Maitland,  sir  Robert  Melvil,  a  few  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  sixty  soldiers,  were  made  prisoners.* 

Several  of  the  officers,  who  had  been  kept  in  pay  during  the  war,  pre 
vailed  on  their  men  to  accompany  them  into  the  Low-Countries,  and  enter- 
ing into  the  service  of  the  States,  added,  by  their  gallant  behaviour,  to  the 
reputation  for  military  virtue  which   has  always  been  the  characteristic  of 
the  Scottish  nation. 

Thus  by  the  treaty  with  Chatelherault  and  Huntly,  and  the  surrender 
of  the  castle,  the  civil  wars  in  Scotland  were  brought  to  a  period.  When 
we  review  the  state  of  the  nation,  and  compare  the  strength  ot  the  two 
factions,  Mary's  partisans  among  the  nobles  appear,  manifestly,  to  have 
been  superior  both  in  numbers  and  in  power.  But  these  advantages  were 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  others,  which  their  antagonists  enjoyed. 
Political  abilities,  military  skill,  and  all  the  talents  which  times  of  action 
form,  or  call  forth,  appeared  chiefly  on  the  king's  side.  Nor  could  their 
enemies  boast  of  any  man,  who  equalled  the  intrepidity  of  Murray,  tem- 
pered with  wisdom;  the  profound  sagacity  of  Morton;  the  subtle  genius, 
and  insinuating  address  of  Maitland;  or  the  successful  valour  of  Kirkaldy; 
all  of  which  were  at  first  employed  in  laying  the  foundation  of  the  king's 
authority.  On  the  one  side,  measures  were  concerted  with  prudence,  and 
executed  with  vigour;  on  the  other,  their  resolutions  were  rash,  and  their 
conduct  feeble.  The  people,  animated  with  zeal  for  religion,  and  prompted 
by  indignation  against  the  queen,  warmly  supported  the  king's  cause. 
The  clergy  threw  the  whole  weight  of  their  popularity  into  the  same  scale. 
By  means  of  these,  as  well  as  by  the  powerful  interposition  of  England,  the 
king's  government  was  finally  established.  Mary  lost  even  that  shadow 
of  sovereignty  which,  amidst  all  her  sufferings,  she  had  hitherto  retained 
among  part  of  her  own  subjects.  As  she  was  no  longer  permitted  to  have 
an  ambassador  at  the  court  of  England,  the  only  mark  of  dignity  which 
she  had  for  some  time  enjoyed  there,  she  must  henceforth  be  considered 
as  an  exile  stripped  of  all  the  ensigns  of  royalty ;  guarded  with  anxiety  in 
the  one  kingdom,  and  totally  deserted  or  forgotten  in  the  other. 

Kirkaldy  and  his  associates  remained  in  Drury 's  custody,  and  were 
treated  by  him  with  great  humanity,  until  the  queen  of  England,  whose 
prisoners  they  were,  should  determine  their  fate.  Morton  insisted  that 
they  should  suffer  the  punishment  due  to  their  rebellion  and  obstinacy ;  and 
declared  that  so  long  as  they  were  allowed  to  live,  he  did  not  reckon  his 

•  Cald.  ii.  408.    Mel  v.  240.    Crawf.  Mem.  965 


OF   SCOTLAND  Vlb 

own  person  or  authority  secure ;  and  Elizabeth,  without  regarding  Drury's 
honour,  or  his  promises  in  her  name,  gave  them  up  to  the  regent's  disposal. 
He  first  confined  them  to  separate  prisons  [Aug.  3] ;  and  soon  after,  with 
Elizabeth's  consent,  condemned  Kirkaldy  and  his  brother  to  be  hanged  at 
the  cross  of  Edinburgh.  Maitland,  who  did  not  expect  to  be  treated  more 
favourably,  prevented  the  ignominy  of  a  public  execution  by  a  voluntary 
death,  and  "  ended  his  days,"  says  Melvil,  "  after  the  old  Roman  fashion."* 

While  the  regent  was  wreaking  his  vengeance  on  the  remains  of  her 
party  in  Scotland,  Mary,  incapable  of  affording  them  any  .elief,  bewailed 
their  misfortunes  in  the  solitude  of  her  prison.  At  the  same  time  her  health 
began  to  be  much  impaired  by  confinement  and  want  of  exercise.  A'  the 
entreaty  of  the  French  ambassador,  lord  Shrewsbury,  her  keeper,  was 
permitted  to  conduct  her  to  Buxton  Wells,  not  far  from  Tuthbury,  the 
place  of  her  imprisonment.  Cecil,  who  had  lately  been  created  baron  ol 
Burleigh,  and  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  England,  happened  to  be  there  at 
the  same  time.  Though  no  minister  ever  entered  more  warmly  into  the 
»dews  of  a  sovereign,  or  gave  stronger  proofs  of  his  fidelity  and  attachment 
than  this  great  man,  yet  such  was  Elizabeth's  distrust  of  every  person  who 
approached  the  queen  of  Scots  that  her  suspicions,  in  consequence  of  this 
interview,  seem  to  have  extended  even  to  him;  and  while  Mary  justly 
reckoned  him  her  most  dangerous  enemy,  he  found  some  difficulty  in  per- 
suading his  own  mistress  that  he  was  not  partial  to  that  unhappy  queen. t 

The  duke  of  Alva  was  this  year  recalled  from  the  government  of  the 
Netherlands,  where  his  haughty  and  oppressive  administration  roused  a 
spirit,  in  attempting  to  subdue  which  Spain  exhausted  its  treasures,  ruined 
its  armies,  and  lost  its  glory.  Requesens,  who  succeeded  him,  was  of  a 
milder  temper,  and  of  a  less  enterprising  genius.  This  event  delivered 
Elizabeth  from  the  perpetual  disquietude  occasioned  by  Alva's  negotiations 
with  the  Scottish  queen,  and  his  zeal  for  her  interest. 

1574.]  Though  Scotland  was  now  settled  in  profound  peace,  many  of  the 
evils  which  accompany  civil  war  were  still  felt.  The  restraints  of  law, 
which  in  times  of  public  confusion  are  little  regarded  even  by  civil- 
ized nations,  were  totally  despised  by  a  fierce  people  unaccustomed 
to  a  regular  administration  of  justice.  The  disorders  in  every  corner  of 
the  kingdom  were  become  intolerable ;  and,  under  the  protection  of  the 
one  or  the  other  faction,  crimes  of  every  kind  were  committed  with  impu- 
nity. The  regent  set  himself  to  redress  these,  and  by  his  industry  and 
vigour,  order  and  security  were  re-established  in  the  kingdom.  But  he 
lost  the  reputation  due  to  this  important  service,  by  the  avarice  which  he 
discovered  in  performing  it;  and  his  own  exactions  became  more  pernicious 
to  the  nation  than  all  the  irregularities  which  he  restrained.!  Spies  and 
informtrs  were  every  where  employed;  the  remembrance  ot  old  offences 
was  revived;  imaginary  crimes  were  invented;  petty  trespasses  were 
aggravated;  and  delinquents  were  forced  to  compound  for  their  lives  by 
the  payment  of  exorbitant  fines.  At  the  same  time  the  current  coin  was 
debased  ;§  licenses  were  sold  for  carrying  on  prohibited  branches  of  com- 
merce ;  unusual  taxes  were  imposed  on  commodities  ;  and  all  the  refine- 
ments in  oppression,  from  which  nations  so  imperfectly  polished  as  the 
Scots  are  usually  exempted,  were  put  in  practice.  None  of  these  were 
complained  of  more  loudly,  or  with  greater  reason,  than  his  injustice 
towards  the  church.     The  thirds  of  benefices,  out  of  which  the  clergy 

*  Melv.  242.  f  Strype,  ii.  246.  283.  J  See  Appendix,  No.  XL. 

$  The  corruption  of  the  coin,  during  Morton's  administration,  was  very  great.  Altiiough  the 
quantity  of  current  money  coined  out  of  a  pound  of  bullion  was  gradually  increased  by  former 
princes,  the  standard  or  fineness  suffered  little  alteration,  and  the  mixture  of  alloy  was  nearly  the 
same  with  what  is  now  used.  But  Morton  mixed  a  fourth  part  of  alloy  with  every  pound  of  silver, 
and  sunk,  by  consequence,  the  value  of  coin  in  proportion.  In  the  year  1581,  all  the  money  coined 
by  him  was  called  in,  and  appointed  to  be  recoined.  The  standard  was  restored  to  the  game  purity 
■s  formerly.     Ruddim.  Pra;f.  to  Anders.  Diplom.  p  74. 

Vol.  III.— 29 


226  T  H  £   H 1  S  T  O  R 1  [Book  Vl. 

received  their  subsistence,  had  always  been  slowly  and  irregularly  paid  to 
collectors  appointed  by  the  general  assembly ;  and  during  the  civil  wars, 
no  payment  could  be  obtained  in  several  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Undci 
colour  of  redressing  this  grievance,  and  upon  a  promise  of  assigning  every 
minister  a  stipend  within  his  own  parish,  the  regent  extorted  from  the 
church  the  thirds  to  which  they  had  right  by  law.  But  the  clergy,  instead 
of  reaping  any  advantage  from  this  alteration,  found  that  payments  became 
more  irregular  and  dilatory  than  ever.  One  minister  was  commonly  bur- 
thened  with  the  care  of  four  or  five  parishes,  a  pitiful  salary  was  allotted 
him,  and  the  regent's  insatiable  avarice  seized  on  the  rest  of  the  fund.* 

The  death  of  Charles  IX.,  which  happened  this  year,  was  a  new  mis- 
fortune to  the  Scottish  queen.  Henry  III.,  who  succeeded  him,  had  not 
the  same  attachment  to  her  person ;  and  his  jealousy  of  Lie  house  of  Guise, 
and  obsequiousness  to  the  queen  mother,  greatly  alienated  him  from  her 
interest. 

1575.]  The  death  of  the  duke  of  Chatelherault  [Jan.  22],  must  likewise 
be  considered  as  some  loss  to  Mary.  As  the  parliament  had  frequently 
declared  him  next  heir  to  the  crown,  this  entitled  him  to  great  respect 
among  his  countrymen,  and  enabled  him,  more  than  any  other  person  in 
the  kingdom,  to  counterbalance  the  regent's  power. 

Soon  after,  at  one  of  the  usual  interviews  between  the  wardens  of  the 
Scottish  and  English  marches,  a  scuffle  happened,  in  which  the  English 
were  worsted;  a  few  killed  on  the  spot;  and  sir  James  Forrester,  the 
warden,  with  several  gentlemen  who  attended  him,  taken  prisoners.  But 
both  Elizabeth  and  the  regent  were  too  sensible  of  the  advantage  which 
resulted  from  the  good  understanding  that  subsisted  between  the  two 
kingdoms,  to  allow  this  slight  accident  to  interrupt  it. 

The  domestic  tranquillity  of  the  kingdom  was  in  some  danger  of  being 
disturbed  by  another  cause.  Though  the  persons  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
bishops  possessed  very  small  revenues  and  a  very  moderate  degree  of 
power,  the  clergy,  to  whom  the  regent  and  all  his  measures  were  become 
extremely  odious,  began  to  be  jealous  of  that  order.  Knowing  that  cor- 
ruptions steal  into  the  church  gradually,  under  honourable  names  and  upon 
decent  pretences,  they  were  afraid  that  from  such  small  beginnings,  the 
hierarchy  might  grow  in  time  to  be  as  powerful  and  oppressive  as  ever. 
The  chief  author  of  these  suspicions  was  Mr.  Andrew  Melvil,  a  man  dis- 
tinguished by  his  uncommon  erudition,  by  the  severity  of  his  manners,  and 
the  intrepidity  of  his  mind.  But,  bred  up  in  the  retirement  of  a  college, 
he  was  unacquainted  with  the  arts  of  life;  and  being  more  attentive  to  the 
ends  which  he  pursued  than  to  the  means  which  he  employed  for  pro- 
moting them,  he  often  defeated  laudable  designs  by  the  impetuosity  and 
imprudence  with  which  be  carried  them  on.  A  question  was  moved  by 
him  in  the  assembly,  "  Whether  the  office  of  bishop,  as  now  exercised  in 
the  kingdom,  were  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  ?"  In  the  ecclesiastical 
judicatories  continual  complaints  were  made  of  the  bishops  for  neglect  of 
duty,  many  of  which  their  known  remissness  too  well  justified.  The 
bishop  of  Dunkeld,  being  accused  of  dilapidating  his  benefice,  was  found 
guilty  by  the  assembly.  The  regent,  instead  of  checking,  connived  at 
these  disputes  about  ecclesiastical  government,  as  they  diverted  the  zeal 
of  the  clergy  from  attending  to  his  daily  encroachments  on  the  patrimony 
of  the  church. t 

1576.1  The  weight  of  the  regent's  oppressive  administration  had  hitherto 
fallen  chiefly  on  those  in  the  lower  and  middle  rank ;  but  he  began  now  to 
take  such  steps  as  convinced  the  nobles  that  their  dignity  would  not  long 
exempt  them  from  feeling  the  effect  of  his  power.     An  accident,  whico 

•  Crawf.  Mem.  272.    Spotsw.  273.    Cald.  ii.  420.  427.  t  Cald.  Assemblies,  1574,  fcc 

•ohnst.  Hist.  15. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  221 

was  a  frequent  cause  of  dissension  among  the  Scottish  nobles,  occasioned 
a  difference  between  the  earls  of  Argyll  and  Athol.  A  vassal  of  the  former 
had  made  some  depredations  on  the  lands  of  the  latter.  Athol  took  amis 
to  punish  the  offender — Argyll  to  protect  him;  and  this  ignoble  quarrel 
they  were  ready  to  decide  in  the  field,  when  the  regent  try  interposing  his 
authority  obliged  them  to  disband  their  forces.  Both  of  them  had  been 
guilty  of  irregularities,  which,  though  common,  were  contrary  to  the  letter 
of  the  law.  Of  these  the  regent  took  advantage,  and  resolved  to  found  on 
them  a  charge  of  treason.  This  design  was  revealed  to  the  two  earls  by 
one  of  Morton's  retainers.  The  common  danger  to  which  they  vere 
exposed  compelled  them  to  forget  old  quarrels,  and  unite  in  a  close  con- 
federacy for  their  mutual  defence.  Their  junction  rendered  them  formi- 
dable ;  they  despised  the  summons  which  the  regent  gave  them  to  appear 
before  a  court  of  justice;  and  he  was  obliged  to  desist  from  any  fuithei 
prosecution.  But  the  injury  he  intended  made  a  deep  impression  on  their 
minds,  and  drew  upon  him  severe  vengeance.* 

Nor  was  he  more  successful  in  an  attempt  which  he  made  to  load  lord 
Claud  Hamilton  with  the  guilt  of  having  formed  a  conspiracy  against  his 
life.  Though  those  who  were  supposed  to  be  his  accomplices  were  seized 
and  tortured,  no  evidence  of  any  thing  criminal  appeared  ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  many  circumstances  discovered  his  innocence,  as  well  as  the 
regent's  secret  views  in  imputing  to  him  such  an  odious  design. t 

1577.]  The  Scottish  nobles,  who  were  almost  equal  to  their  monarchs  in 
power,  and  treated  by  them  with  much  distinction,  observed  these  arbi- 
trary proceedings  of  the  regent  with  the  utmost  indignation.  The  people 
who,  under  a  form  of  government  extremely  simple,  had  been  little  accus- 
tomed to  the  burden  of  taxes,  complained  loudly  of  the  regent's  rapacity  ; 
and  all  began  to  turn  their  eyes  towards  the  young  king,  from  whom  they 
expected  the  redress  of  all  their  grievances,  and  the  return  of  a  more  gentle 
and  more  equal  administration. 

James  was  now  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  age.  The  queen  soon  after 
his  birth  had  committed  him  to  the  care  of  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  during 
the  civil  wars  he  had  resided  securely  in  the  castle  of  Stirling.  Alexander 
Erskine,  that  nobleman's  brother,  had  the  chief  direction  of  his  education. 
Under  him  the  famous  Buchanan  acted  as  preceptor,  together  with  three 
other  masters,  the  most  eminent  the  nation  afforded  for  skill  in  those 
sciences  which  were  deemed  necessary  for  a  prince.  As  the  young  king 
showed  an  uncommon  passion  for  learning,  and  made  great  progress  in  it, 
the  Scots  fancied  that  they  already  discovered  in  him  all  those  virtues 
which  the  fondness  or  credulity  of  subjects  usually  ascribes  to  princes 
during  their  minority.  But  as  James  was  still  far  from  that  age  at  which 
the  law  permitted  nim  to  assume  the  reins  of  government,  the  regent  did 
not  sufficiently  attend  to  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  nor  reflect  how 
naturally  these  prejudices  in  his  favour  might  encourage  the  king  to  antici- 
pate that  period.  He  not  only  neglected  to  secure  the  friendship  of  those 
who  were  about  the  king's  person,  and  who  possessed  his  ear,  but  had 
even  exasperated  some  of  them  by  personal  injuries.  Their  resentment 
concurred  with  the  ambition  of  others,  in  infusing  into  the  king  early  sus- 
picions of  Morton's  power  and  designs.  A  king,  they  told  him,  had  often 
reason  to  fear,  seldom  to  love  a  regent.  Prompted  by  ambition  and  by 
interest,  he  would  endeavour  to  keep  the  prince  in  perpetual  infancy,  at  a 
distance  from  his  subjects,  and  unacquainted  with  business.  A  small 
degree  of  vigour,  however,  was  sufficient  to  break  the  yoke.  Subjects 
naturally  reverenre  their  sovereign,  and  become  impatient  of  the  tempo- 
rary and  delegated  jurisdiction  of  a  regent.  Morton  had  governed  with 
rigour  unknown  to  the  ancient  monarchs  of  Scotland.     The  nation  groaned 

•  Ormwf  Mem.  285.  *  I  bid.  987. 


22S  THE    HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

under  his  oppressions,  and  would  welcome  the  first  prospect  of  a  mildei 
administration.     At  present  the  king's  name  was  hardly  mentioned  inScot- 

and,  his  friends  were  without  influence,  and  his  favourites  without  honour. 

Rut  one  effort  would  discover  Morton's  power  to  he  as  feeble  as  it  was 
arbitrary.  The  same  attempt  would  put  himself  in  possession  of  his  just 
authority,  and  rescue  the  nation  from  intolerable  tyranny.     If  he  did  not 

regard  his  own  rights  as  a  king,  let  him  listen  at  ieasi  in  the  cries  of  his 
people." 

These  suggestions  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  young  king,  who  was 
trained  up  in  an  opinion  that  he  was  born  to  command,  His  approbation 
of  the  design,  however,  was  of  small  consequence  without  the  concurrence 
of  the  nobles.  The  earls  of  Argyll  and  Athol,  two  of  the  most  powerful  oi 
that  body,  were  animated  with  implacable  resentment  against  the  regent. 
To  them  the  cabal  in  Stirling  Castle  communicated  the  plot  which  was  on 
foot  ;  and  they  entering  warmly  into  it,  Alexander  Erskine,  who,  since  the 
death  of  his  brother,  and  during  the  minority  of  his  nephew,  had  the  com- 
mand of  that  fort  and  the  custody  of  the  king's  person,  admitted  them 
secretly  into  the  king's  presence.  They  gave  him  the  same  account  of  the 
misery  of  his  subjects,  under  the  regent  s  arbitrary  administration ;  they 
complained  loudly  of  the  injustice  with  which  themselves  had  been  treated, 
and  besought  the  king,  as  the  only  means  for  redressing  the  grievances  oi 
the  nation,  to  call  a  council  of  all  "the  nobles.  James  consented,  and  letters 
were  issued  in  his  name  for  that  purpose  ;  but  the  two  earls  took  care  that 
they  should  be  sent  only  to  such  as  were  known  to  bear  no  good  will  to 
Morton,  t 

The  number  of  these  was,  however,  so  considerable,  that  on  the  day 
appointed  far  the  greater  part  of  the  nobles  assembled  at  Stirling  ;  and  so 
highly  were  they  incensed  against  Morton,  that  although,  on  receiving  in- 
telligence of  Argyll  and  Athol's  interview  with  the  king  [March  24,  1578] 
he  had  made  a  feint  as  if  he  would  resign  the  regency,  they  advised  the 
king,  without  regarding  this  offer,  to  deprive  him  of  his  office,  and  to  take 
the  administration  of  government  into  his  own  hands.  Lord  Glamis  the 
chancellor,  and  Herries,  were  appointed  to  signify  this  resolution  to  Mor- 
ton, who  was  at  that  time  in  Dalkeith,  his  usual  place  of  residence.  No- 
thing could  equal  the  joy  with  which  this  unexpected  resolution  filled  the 
nation,  but  the  surprise  occasioned  by  the  seeming  alacrity  with  which  the 
regent  descended  from  so  high  a  station.  He  neither  wanted  sagacity  to 
foresee  the  danger  of  resigning,  nor  inclination  to  keep  possession  ot  an 
office,  for  the  expiration  of  which  the  law  had  fixed  so  distant  a  term.  But  all 
the  sources  whence  the  faction  of  which  he  was  head  derived  their  strength 
had  either  failed,  or  now  supplied  his  adversaries  with  the  means  of  hum- 
bling him.  The  commons,  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  the  clergy,  were  all  totally 
alienated  from  him  by  his  multiplied  oppressions.  Elizabeth,  having  lately 
bound  herself  by  treaty  to  send  a  considerable  body  of  troops  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands,  who  were  struggling  for  liberty, 
had  little  leisure  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  Scotland  ;  and  as  she  had  nothing 
to  dread  from  France,  in  whose  councils  the  princes  of  Lorrain  had  not  at  that 
time  much  influence,  she  was  not  displeased,  perhaps,  at  the  birth  of  new 
factions  in  the  kingdom.  Even  those  nobles  who  had  long  been  joined  with 
Morton  in  faction,  or  whom  he  had  attached  to  his  person  by  benefits, 
Glamis,  Lindsay,  Ruthven,  Pitcairn  the  secretary,  Murray  of  Tullibardin, 
compfroller,  all  deserted  his  falling  fortunes,  and  appeared  in  the  council 
at  Stirling.  So  many  concurring  circumstances  convinced  Morton  of  bis 
own  weakness,  and  determined  him  to  give  way  to  a  torrent  which  was 
too  impetuous  to  be  resisted.  He  attended  the  chancellor  and  Herries  tc 
Edinburgh  [March  12] ;  was  present  when  the  king's  acceptance  of  the 

•Mtfvll.St*  TSpu«nr.«7t 


OF   SCOTLAND  *29 

government  was  proclaimed  and,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  surrendered 
to  the  king  all  the  authority  to  which  he  had  any  claim  in  virtue  of  his  office. 
This  ceremony  was  accompanied  with  such  excessive  joy  and  acclamations 
of  the  multitude,  as  added,  no  douht,  to  the  anguish  which  an  ambitious 
spirit  must  feel,  when  compelled  to  renounce  supreme  power ;  and  con- 
vinced Morton  how  entirely  he  had  lost  the  affections  of  his  countrymen. 
J  le  obtained,  however,  from  the  king  an  act  containing  the  approbation  o( 
every  thing  done  by  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  office,  and  a  pardon,  in  the 
most  ample  form  that  his  fear  or  caution  could  devise,  of  all  past  offences, 
crimes,  and  treasons.  The  nobles,  who  adhered  to  the  king,  bound  them- 
s  lives  under  a  great  penalty,  to  procure  the  ratification  of  this  act  in  the 
first  parliament.* 

A  council  of  twelve  peers  was  appointed  to  assist  the  king  in  the  admin 
is! ration  of  affairs.  Morton,  deserted  by  his  own  party,  and  unable  to 
struggle  with  the  faction  which  governed  absolutely  at  court,  retired  to  one 
of  his  seats,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the  tranquillity,  and  to  be  occupied  only 
in  the  amusements  of  a  country  life.  His  mind,  however,  was  deeply  dis- 
quieted with  all  the  uneasy  reflections  which  accompany  disappointed 
ambition,  and  intent  on  schemes  for  recovering  his  former  grandeur.  Even 
in  this  retreat,  which  the  people  called  the  lion's  den,  his  wealth  and  abili- 
ties rendered  him  formidable  ;  and  the  new  counsellors  were  so  imprudent 
as  to  rouse  him,  by  the  precipitancy  with  which  they  hastened  to  strip  him 
of  all  the  remains  of  power.  They  required  him  to  surrender  the  castle  of 
Edinburgh,  which  was  still  in  his  possession.  He  refused  at  first  to  do  so, 
and  began  to  prepare  for  its  defence  ;  but  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh  having 
taken  arms,  and  repulsed  part  of  the  garrison,  which  was  sent  out  to  guard 
a  convoy  of  provisions,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  that  important  fortress 
without  resistance.  This  encouraged  his  adversaries  to  call  a  parliament 
to  meet  at  Edinburgh,  and  to  multiply  their  demands  upon  him  in  such  a 
manner  as  convinced  him  that  nothing  less  than  his  utter  ruin  would  satisfy 
their  inveterate  hatred. 

Their  power  and  popularity,  however,  began  already  to  decline.  The 
chancellor,  the  ablest  and  most  moderate  man  in  the  party,  having  been 
killed  at  Stirling  in  an  accidental  rencounter  between  his  followers  and 
those  of  the  earl  of  Crawford  ;  Athol,  who  was  appointed  his  successor  in 
that  high  office,  the  earls  of  Eglington,  Caithness,  and  Lord  Ogilvie,  all  the 
prime  favourites  at  court,  were  either  avowed  papists,  or  suspected  of  lean- 
ing to  the  opinions  of  that  sect.  In  an  age  when  the  return  of  popery  was 
so  much  and  so  justly  dreaded,  this  gave  universal  alarm.  As  Morton  had 
always  treated  the  papists  with  rigour,  this  unseasonable  favour  to  persons 
of  that  religion  made  all  zealous  protestants  remember  that  circumstance  in 
his  administration  with  great  praise. | 

Morton,  to  whom  none  of  these  particulars  were  unknown,  thought  this 
the  proper  juncture  for  setting  to  work  the  instruments  which  he  had  been 
preparing.  Having  gained  the  confidence  of  the  earl  of  Mar,  and  of  the 
countess  his  mother,  he  insinuated  to  them,  that  Alexander  Erskine  had 
formed  a  plot  to  deprive  his  nephew  of  the  government  of  Stirling  Castle, 
and  the  custody  of  the  king's  person;  and  easily  induced  an  ambitious 
woman,  and  a  youth  of  twenty,  to  employ  force  to  prevent  this  supposed 
injury.  The  earl  repairing  suddenly  to  Stirling  [April  26],  and  being 
admitted  as  usual  into  the  castle  with  his  attendants,  seize  1  the  gates  early 
in  the  morning,  and  turned  out  his  uncle,  who  dreaded  no  danger  from  his 
hands.  The  soldiers  of  the  garrison  submitted  to  him  as  their  governor, 
and,  with  little  danger  and  no  effusion  of  blood,  he  became  master  both  ol 
the  king's  person  and  of  the  fortress.  J 

An  event  so  unexpected  occasioned  great  consternation.     Though  Moi 

*  flpottw  S7&    Crmwf.  Mem.  389.    Cald.  ii.  522  f  Spotsw.  383.  X  Cald.  it.  335. 


MO  THE    HISTORY  | Book  VI. 

ton's  hand  did  not  appear  in  the  execution,  he  was  universally  believed  to 
be  the  author  of  the  attempt.  The  n»-.v  counsellors  saw  it  to  be  necessary, 
for  their  own  safety,  to  change  the'i  measures,  ard,  instead  of  pursuing  him 
with  such  implacable  resentment,  to  enter  into  terms  tf  accommodation 
with  an  adversary  stili  so  capable  vi  creating  them  trouble.  Four  were 
named  on  each  side  to  adjust  the  differences.  They  mei  not  far  from  Dal 
keith  ;  and  when  they  had  brought  matters  near  to  a  conclusion,  Morton, 
who  was  too  sagacious  not  to  improve  the  advantage  which  their  security 
and  their  attention  to  the  tseaty  afforded  him,  set  out  m  the  night-time  for 
Stirling,  and,  having  gained  Murray  of  Tullibardin,  xMar's  uncle,  was 
admitted  by  him  into  the  castle  [May  °14\  •  and.  managing  matters  there 
with  his  usual  dexterity,  he  soon  had  more  entirely  the  command  of  the  k.rt 
than  the  earl  himself.  He  was  likewise  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  privy 
council,  and  acquired  as  complete  an  ascendant  in  it.* 

As  the  time  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  parliament  at  Edinburgh  now 
approached,  this  gave  him  some  anxiety.  He  was  afraid  of  conducting  the 
young  king  to  a  enj  ."hose  inhabitants  were  so  much  at  the  devotion  of  the 
adverse  faction.  He  was  no  less  unwilling  to  leave  James  behind  at  Stir 
ling.  In  order  to  avoid  this  dilemma,  he  issued  a  proclamation  in  the  king's 
name,  changing  the  place  of  meeting  from  Edinburgh  to  Stirling  Castle. 
This  Athol  and  his  party  represented  as  a  step  altogether  unconstitutional. 
The  king,  said  they,  is  Morton's  prisoner ;  the  pretended  counsellors  are  his 
slaves  ;  a  parliament,  to  which  all  the  nobles  may  repair  without  fear,  and 
where  they  may  deliberate  with  freedom,  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
settling  the  nation  after  disorders  of  such  long  continuance.  But  an  assem- 
bly called  contrary  to  all  form,  held  within  the  walls  of  a  garrison,  and 
overawed  by  armed  men,  what  safety  could  members  expect  ?  what  liberty 
could  prevail  in  debate?  or  what  benefit  result  to  the  public?  The  par- 
liament met,  however,  on  the  day  appointed  [July  25],  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  protestation  of  the  earl  of  Montrose  and  lord  Lindsay,  in  the  name 
of  their  party,  proceeded  to  business.  The  king's  acceptance  of  the 
government  was  confirmed  ;  the  act  granted  to  Morton,  for  his  security, 
ratified;  some  regulations  with  regard  to  the  numbers  and  authority  of  the 
privy  council  were  agreed  upon  ;  and  a  pension  for  life  granted  to  the 
countess  of  Mar,  who  had  been  so  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  late 
revolution.! 

Meanwhile  Argyll,  Athol,  and  their  followers  took  arms,  upon  the  spe- 
cious pretence  of  rescuing  the  king  from  captivity,  and  the  kingdom  from 
oppression.  James  himself,  impatient  of  the  servitude  in  which  he  was 
held  by  a  man  whom  he  had  long  been  taught  to  hate,  secretly  encouraged 
their  enterprise  ;  though  at  the  same  time  he  was  obliged  not  only  to  disa- 
vow them  in  public,  but  to  levy  forces  against  them,  and  even  to  declare, 
by  proclamation,  that  he  was  perfectly  free  from  any  constraint,  either 
upon  his  person  or  his  will  [Aug.  11].  Both  sides  quickly  took  the  field. 
Argyll  and  Athol  were  at  the  head  of  seven  thousand  men ;  the  earl  of 
Angus,  Morton's  nephew,  met  them  with  an  army  five  thousand  strong ; 
neither  party,  however,  was  eager  to  engage.  Morton  distrusted  the  fidel- 
ity of  his  own  troops.  The  two  earls  were  sensible  that  a  single  victory, 
however  complete  ftould  not  be  decisive  ;  and,  as  they  were  in  no  condi- 
tion to  undertake  the  siege  of  Stirling  Castle,  where  the  king  was  kept, 
their  strength  would  soon  be  exhausted,  while  Morton's  own  wealth,  and 
the  patronage  of  the  queen  of  England  might  furnish  him  with  endless 
resources.  By  the  mediation  of  Bowes,  whom  Elizabeth  had  sent  into 
Scotland  to  negotiate  an  accommodation  between  the  two  factions,  a  treaty 
wa«  concluded,  in  consequence  of  which  Argyll  and  Athol  were  admitted 
Into  the  king's  presence  ;  some  of  their  party  were  added  to  the  privy  cour> 

•  Cald.  U.  S36  :  Ibid.  ii.  547.    Pari.  5,  J«c  ft. 


OF  SCOT  LAN  D  t3i 

cil  ;  and  a  convention  of  nobles  called,  in  order  to  bring  all  remaining  dif- 
ference!' to  an  amicable  issue.* 

As  soon  as  .lames  assumed  the  government  into  his  own  hands,  he  des- 
patched the  abbot  of  Dunfermling  to  inform  Elizabeth  of  that  event;  to 
offer  to  renew  the  alliance  between  the  two  kingdoms  ;  and  to  demand  pos- 
session of  the  estate  which  had  lately  fallen  to  him  by  the  death  of  his 
grandmother  the  countess  of  Lennox.  That  lady's  second  son  had  left  one 
daughter,  Arabella  Stewart,  who  was  born  in  England.  And  as  the  chiel 
objection  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Scottish  line  to  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land was  that  maxim  of  English  law  which  excludes  aliens  from  any  right 
of  inheritance  within  the  kingdom,  Elizabeth,  by  granting  this  demand, 
would  have  established  a  precedent  in  James's  favour,  that  might  have 
been  deemed  decisive  with  regard  to  a  point  which  it  bad  been  her  con- 
-  i.nt  care  to  keep  undecided.  Without  suffering  this  delicate  question  to 
b  •  tried,  or  allowing  any  new  light  to  be  thrown  on  that  which  she  consi- 
dered as  the  great  mystery  of  her  reign,  she  commanded  lord  Burleigh, 
mnsterof  the  wards,  to  sequester  the  rents  of  the  estate  ;  and,  by  this  method 
of  proceeding,  gave  the  Scottish  king  early  warning  how  necessary  it  would 
be  to  court  her  favour,  if  ever  he  hoped  for  success  in  claims  of  greater 
importance,  but  equally  liable  to  be  controverted. t 

1579.]  After  many  delays,  and  with  much  difficulty,  the  contending 
nobles  were  at  last  brought  to  some  agreement.  But  it  was  followed  by  a 
tragical  event.  Morton,  in  token  of  reconcilement,  having  invited  the 
leaders  of  the  opposite  party  to  a  great  entertainment,  Athol  the  chancellor 
was  soon  after  taken  ill,  and  died  within  a  few  days  [April  24].  The 
symptoms  and  violence  of  the  disease  gave  rise  to  strong  suspicions  of  his 
being  poisoned ;  and  though  the  physicians  who  opened  his  body  differed 
in  opinion  as  to  the  cause  of  the  distemper,  the  chancellor's  relations  publicly 
accused  Morton  of  that  odious  crime.  The  advantage  which  visibly  accrued 
to  him  by  the  removal  of  a  man  of  great  abilities,  and  averse  from  all  his 
measures,  was  deemed  a  sufficient  proof  of  his  guilt  by  the  people,  whc 
are  ever  fond  of  imputing  the  death  of  eminent  persons  to  extraordinary 
causes.! 

The  office  of  chancellor  was  bestowed  upon  Argyll,  whom  this  prefer 
ment  reconciled,  in  a  great  measure,  to  Morton's  administration.  He  had 
now  recovered  all  the  authority  which  he  possessed  during  his  regency, 
and  had  entirely  broken  or  bafned  the  power  and  cabals  of  h'r  enemies. 
None  of  the  great  families  remained  to  be  the  objects  of  his  jealous}'  or  to 
obstruct  his  designs,  but  that  of  Hamilton.  The  earl  of  Arran,  the  eldest 
brother,  had  never  recovered  the  shock  which  he  received  from  the  ill  suc- 
cess of  his  passion  for  the  queen,  and  had  now  altogether  lost  his  reason. 
Lord  John,  the  second  brother,  was  in  possession  of  the  family  estate  ;  lord 
Claud  was  commendator  of  Paisley ;  both  of  them  young  men,  ambitious  and 
enterprising.  Morton  dreaded  their  influence  in  the  kingdom  ;  the  courtiers 
hoped  to  share  their  sp.  »ils  among  them  ;  and  as  all  princes  naturally  view 
their  successors  with  jealousy  and  hatred,  it  was  easy  to  infuse  these  pas- 
sions into  the  mind  of  the  young  king.  A  pretence  was  at  hand  to  justify 
the  must  violent  proceedings.  The  pardon,  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of 
Perth,  did  not  extend  to  such  as  were  accessary  to  the  murder  of  the 
regents  Murray  or  Lennox.  Lord  John  and  his  brother  were  suspected  of 
being  the  authors  of  both  these  crimes,  and  had  been  included  in  a  general 
act  of  attainder  on  that  account.  Without  summoning  them  to  trial,  01 
examining  a  single  witness  to  prove  the  charge,  this  attainder  was  now 
thought  sufficient  to  subject  them  to  all  the  penalties  which  they  would  have 
incurred  by  being  formally  convicted.  The  earls  of  Morton.  Mar,  and 
Eglington,  together  with  the  lords  Ruthven,  Boyd,  and  Cathcart,  received 

•  Crowf.  Mem.  307.  t  Camd.  461.  1  SpoUw.  306 


S3*  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

a  commission  to  seize  their  persons  and  estates.  On  a  few  hours'  warning 
a  considerable  body  of  troops  was  ready,  and  marched  towards  Hamilton 
in  hostile  array.  Happily  the  two  brothers  made  their  escape,  though 
with  great  difficulty.  But  their  lands  were  confiscated ;  the  castles  of 
Hamilton  and  Draffan  besieged ;  those  who  defended  them  punished.  The 
earl  of  Arran,  though  incapable  from  his  situation  of  committing  any  crime, 
was  involved,  by  a  shameful  abuse  of  law,  in  the  common  ruin  of  his 
family;  and,  as  if  he  too  could  have  been  guilty  of  rebellion,  he  was  con- 
fined a  close  prisoner.  These  proceedings,  so  contrary  to  the  fundamental 
principles  of  justice,  were  all  ratified  in  the  subsequent  parliament.* 

About  this  time  Mary  sent,  by  Naue  her  secretary,  a  letter  to  her  son, 
together  with  some  jewels  of  value,  and  a  vest  embroidered  with  her  own 
hands.  But,  as  she  gave  him  only  the  title  of  prince  of  Scotland,  the 
messenger  was  dismissed  without  being  admitted  into  his  presence.! 

Though  Elizabeth  had  at  this  time  no  particular  reason  to  fear  any 
attempt  of  the  popish  princes  in  Mary's  favour,  she  still  continued  to  guard 
her  with  the  same  anxious  care.  The  acquisition  of  Portugal  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  defence  of  the  Netherlands  on  the  other,  fully  employed  the 
councils  and  arms  of  Spain.  France,  torn  in  pieces  by  intestine  com- 
motions, and  under  a  weak  and  capricious  prince,  despised  and  distrusted 
by  his  own  subjects,  was  in  no  condition  to  disturb  its  neighbours.  Eliza- 
beth had  long  amused  that  court  by  carrying  on  a  treaty  of  marriage  with 
the  duke  of  Alencon,  the  king's  brother.  But  whether,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
five,  she  really  intended  to  marry  a  prince  of  twenty;  whether  the  plea- 
sure of  being  flattered  and  courted  made  her  listen  to  the  addresses  of  so 
young  a  lover,  whom  she  allowed  to  visit  her  at  two  different  times,  and 
treated  with  the  most  distinguishing  respect :  or  whether  considerations  of 
interest  predominated  in  this  as  well  as  in  every  other  transaction  of  her 
reign,  are  problems  in  history  which  we  are  not  concerned  to  resolve. 
During  the  progress  of  this  negotiation,  which  was  drawn  out  to  an  extra- 
ordinary length,  Mary  could  expect  no  assistance  from  the  French  court, 
and  seems  to  have  held  little  correspondence  with  it ;  and  there  was  no 
period  in  her  reign,  wherein  Elizabeth  enjoyed  more  perfect  security. 

Morton  seems  at  this  time  to  have  been  equally  secure  ;  but  his  security 
was  not  so  well  founded.  He  had  weathered  out  one  storm,  had  crushed 
his  adversaries,  and  was  again  in  possession  of  the  sole  direction  of  affairs. 
But  as  the  king  was  now  of  an  age  when  the  character  and  dispositions  of 
the  mind  begin  to  unfold  themselves,  and  to  become  visible,  the  smallest 
attention  to  these  might  have  convinced  him,  that  there  was  reason  to 
expect  new  and  more  dangerous  attacks  on  his  power.  James  early  dis- 
covered that  excessive  attachment  to  favourites,  which  accompanied  him 
through  his  whole  life.  This  passion,  which  naturally  arises  from  inex- 
perience and  youthful  warmth  of  heart,  was,  at  his  age,  far  from  being 
culpable  ;  nor  could  it  be  well  expected  that  the  choice  of  the  objects  on 
whom  he  placed  his  affections  should  be  made  with  great  skill.  The 
most  considerable  of  them  was  Esme  Stewart,  a  native  of  France,  and 
son  of  a  second  brother  of  the  earl  of  Lennox.  He  was  distinguished  by 
the  title  of  lord  D'Aubigne,  an  estate  in  France,  which  descended  to  him 
from  his  ancestors,  on  whom  it  had  been  conferred  in  reward  of  their  valour 
and  services  to  the  French  crown.  He  arrived  in  Scotland  about  this  time 
[Sept.  8],  on  purpose  to  demand  the  estate  and  title  of  Lennox,  to  which 
he  pretended  a  legal  right.  He  was  received  at  first  by  the  king  with  the 
respect  due  to  so  near  a  relation.  The  gracefulness  of  his  person,  the 
elegance  of  his  dress,  and  his  courtly  behaviour,  made  a  great  impression 
on  James,  who,  e  en  in  his  more  mature  years,  was  little  able  to  resist 
these  frivolous  charms  ;  and  his  affection  flowed  with  its  usual  rapidity  and 

•  Crawf  Mem.  311.    Spotavr.  306  f  Cnwf.  Mem  314. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  233 

profusion.  Within  a  few  days  after  Stewart's  appearance  at  court,  he  was 
created  lord  Aberbrothock,  soon  after  earl  and  then  duke  of  Lennox,  go- 
vernor of  Dumbarton  castle,  captain  of  the  guard,  first  lord  of  the  bed- 
chamber, and  lord  high  chamberlain.  At  the  same  time,  and  without  any 
o(  the  envy  or  emulation  which  is  usual  among  candidates  for  favour,  cap- 
tain James  Stewart,  the  second  son  of  lord  Ochiltree,  grew  into  great  con- 
fidence. But,  notwithstanding  this  union,  Lennox  and  captain  Stewart 
were  persons  of  very  opposite  characters.  The  former  was  naturally 
gentle,  humane,  candid ;  but  unacquainted  with  the  state  of  the  country, 
and  misled  or  misinformed  by  those  whom  he  trusted  ;  not  unworthy  to  be 
(he  companion  of  the  young  king  in  his  amusements,  but  utterly  dis 
qualified  for  acting  as  a  minister  in  directing  his  affairs.  The  latter  was 
remarkable  for  all  the  vices  which  render  a  man  formidable  to  his  country, 
and  a  pernicious  counsellor  to  his  prince  ;  nor  did  he  possess  any  one  virtue 
to  counterbalance  these  vices,  unless  dexterity  in  conducting  his  own  de- 
signs, and  an  enterprising  courage,  superior  to  the  sense  of  danger,  may 
pass  by  that  name.  Unrestrained  by  religion,  regardless  of  decency,  and 
undismayed  by  opposition,  he  aimed  at  objects  seemingly  unattainable  ; 
but,  under  a  prince  void  of  experience,  and  blind  to  all  the  defects  of  those 
who  had  gained  his  favour,  his  audacity  was  successful ,  and  honours, 
wealth,  and  power,  were  the  reward  of  his  crimes. 

Both  the  favourites  concurred  in  employing  their  whole  address  to  un- 
dermine Morton's  credit,  which  alone  obstructed  their  full  possession  of 
power.  As  James  had  been  bred  up  with  an  aversion  for  that  nobleman, 
who  endeavoured  rather  to  maintain  the  authority  of  a  tutor,  than  to  act 
with  the  obsequiousness  of  a  minister,  they  found  it  no  difficult  matter  to 
accomplish  their  design.  Morton,  who  could  no  longer  keep  the  king  shut 
up  within  the  walls  ot  Stirling  Castle,  having  called  a  parliament  [Oct.  17] 
to  meet  at  Edinburgh,  brought  him  thither.  James  made  his  entry  into  the 
capital  with  great  solemnity ;  the  citizens  received  him  with  the  loudest 
acclamations  of  joy,  and  with  many  expensi\e  pageants,  according  to  the 
mode  of  that  age.  After  a  long  period  of  thirty-seven  years,  during  which 
Scotland  had  been  subjected  to  the  delegated  power  of  regents,  or  to  the 
feeble  government  of  a  woman  ;  after  having  suffered  all  the  miseries  oi 
civil  war,  and  felt  the  insolence  of  foreign  armies,  the  nation  rejoiced  to 
see  the  sceptre  once  more  in  the  hands  of  a  king.  Fond  even  oi  that 
shadow  of  authority,  which  a  prince  of  fifteen  could  possess,  the  Scots 
flattered  themselves,  that  union,  order,  and  tranquillity,  would  now  be  re- 
stored to  the  kingdom.  James  opened  the  parliament  with  extraordinary 
pomp,  but  nothing  remarkable  passed  in  it. 

1580.]  These  demonstrations,  however,  of  the  people's  love  and  attach- 
ment to  their  sovereign,  encouraged  the  favourites  to  conlinue  their  insinua- 
tions against  Morton  ;  and  as  the  king  now  resided  in  the  palace  of  Holyrood 
house,  to  which  all  his  subjects  had  access,  the  cabal  against  the  earl  grew 
daily  stronger,  and  the  intrigue  which  occasioned  his  fail  ripened  gradually. 

Morton  began  to  be  sensible  of  his  danger,  and  endeavoured  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  career  of  Lennox's  preferment,  by  representing  him  as  a 
formidable  enemy  to  the  reformed  religion,  a  secret  agent  in  favour  of 
popery,  and  a  known  emissary  of  the  house  of  Guise.  The  clergy,  apt 
to  believe  every  rumour  of  this  kind,  spread  the  alarm  among  the  people. 
But  Lennox,  either  out  of  complaisance  to  his  master,  or  convinced  by  the 
arguments  of  some  learned  divines  whom  the  king  appointed  to  instruct 
him  in  the  principles  of  the  protestant  religion,  publicly  '■enounced  the 
errors  of  popery,  in  the  church  of  St.  Giles,  and  declared  him°elf  a  member 
of  the  church  of  Scotland,  by  signing  her  confession  of  faith.  This,  though 
it  did  not  remove  all  suspicions,  nor  silence  some  zealous  prea.  her?,  abated* 
in  a  great  degree,  the  force  of  the  accusation.* 

*  Crawf.  Mem.31'J.    Spotsw.  308 

Vol   III— 80 


«34  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI 

On  the  other  hand,  a  rumour  prevailed  that  Morton  was  preparing 
to  seize  the  kind's  person,  and  to  carry  him  into  England.  Whether 
despair  of  maintaining  his  power  by  any  other  means,  had  driven  him  tc 
make  any  overture  of  that  kind  to  the  English  court,  or  whether  it  was  a 
calumny  invented  by  his  adversaries  to  lender  him  odious,  cannot  now  be 
determined  with  certainty.  As  be  declared  at  his  death  that  such  a  design 
had  never  entered  into  his  thoughts,  the  latter  seems  to  be  most  probable. 
It  afforded  a  pretence,  however,  for  reviving  the  office  of  lord  chamberlain, 
which  had  been  for  some  time  disused.  That  honour  was  conferred  on 
Lennox.  Alexander  Erskine,  Morton's  capital  enemy,  was  his  deputy ; 
they  had  under  them  a  band  of  gentlemen,  who  were  appointed  constantly 
to  attend  the  king,  and  to  guard  his  person.* 

Morton  was  not  ignorant  of  what  his  enemies  intended  to  insinuate  by 
such  unusual  precautions  for  the  king's  safety ;  and,  as  his  last  resource, 
applied  to  Elizabeth,  whose  protection  had  often  stood  him  in  stead  in  his 
greatest  difficulties.  In  consequence  of  this  application,  Bowes,  her  envoy, 
accused  Lennox  of  practices  against  the  peace  of  the  two  kingdoms,  and 
insisted,  in  her  name,  that  he  should  instantly  be  removed  from  the  privy 
council.  Such  an  unprecedented  demand  was  considered  by  the  counsel 
lors  as  an  affront  to  the  king,  and  an  encroachment  on  the  independence  of 
the  kingdom.  They  affected  to  call  in  question  the  envoy's  powers,  and 
upon  that  pretence  refused  him  further  audience  :  and  he  retiring  in  disgust, 
and  without  taking  leave,  Sir  Alexander  Home  was  sent  to  expostulate 
with  Elizabeth  on  the  subject.  After  the  treatment  which  her  envoy  had 
received,  Elizabeth  thought  it  below  her  dignity  to  admit  Home  into  her 
presence.  Burleigh,  to  whom  he  was  commanded  to  impart  his  commis- 
sion, reproached  him  with  his  master's  ingratitude  towards  a  benefactress 
who  had  placed  the  crown  on  his  head,  and  required  him  to  advise  the 
king  to  beware  of  sacrificing  the  friendship  of  so  necessary  an  ally  to  the 
giddy  humours  of  a  young  man  without  experience,  and  strongly  suspected 
of  principles  and  attachments  incompatible  with  the  happiness  of  the 
Scottish  nation. 

This  accusation  of  Lennox  hastened,  in  all  probability,  Morton's  fall. 
The  act  of  indemnity,  which  he  had  obtained  when  he  resigned  the  re- 
gency, was  worded  with  such  scrupulous  exactness,  as  almost  screened  him 
from  any  legal  prosecution.  The  murder  of  the  late  king  was  the  only 
crime  which  could  not,  with  decency,  be  inserted  in  a  pardon  granted  by 
his  son.  Here  Morton  still  lay  open  to  the  penalties  of  the  law,  and  Capt. 
Stewart,  who  shunned  no  action,  however  desperate,  if  it  led  to  power  or 
to  favour,  entered  the  council-chamber  while  the  king  and  nobles  were 
assembled,  and  [Dec.  30,]  falling  on  his  knees,  accused  Morton  of  being 
accessary,  or,  according  to  the  language  of  the  Scottish  law,  art  and  part, 
in  the  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  his  majesty's  father,  and  offered,  under 
the  usual  penalties,  to  verify  this  charge  by  legal  evidence.  Morton,  who 
was  present,  heard  this  accusation  with  firmness;  and  replied  with  a  dis- 
dainful smile,  proceeding  either  from  contempt  of  the  infamous  character 
of  his  accuser,  or  from  consciousness  of  his  own  innocence,  "  that  his  own 
zeal  in  punishing  those  who  were  suspected  of  that  detestable  crime,  might 
well  exempt  himself  from  any  suspicion  of  being  accessary  to  it ;  never- 
theless, he  would  cheerfully  submit  to  a  trial,  either  in  that  place  or  in  any 
other  court ;  and  doubted  not  but  his  own  innocence  and  the  malice  of  his 
enemies  would  then  appear  in  the  clearest  light."  Stewart,  who  was  still 
on  his  knees,  began  to  inquire  how  he  would  reconcile  his  bestowing  so 
many  honours  on  Archibald  Douglas,  whom  he  certainly  knew  to  be  one 
of  the  murderers,  with  his  pretended  zeal  against  that  crime.  Morion  was 
ready  to  answer.     But  the  king  commanded  both  to  be  removed  [1681]. 

•  Crawf.  Mem  390, 


OF   SCOTLAND.  23f 

The  earl  was  confined,  first  of  all  to  Ins  <tw.,  bouse,  4&U  then  committed 
to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  of  which  Alexanoer  Erskine  was  governor; 
and,  as  if  it  had  not  been  a  sufficient  indignity  to  subject  him  to  the  power 
of  one  of  his  enemies,  he  was  soon  after  carried  to  Dumbarton,  of 
which  Lennox  had  the  command.  A  warrant  was  likewise  issued,  for 
apprehending  Archibald  Douglas ;  but  he,  having  received  timely  intelli- 
gence of  the  approaching  danger,  fled  into  England.* 

The  earl  of  Angus,  who  imputed  these  violent  proceedings  not  to  hatred 
against  Morton  alone,  but  to  the  ancient  enmity  between  the  houses  of  Stew- 
art and  of  Douglas,  and  who  believed  that  a  conspiracy  was  now  formed  for 
the  destruction  of  all  who  bore  that  name,  was  ready  to  take  arms  in  order 
to  rescue  his  kinsman.  But  Morton  absolutely  forbade  any  such  attempt,  ;»nd 
declared  that  he  would  rather  suffer  ten  thousand  deaths  than  bring  an 
imputation  upon  his  own  character  by  seeming  to  decline  a  trial. | 

Elizabeth  did  not  fail  to  interpose,  with  warmth,  in  behalf  of  a  man  who 
had  contributed  so  much  to  preserve  her  influence  over  Scotland.  The 
late  transactions  in  that  kingdom  had  given  her  great  uneasiness.  The 
power  which  Lennox  had  acquired  independent  of  her  was  dangerous ; 
the  treatment  her  ambassadors  had  met  with  differed  greatly  from  the  re- 
spect with  which  the  Scots  were  in  use  to  receive  her  ministers  ;  and  the 
attack  now  made  on  Morton  fully  convinced  her  that  there  was  an  intention 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  the  two  nations,  and  to  seduce  James 
into  a  new  alliance  with  France,  or  into  a  marriage  with  some  popish  prin- 
cess. Full  of  these  apprehensions,  she  ordered  a  considerable  body  of 
troops  to  be  assembled  on  the  borders  of  Scotland,  and  despatched  Ran- 
dolph as  her  ambassador  into  that  kingdom.  He  addressed  himself  not 
only  to  James,  and  to  his  council,  but  to  a  convention  of  estates  met  at  that 
time.  He  began  with  enumerating  the  extraordinary  benefits  which  Eliza- 
beth had  conferred  on  the  Scottish  nation :  that  without  demanding  a  single 
foot  of  land  for  herself,  without  encroaching  on  the  liberties  of  the  king- 
dom in  the  smallest  article,  she  had,  at  the  expense  of  the  blood  of  her 
subjects  and  the  treasures  of  her  crown,  rescued  the  Scots  from  the  do- 
minion of  France,  established  among  them  true  religion,  and  put  them  in 
possession  of  their  ancient  rights :  that  from  the  beginning  of  civil  dissen- 
sions in  the  kingdom,  she  had  protected  those  who  espoused  the  king's 
-use,  and  by  her  assistance  alone,  the  ,rown  hsd  been  preserved  on  his 
head,  and  all  the  attempts  of  the  adverse  faction  baffled  :  that  a  union,  un- 
known to  their  ancestors,  but  equally  beneficial  to  both  kingdoms,  had  sub- 
sisted for  a  long  period  of  years,  and  though  so  many  popish  princes  had 
combined  to  disturb  this  happy  state  of  things,  her  care,  and  their  con- 
stancy had  hitherto  defeated  all  these  efforts :  that  she  had  observed  ot 
late  an  unusual  coldness,  distrust,  and  estrangement  in  the  Scottish  council, 
which  she  could  impute  to  none  but  to  Lennox,  a  subject  of  France,  a 
retainer  to  the  house  of  Guise,  bred  up  in  the  errors  of  popery,  and  still 
suspected  of  favouring  that  superstition,  i  ot  satisfied  with  having  mounted 
so  fast  to  an  uncommon  height  of  power,  which  he  exercised  with  all  the 
rashness  of  youth,  and  all  the  ignorance  of  a  stranger ;  nor  thinking  it 
enough  to  have  deprived  the  earl  of  Morton  of  the  authority  due  to  his 
abilities  and  experience,  he  had  conspired  the  ruin  of  that  nobleman,  who 
had  often  exposed  his  life  in  the  king's  cause,  who  had  contributed  more 
than  any  other  subject  to  place  him  on  the  throne,  to  resist  the  encroach- 
ments of  popery,  and  to  preserve  the  union  between  the  two  kingdoms. 
If  any  zeal  for  religion  remained  among  the  nobles  in  Scotland,  if  thev 
wished  for  the  continuance  of  amity  with  England,  if  they  valued  the  pn 
vileges  of  their  own  order,  he  called  upon  them,  in  the  name  of  his  mis- 
tress, to  remove  such  a  pernicious  counsellor  as  Lennox  from  the  presence  ot 

•  Crswf  Mem.  333  t  Johnat.  64.    Spottw.  311 


236  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI 

the  young  king,  to  rescue  Morton  out  of  the  hands  of  his  avowed  enemy 
and  to  secure  to  him  the  benefit  of  a  fair  and  impartial  trial :  and  if  force 
was  necessary  towards  accomplishing  a  design  so  salutary  to  the  king  and 
kingdom,  he  promised  them  the  protection  of  his  mistress  in  the  enterprise, 
and  whatever  assistance  they  should  demand,  either  of  men  or  money.* 

But  these  extraordinary  remonstrances,  accompanied  with  such  an  un- 
usual appeal  from  the  king  to  his  subjects,  were  not  the  only  means  em- 
p  oyed  by  Elizabeth  in  favour  of  Morton  and  against  Lennox.  She  per- 
suaded the  prince  of  Orange  to  send  an  agent  into  Scotlano,  and,  under 
colour  of  complimenting  James  on  account  of  the  valour  which  many  of 
his  subjects  had  displayed  in  the  service  of  the  states,  to  enter  into  a  long 
detail  of  the  restless  enterprises  of  the  popish  princes  against  the  protestant 
religion ;  to  beseech  him  to  adhere  inviolably  to  the  alliance  with  England, 
the  only  barrier  which  secured  his  kingdom  against  their  dangerous  cabals; 
and,  above  all  things,  to  distrust  the  insinuations  of  those  who  endeavoured 
to  weaken  or  to  dissolve  that  union  between  the  British  nations,  which  all 
the  protestants  in  Europe  beheld  with  so  much  pleasure.! 

James's  counsellors  were  too  intent  upon  the  destruction  of  their  enemy 
to  listen  to  these  remonstrances.  The  officious  interposition  of  the  prince 
of  Orange,  the  haughty  tone  of  Elizabeth's  message,  and  her  avowed 
attempt  to  excite  subjects  to  rebel  against  their  sovereign,  were  considered 
as  unexampled  insults  on  the  majesty  and  independence  of  a  crowned 
head.  A  general  and  evasive  answer  was  given  to  Randolph.  James  pre- 
pared to  assert  his  own  dignity  with  spirit.  All  those  suspected  of  favour- 
ing Morton  were  turned  out  of  office,  some  of  them  were  required  to  sur- 
render themselves  prisoners  ;  the  men  capable  of  bearing  arms  throughout 
the  kingdom  were  commanded  to  be  in  readiness  to  take  the  field ;  and 
troops  were  levied  and  posted  on  the  borders.  The  English  ambassador, 
finding  that  neither  the  public  manifesto  which  he  had  delivered  to  the 
convention,  nor  his  private  cabals  with  the  nobles,  could  excite  them  to 
arms,  fled  in  the  night  time  out  of  Scotland,  where  libels  against  him  had 
been  daily  published,  and  even  attempts  made  upon  his  life.  In  both 
kingdoms  every  thing  wore  a  hostile  aspect.  But  Elizabeth,  though  she 
wished  to  have  intimidated  the  Scottish  king  by  her  preparations,  had  no 
inclination  to  enter  into  a  war  with  him  ;  and  the  troops  on  the  horders. 
which  had  given  such  umbrage,  were  soon  dispersed.! 

The  greater  solicitude  Elizabeth  discovered  for  Morton's  safety,  the 
more  eagerly  did  his  enemies  drive  on  their  schemes  for  his  destruction. 
Captain  Stewart,  his  accuser,  was  first  appointed  tutor  to  the  earl  of  Arran, 
and  soon  after  both  the  title  and  estate  ot  his  unhappy  ward,  to  which  he 
advanced  some  frivolous  claim,  were  conferred  upon  him.  The  new-made 
peer  was  commanded  to  conduct  Morton  from  Dumbarton  to  Edinburgh  ; 
and  by  that  choice  the  earl  was  not  only  warned  what  fate  he  might  ex- 

f)ect,  but  had  the  cruel  mortification  of  seeing  his  deadly  enemy  already 
oaded  with  honours,  in  reward  of  the  malice  with  which  he  had  contri 
buted  to  his  ruin. 

The  records  of  the  court  of  justiciary  at  this  period  are  lost.  The  ac- 
count which  our  historians  give  of  Morton's  trial  is  inaccurate  and  unsatis- 
factory. The  proceedings  against  him  seem  to  have  been  carried  on  with 
violence.  During  the  trial,  great  bodies  of  armed  men  were  drawn  up  in 
different  parts  of  the  city.  The  jury  was  composed  of  the  earl's  known 
enemies  ;  and  though  he  challenged  several  of  them,  his  objections  were 
overruled.  After  a  short  consultation,  his  peers  found  him  guilty  of  con- 
cealing, and  of  being  art  and  part  in  the  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  the 
late  king.     The  first  part  of  the  verdict  did  not  surprise  him,  but  he  twice 

*  Cald.  ill.  6.  Slrype,  il.  631.  f  Cald.  iii.  9,  See  Append.  No.  XLI.  t  Crawf.  Mem.  3* 
Si  -ype,  ii.  App.  13a 


OF    SCOTLAND.  tST 

repeated  the  words  art  and  part  with  some  vehemence,  and  added,  HGbd 
knows  it  is  not  so."  The  doom  which  the  law  decrees  against  a  traitoi 
was  pronounced.  The  king,  however,  remitted  the  cruel  and  ignominious 
part  of  the  sentence,  and  appointed  that  he  should  suffer  death  next  day, 
by  being  beheaded.* 

During  that  awful  interval,  Morton  possessed  the  utmost  composure  ot 
mind.  He  supped  cheerfully;  slept  a  part  of  the  night  in  his  usual  manner, 
and  employed  the  rest  of  his  time  in  religious  conferences,  and  in  acts 
of  devotion  with  some  ministers  of  the  city.  The  clergymen  who  attended 
him,  dealt  freely  with  his  conscience,  and  pressed  his  crimes  home  upon 
him.  What  he  confessed  with  regard  to  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered 
is  remarkable,  and  supplies,  in  some  measure,  the  imperfection  of  our 
records.  He  acknowledged,  that  on  his  return  from  England,  after  the 
death  of  Rizio,  Bothwell  had  informed  him  of  the  conspiracy  against  the 
king,  which  the  queen,  as  he  told  him,  kn  w  of  and  approved  ;  that  he 
solicited  him  to  concur  in  the  execution  of  it,  which  at  that  time  he  abso- 
lutely declined  ;  that  soon  after  Bothwell  himself  and  Archibald  Douglas,  in 
his  name,  renewing  their  solicitations  to  the  same  purpose,  he  had  required 
a  warrant  under  the  queen's  hand,  authorizing  the  attempt,  and  as  that  had 
never  been  produced,  he  had  refused  to  be  any  further  concerned  in  the  matter. 
"  But,"  continued  he,  "  as  I  neither  consented  to  this  treasonable  act,  nor 
assisted  in  the  committing  of  it,  so  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  reveal  or  to 
prevent  it.  To  whom  could  I  make  the  discovery  ?  The  queen  was  the 
author  of  the  enterprise.  Darnly  was  such  a  changeling,  that  no  secret  could 
be  safely  communicated  to  him.  Huntly  and  Bothwell,  who  bore  the  chiel 
sway  in  the  kingdom,  were  themselves  the  perpetrators  of  the  crime." 
These  circumstances,  it  must  be  confessed,  go  some  length  towards  exten- 
uating Morton's  guilt ;  and  though  his  apology  for  the  favour  he  had  shown 
to  Archibald  Douglas,  whom  he  knew  to  be  one  of  the  conspirators,  be  far 
less  satisfactory,  no  uneasy  reflections  seem  to  have  disquieted  his  own 
mind  on  that  account. t  When  his  keepers  told  him  that  the  guards  were 
attendtng,  and  all  things  in  readiness,  "  I  praise  my  God,"  said  he,  "  I  am 
ready  likewise."  Arran  commanded  these  guards ;  and  even  in  those 
moments,  when  the  most  implacable  hatred  is  apt  to  relent,  the  malice  ot 
his  enemies  could  not  forbear  this  insult.  On  the  scaffold,  his  behaviour 
was  calm  ;  his  countenance  and  voice  unaltered  ;  and,  after  some  time  spent 
in  devotion,  he  suffered  death  with  the  intrepidity  which  became  the  name 
of  Douglas.  His  head  was  placed  on  the  public  jail  of  Edinburgh  ;  and 
his  body,  after  lying  till  sunset  on  the  scaffold,  covered  with  a  beggarly 
cloak,  was  carried  by  common  porters  to  the  usual  burial-place  for  crimi- 
nals. None  of  his  friends  durst  accompany  it  to  the  grave,  or  discover  their 
gratitude  and  respect  by  any  symptoms  of  sorrow.J 

Arran,  no  less  profligate  in  private  life  than  audacious  in  his  public  con- 
duct, soon  after  drew  the  attention  of  his  countrymen  by  his  infamous  mar- 
riage with  the  countess  of  March.  Before  he  grew  into  favour  at  court,  he 
had  been  often  entertained  in  her  husband's  house,  and  without  regarding 
the  laws  of  hospitality  or  of  gratitude,  carried  on  a  criminal  intrigue  with 
the  wife  of  his  benefactor,  a  woman  young  and  beautiful,  but,  according  tc 
the  description  of  a  cotemporary  historian,  "  intolerable  in  all  the  imperfec- 
tions incident  to  her  sex."  Impatient  of  any  restraint  upon  their  mutual 
desires,  they  with  equa!  ardour,  wished  to  avow  their  union  publicly,  and 
to  legitimate,  by  a  marriage,  the  offspring  of  their  unlawful  passion.  The 
countess  petitioned  to  be  divorced  from  her  husband,  for  a  reason  which 
no  modest  woman  will  ever  plead.  The  judges,  overawed  by  Arran, 
passed  sentence  without  delay  [July  6].     This  infamous  scene  was  ct»»- 

*  Spotsw.  314.    Johnst.  65.    Crawf.  Mem.  332.    Cald.  iil.  45.     Amot's  Ciimln.  Trials,  3H8» 
wf.  Mem.  App.  iil.  t  Ibid.  Mem.  334.    Spotsw.  314. 


«38  T  H  E   H  I S  T  O  R  Y  [Book  VJ. 

eluded  by  a  marriage,  solemnized  with  great  pomp,  and  beheld  by  all 
ranks  of  men  with  the  utmost  horror.* 

A  parliament  was  held  this  year  [Oct.  24],  at  the  opening  ot  which 
some  disputes  arose  between  Arran  and  the  new  created  duke  of  Lennox. 
Arran,  haughty  by  nature,  and  pushed  on  by  his  wife's  ambition,  began  to 
affect  an  equality  with  the  duke,  under  whose  protection  he  had  hitherto 
')een  contented  to  place  himself.  After  various  attempts  to  form  a  party 
in  the  council  against  Lennox,  he  found  him  fixed  so  firmly  in  the  king  s 
affections,  that  it  was  impossible  to  shake  him  ;  and,  rather  than  lose  all 
interest  at  court,  from  which  he  was  banished,  he  made  the  most  humble 
e,jbmissions  to  the  favourite,  and  again  recovered  his  former  credit.  This 
rupture  contributed,  however,  to  render  the  duke  still  more  odious  to  the 
nation.  During  the  continuance  of  it,  Arran  affected  to  court  the  clergy, 
pretended  an  extraordinary  zeal  for  the  protestant  religion,  and  laboured 
to  confirm  the  suspicions  which  were  entertained  of  his  rival,  as  an  emis- 
sary of  the  house  of  Guise,  and  a  favourer  of  popery.  As  he  was  supposed 
to  be  acquainted  with  the  duke's  most  secret  designs,  his  calumnies  were 
listened  to  with  greater  credit  than  was  due  to  his  character.  To  this  rival 
ship  between  Lennox  and  Arran,  during  the  continuance  of  which  each 
endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  clergy,  we  must  ascribe 
several  acts  of  this  parliament  uncommonly  favourable  to  the  church,  par- 
ticularly one  which  abolished  the  practice  introduced  by  Morton,  of  appoint 
ing  but  one  minister  to  several  parishes. 

No  notice  hath  been  taken  for  several  years  of  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
While  the  civil  government  underwent  so  many  extraordinary  revolutions, 
the  church  was  not  free  from  convulsions.  Two  objects  chiefly  engrossed 
the  attention  of  the  clergy.  The  one  was,  the  forming  a  system  of  disci- 
pline, or  ecclesiastical  polity.  After  long  labour,  and  many  difficulties,  this 
system  was  at  last  brought  to  some  degree  of  perfection.  The  assembly 
solemnly  approved  of  it,  and  appointed  it  to  be  laid  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil in  order  to  obtain  the  ratification  of  it  in  parliament.  But  Morton,  during 
his  administration,  and  those  who,  after  his  fall,  governed  the  king,  were 
equally  unwilling  to  see  it  carried  into  execution  ;  and,  by  starting  difficul- 
ties and  throwing  in  objections,  prevented  it  from  receiving  a  legal  sanction. 
The  other  point  in  view  was  the  abolition  of  the  episcopal  order.  The 
bishops  were  so  devoted  to  the  king,  to  whom  they  owed  their  promotion, 
that  the  function  itself  was  by  some  reckoned  dangerous  to  civil  liberty. 
Being  allowed  a  seat  in  parliament,  and  distinguished  by  titles  of  honour, 
these  not  only  occasioned  many  avocations  from  their  spiritual  functions, 
but  soon  rendered  their  character  and  manners  extremely  different  from 
those  of  the  clergy  in  that  age.  The  nobles  viewed  their  power  with 
jealousy ;  the  populace  considered  their  lives  as  profane  ;  and  both  wished 
their  downfall  with  equal  ardour.  The  personal  emulation  between  Mel- 
vi!  and  Adamson,  a  man  of  learning  and  eminent  for  his  popular  eloquence, 
who  was  promoted,  on  the  death  of  Douglas,  to  be  archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's,  mingled  itself  with  the  passions  on  each  side,  and  heightened 
them.  Attacks  were  made  in  eveiy  assembly  on  the  order  of  bishops; 
their  privileges  were  gradually  circumscribed  ;  and  at  last  an  act  was 
passed,  declaring  the  office  of  bishop,  as  it  was  then  exercised  within  the 
realm,  to  have  neither  foundation  nor  warrant  in  the  word  of  God  ;  and 
requiring,  under  pain  of  excommunication,  all  who  now  possessed  that  office, 
instantly  to  resign  it,  and  to  abstain  from  preaching  or  administering  the 
sacraments  until  they  should  receive  permission  from  the  general  assembly. 
The  court  did  not  acquiesce  in  this  decree.  A  vacancy  happening  soon 
after  in  the  see  of  Glasgow,  Montgomery  minister  at  Stirling,  a  man  vain, 
fickle,  presumptuous,  and  more  apt,  by  the  blemishes  in  his  character,  to 

♦  Spotsw.  315. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  «3s 

have  alienated  the  people  from  an  order  already  beloved,  than  to  reconcile 
them  to  one  which  was  the  object  of  their  hatred,  made  an  infamous  simo- 
niacal  bargain  with  Lennox,  and  on  his  recommendation  was  chosen  arch- 
bishop. The  presbytery  of  Stirling,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  the  pres- 
bytery of  Glasgow,  whither  he  was  to  be  translated,  and  the  general  assembly 
vied  with  each  other  in  prosecuting  him  on  that  account.  In  order  to 
screen  Montgomery,  James  made  trial  both  of  gentle  and  of  rigorous  mea 
sures,  and  both  were  equally  ineffectual.  The  general  assembly  was  just 
ready  to  pronounce  against  him  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  when  a 
herald  entered,  and  commanded  them  in  the  king's  name,  and  under  pain 
of  rebellion,  to  stop  further  proceedings.  Even  this  injunction  they  despised ; 
and  though  Montgomery,  by  his  tears  and  seeming  penitence,  procured  3 
short  respite,  the  sentence  was  at  last  issued  by  their  appointment,  and 
published  in  all  the  churches  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  firmness  of  the  clergy  in  a  collective  body  was  not  greater  than  the 
boldness  of  some  individuals,  particularly  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh. 
They  inveighed  daily  against  the  corruptions  in  the  administration ;  and, 
with  the  freedom  of  speech  admitted  into  the  pulpit  in  that  age,  named 
Lennox  and  Arran  as  the  chief  authors  of  the  grievances  under  which  the 
church  and  kingdom  groaned.  The  courtiers,  in  their  turn,  complained  to 
the  king  of  the  insolent  and  seditious  spirit  of  the  clergy.  In  order  to 
check  the  boldness  of  their  discourses,  James  issued  a  proclamation  corn- 
Handing  Dury,  one  of  the  most  popular  ministers,  not  only  to  leave  the 
.own,  but  to  abstain  from  preaching  in  any  other  place.  Dury  complained 
to  the  judicatories  of  this  encroachment  upon  the  immunities  of  his  office. 
They  approved  of  the  doctrine  which  he  had  delivered  ;  and  he  determined 
to  disregard  the  royal  proclamation.  But  the  magistrates  being  determined 
to  compel  him  to  leave  the  city,  according  to  the  king's  orders,  he  was 
obliged  to  abandon  his  charge,  after  protesting  publicly  at  the  cross  o( 
Edinburgh  against  the  violence  which  was  put  upon  him.  The  people 
accompanied  him  to  the  gates  with  tears  and  lamentations  ;  and  the  clergy 
denounced  the  vengeance  of  heaven  against  the  authors  of  this  outrage.* 

In  this  perilous  situation  stood  the  church,  the  authority  of  its  judicators 
called  in  question,  and  the  liberty  of  the  pulpit  restrained,  when  a  sudden 
revolution  of  the  civil  government  procured  them  unexpected  relief. 

The  two  favourites,  by  their  ascendant  over  the  king,  possessed  uncon 
trolled  power  in  the  kingdom,  and  exercised  it  with  the  utmost  wantonness. 
James  usually  resided  at  Dalkeith  or  Kinneil,  the  seats  of  Lennox  and  of 
Arran,  and  was  attended  by  such  company,  and  employed  in  such  amuse- 
ments, as  did  not  suit  his  dignity.  The  services  of  those  who  had  con- 
tributed most  to  place  the  crown  on  his  head  were  but  little  remembered. 
Many  who  had  opposed  him  with  the  greatest  virulence  enjoyed  the 
rewards  and  honours  to  which  the  others  were  entitled.  Exalted  notions 
of  regal  prerogative,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  constitution  of  Scotland, 
heing  instilled  by  his  favourites  into  the  mind  of  the  young  monarch,  unfor- 
tunately made  at  that  early  age  a  deep  impression  there,  and  became  the 
source  of  almost  all  his  subsequent  errors  in  the  government  of  both  king- 
doms.! Courts  of  justice  were  held  in  almost  every  county,  the  proprietors 
of  land  were  called  before  them,  and  upon  the  slightest  neglect  of  any  of 
the  numerous  forms  which  are  peculiar  to  the  feudal  holdings,  they  were 
fined  with  unusual  and  intolerable  rigour.  The  lord  chamberlain  revived 
the  obsolete  jurisdiction  of  his  office  over  the  boroughs,  and  they  were 
subjected  to  actions  no  less  grievous.  A  design  seemed  likewise  to 
have  been  formed  to  exasperate  Elizabeth,  and  to  dissolve  the  alliance 
with  her,  which  all  good  protestants  esteemed  the  chief  security  of  their 
religion  in  Scotland.    A  close  correspondence  was  carried  on  between  the 

•  Cmld.  AMem.  1576—1583.    Spoiaw.  227,  &c  t  CafaL  111.  197 


*40  THE  HISTORY  [Book  Vl. 

king  and  his  mother,  and  considerable  progress  made  towards  uniting  then 
titles  to  the  crown  by  such  a  treaty  of  association  as  Maitland  had  pro- 
jected; which  could  not  fail  of  endangering  or  diminishing  his  authority 
and  must  have  proved  fatal  to  those  who  had  acted  against  her  with  the 
greatest  vigour.* 

All  these  circumstances  irritated  the  impatient  spirit  of  the  Scottish 
nobles,  who  resolved  to  tolerate  no  longer  the  insolence  of  the  two  minions, 
or  to  stand  by  whiJp  tbtsii  presumption  and  inexperience  ruined  both  the 
king  and  the  kingdom.  Elizabeth,  who,  daring  the  administration  of  the  four 
regents,  had  tbr  entire  direction  of  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  felt  herself 
deprived  of  all  influence  in  that  kingdom  ever  ^ince  the  death  of  Morton, 
and  was  ready  to  countenance  any  attempt  to  rescue  the  king  out  of  the 
hands  of  favourites  who  were  leading  him  into  measures  so  repugnant  to 
all  her  view-,.  The  earls  of  Mar,  and  Glencairn,  lord  Ruthven,  lately 
created  earl  of  Gowrie,  lord  Lindsay,  lord  Boyd,  the  tutor  of  Glamis,  the 
eldest  son  of  lord  Oliphant,  with  several  barons  and  gentlemen  of  distinction, 
entered  into  a  combination  for  that  purpose ;  and  as  changes  in  adminis- 
tration, which  among  polished  nations  are  brought  about  slowly  and 
silently  by  artifice  and  intrigue,  were  in  that  rude  age  effected  suddenly 
and  by  violence,  the  king's  situation,  and  :he  security  of  the  favourites, 
encouraged  the  conspirators  to  have  immediate  recourse  to  force. 

James,  after  having  resided  for  some  time  in  Athol,  where  he  enjoyed 
his  favourite  amusement  of  hunting,  was  now  returning  towards  Edinburgh 
with  a  small  train.  He  was  invited  to  Ruthven  castle,  which  lay  in  his 
way;  and  as  he  suspected  no  danger,  he  went  thither  in  hopes  of  further 
sport  [Aug.  12].  The  multitude  of  strangers  whom  he  found  there  gave 
him  some  uneasiness ;  and  as  those  who  were  in  the  secret  arrived  every 
moment  from  different  parts,  the  appearance  of  so  many  new  faces 
increased  his  fears.  He  concealed  his  uneasiness,  however,  with  the 
utmost  care ;  and  next  morning  prepared  for  the  field,  expecting  to  find 
there  some  opportunity  of  making  his  escape.  But  just  as  he  was  ready 
to  depart,  the  nobles  entered  his  bedchamber  in  a  body,  and  presented  a 
memorial  against  the  illegal  and  oppressive  actions  of  his  two  favourites, 
whom  they  represented  as  most  dangerous  enemies  to  the  religion  and 
liberties  of  the  nation.  James,  though  he  received  this  remonstrance  with 
the  complaisance  which  was  necessary  in  his  present  situation,  was 
extremely  impatient  to  be  gone ;  but  as  he  approached  the  door  of  his 
apartment,  the  tutor  of  Glamis  rudely  stopped  him.  The  king  complained, 
expostulated,  threatened,  and,  finding  all  these  without  effect,  burst  into 
tears:  "No  matter,"  said  Glamis  fiercely,  "better  children  weep  than 
bearded  men."  These  words  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  king's  mind, 
and  were  never  forgotten.  The  conspirators,  without  regarding  his  tears 
or  indignation,  dismissed  such  of  his  followers  as  they  suspected;  allowed 
none  but  persons  of  their  own  party  to  have  access  to  him  ;  and,  though 
they  treated  him  with  great  respect,  guarded  his  person  with  the  utmost 
care  This  enterprise  is  usually  called,  by  our  historians,  The  Raid  of 
Ruthven.] 

Lennox  and  Arran  were  astonished  to  the  last  degree  at  an  event  so 
unexpected,  and  so  fatal  to  their  power.  The  former  endeavoured,  but 
without  success,  to  excite  the  inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  to  take  arms  in 
order  to  rescue  their  sovereign  from  captivity.  The  latter  with  his  usual 
impetuosity  mounted  on  horseback  the  moment  he  heard  what  had  befallen 
the  king,  and  with  a  few  followers  rode  towards  Ruthven  castle ;  and  as  a 
considerable  body  of  the  conspirators,  under  the  command  of  the  earl  of 
Mar.  lay  in  his  way  ready  to  oppose  him,  he  separated  himself  from  his 
companions,  and  with  two  attendants  arrived  at  the  gate  of  the  castle.    At 

*  Old.  Ill  357  t  Ibid.  iii.  134.    SpoUW.  330.    Melv  357 


OF   SCOTLAND.  841 

the  sight  of  a  man  so  odious  to  his  country  the  indignation  of  the  con- 
spirators rose,  and  instant  death  must  have  been  the  punishment  of  his 
rashness,  if  the  friendship  of  Gowrie,  or  some  other  cause  not  explained  by 
our  historians,  had  not  saved  a  life  so  pernicious  to  the  kingdom.  He  was 
confined,  however,  to  the  castle  of  Stirling,  w  ithout  being  admitted  into  the 
king's  presence. 

The  king,  though  really  the  prisoner  of  his  own  subjects,  with  whose 
conduct  he  could  not  help  discovering  many  symptoms  of  disgust,  was 
obliged  to  publish  a  proclamation,  signifying  his  approbation  of  their 
enterprise,  declaring  that  he  was  at  full  liberty,  without  any  restraint  or 
violence  offered  to  his  person;  and  forbidding  any  attempt  against  those 
concerned  in  the  Raid  of  Ruthven,  under  pretence  of  rescuing  him  oul  <  i 
their  hands  [Aug.  23].  At  the  same  time  he  commanded  Lennox  to  leave 
Scotland  before  the  20th  of  September.* 

Soon  after,  sir  George  Carey  and  Robert  Bowes  arrived  as  ambassadors 
from  Elizabeth.  The  pretext  of  their  embassy  was  to  inquire  after  the 
king's  safety;  to  encourage  and  countenance  the  conspirators  was  the  real 
motive  of  it.  By  their  intercession  the  earl  of  Angus,  who,  ever  since 
he  death  of  his  uncle  Morion,  had  lived  in  exile,  obtained  leave  to  return. 
And  the  accession  of  a  nobleman  so  powerful  and  so  popular  strengthened 
the  faction.t 

Lennox,  whose  amiable  and  gentle  qualities  had  procured  him  many 
friends,  and  who  received  private  assurances  that  the  king's  favour  towards 
him  was  in  no  degree  abated,  seemed  resolved  at  first  to  pay  no  regard  to 
a  command  extorted  by  violence,  and  no  less  disagreeable  to  James  than 
it  was  rigorous  with  regard  to  himself.  But  the  power  of  his  enemies, 
who  were  masters  of  the  king's  person,  who  were  secretly  supported  by 
Elizabeth,  and  openly  applauded  by  the  clergy,  deterred  him  from  any 
enterprise  the  success  of  which  was  dubious,  and  the  danger  certain  both 
to  himself  and  to  his  sovereign.  He  put  off  the  time  of  his  departure, 
however,  by  various  artifices,  in  expectation  either  that  James  might  make 
his  escape  from  the  conspirators,  or  that  fortune  might  present  some  more 
favourable  opportunity  of  taking  arms  for  his  relief. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  conspirators  were  extremely  solicitous  not  only 
to  secure  (he  approbation  of  their  countrymen,  but  to  obtain  some  legal 
sanction  of  their  enterprise.  For  this  purpose  they  published  a  long 
declaration,  containing  the  motives  which  had  induced  them  to  venture  on 
such  an  irregular  step,  and  endeavoured  to  heighten  the  public  indignation 
against  the  favourites,  by  representing  in  the  strongest  colours  their  inex- 
perience and  insolence,  their  contempt  of  the  nobles,  their  violation  of  the 
privileges  of  the  church,  and  their  oppression  of  the  people.  They  obliged 
the  king,  who  could  not  with  safety  refuse  any  of  their  demands,  to  grant 
them  a  remission  in  the  most  ample  form  ;  and,  not  satisfied  with  that,  the}' 
applied  to  the  assembly  of  the  church,  and  easily  procured  an  act  [Oct. 
3J,  declaring,  "that  they  had  done  good  and  acceptable  service  to  God,  to 
their  sovereign,  and  to  their  native  country;"  and  requiring  all  sincere 
protestants  to  concur  with  them  in  carrying  forward  such  a  laudable  enter- 
prise. In  order  to  add  the  greater  weight  to  this  act,  every  minister  was 
enjoined  to  read  it  in  his  own  pulpit,  and  to  inflict  the  censures  of  the 
church  on  those  who  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  so  good  a  cause.  A 
convention  of  estates  assembled  a  (ew  days  after,  passed  an  act  to  the  same 
effect,  and  granted  full  indemnity  to  the  conspirators  for  every  thing  they 
had  done.J 

James  was  conducted  by  them  first  to  Stirling,  and  afterwards  to  the 
palace  of  Holyrood  house;  and  though  he  was  received  every  where  w'th 
the  external  marks  of  respect  due  to  his  dignity,  his  motions  were  care- 

*  Cald.  iii.  135  138.  t  Ibid.  iii.  152.  }  Ibid.  ",77.  187.  300.     SpoUw  323. 

Vol.  III.— 31 


242  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

fully  observed,  and  he  was  under  a  restraint  no  less  strict  than  at  the  first 
moment  when  he  was  seized  by  the  conspirators.  Lennox,  after  eluding 
many  commands  to  depart  out  of  the  kingdom,  was  at  last  obliged  to  begin 
his  journey.  He  lingered,  however,  for  some  time  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Edinburgh,  as  if  he  had  still  intended  to  make  some  effort  towards 
restoring  the  king  to  liberty.  But  either  from  the  gentleness  of  his  own 
disposition,  averse  to  bloodshed  and  the  disorders  of  civil  war,  or  from 
some  other  cause  unknown  to  us,  he  abandoned  the  design  and  set  out  for 
France  by  the  way  of  England.  The  king  issued  the  order  for  his 
departure  [Dec.  30],  with  no  less  reluctance  than  the  duke  obeyed  it;  and 
both  mourned  a  separation  which  neither  of  them  had  power  to  prevent. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  in  France,  the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  or  the  anguish  ; 
of  his  mind,  threw  him  into  a  fever.  In  his  last  moments  he  discovered 
such  a  firm  adherence  to  the  protestant  faith  as  fully  vindicates  his  memory 
from  the  imputation  of  an  attachment  to  popery,  with  which  he  had  been 
uncharitably  loaded  in  Scotland.*  As  he  was  the  earliest  and  best  beloved, 
he  was,  perhaps,  the  most  deserving,  though  not  the  most  able  of  all  James's 
favourites.  The  warmth  and  tenderness  of  his  master's  affection  for  him 
were  not  abated  by  death  itself.  By  many  acts  of  kindness  and  generosity 
towards  his  posterity,  the  king  not  only  did  great  honour  to  the  memory  of 
Lennox,  but  set  his  own  character  in  one  of  its  most  favourable  points  of  view. 

The  success  of  the  conspiracy  which  deprived  James  of  liberty  made 
great  noise  over  all  Europe,  and  at  last  reached  the  ears  of  Mary  in  the 
prison  to  which  she  was  confined.  As  her  own  experience  had  taught  her 
what  injuries  a  captive  prince  is  exposed  to  suffer ;  and  as  many  of  those 
who  were  now  concerned  in  the  enterprise  against  her  son  were  the  same 
persons  whom  she  considered  as  the  chief  authors  of  her  own  misfortunes, 
it  was  natural  for  the  tenderness  of  a  mother  to  apprehend  that  the  same 
calamities  were  ready  to  fall  on  his  head  ;  and  such  a  prospect  did  not  fail 
of  adding  to  the  distress  and  horror  of  her  own  situation.  In  the  anguish 
of  her  heart  she  wrote  to  Elizabeth,  complaining  in  the  bitterest  terms  of 
the  unprecedented  rigour  with  which  she  herself  had  been  treated,  and 
beseeching  her  not  to  abandon  her  son  to  the  mercy  of  his  rebellious  sub- 
jects ;  nor  permit  him  to  be  involved  in  the  same  misfortunes  under  which 
she  had  so  long  groaned.  The  peculiar  vigour  and  acrimony  of  style,  for 
which  this  letter  is  remarkable,  discovered  both  the  high  spirit  of  the 
Scottish  queen,  unsubdued  by  her  sufferings,  and  the  violence  of  her  indig- 
nation at  Elizabeth's  artifices  and  severity.  But  it  was  ill  adapted  to  gain 
the  end  which  she  had  in  view,  and  accordingly  it  neither  procured  any 
mitigation  of  the  rigour  of  her  own  confinement,  nor  any  interposition  in 
favour  of  the  king.f 

1583.]  Henry  III.,  who,  though  he  feared  and  hated  the  princes  of  Guise, 
was  often  obliged  to  court  their  favour,  interposed  with  warmth,  in  order 
to  extricate  James  out  of  the  hands  of  a  party  so  entirely  devoted  to  the 
English  interest.  He  commanded  M.  de  la  Motte  Fenelon,  his  ambassador 
at  the  court  of  England,  to  repair  to  Edinburgh,  and  to  contribute  his  utmost 
endeavours  towards  placing  James  in  a  situation  more  suitable  to  his  dignity. 
As  Elizabeth  could  not  with  decency  refuse  him  liberty  to  execute  his 
commission,  she  appointed  Davison  to  attend  him  into  Scotland  as  her 
envoy,  under  colour  of  coru  urring  with  him  in  the  negotiation,  but  in  reality 
to  be  a  spy  upon  his  motions  and  to  obstruct  his  success.  James,  whose 
title  to  the  crown  had  not  hitherto  been  recognised  by  any  of  the  prince)! 
on  the  continent,  was  extremely  fond  of  such  an  honourable  embassy  froiii 
the  French  monarch  ;  and  on  that  account,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  the 
errand  on  which  he  came,  received  Fenelon  with  great  respect  [Jan.  7 
The  nobles,  in  whose  power  the  king  was,  did  not  relish  this  interposition 

•  Spotsw  384     Cald.  iii  172.  t  Carad  489 


OF   SCOTLAND.  «43 

ol  the  French  court,  whii  ii  had  long  lost  its  ancient  u  rJuence  over  the 
affairs  of  Scotland.  The  clergy  were  alarmed  at  the  danger  to  which 
religion  would  be  exposed,  if  the  princes  of  Guise  should  recover  any 
ascendant  over  the  public  councils.  Though  die  king  tried  every  method 
for  restraining  them  within  the  bounds  of  decency,  they  declaimed  against 
the  court  of  France,  against  the  princes  of  Guise,  against  the  ambassador, 
against  entering  into  any  alliance  with  such  notorious  persecutors  of  the 
church  of  God,  with  a  vehemence  which  no  regular  government  would 
now  tolerate,  but  which  was  then  extremely  common.  The  ambassador, 
watched  by  Davison,  distrusted  by  the  nobles,  and  exposed  to  the  insults 
of  the  clergy  and  of  the  people,  returned  into  England  without  procuring 
any  change  in  the  king's  situation,  or  receiving  any  answer  to  a  proposal 
which  he  made,  that  the  government  should  be  carried  on  in  the  joint 
names  of  James  and  the  queen  his  mother.* 

Meanwhile  James,  though  he  dissembled  with  great  art,  became  every 
lay  more  uneasy  under  his  confinement  ;  his  uneasiness  rendered  him 
continually  attentive  to  find  out  a  proper  opportunity  for  making  his 
escape  ;  and  to  this  attention  he  at  last  owed  his  liberty,  which  the  king 
of  France  was  not  able,  nor  the  queen  of  England  willing,  to  procure  for 
him.  As  the  conspirators  had  forced  Lennox  out  of  the  kingdom,  and 
kept  Arran  at  a  distance  from  court,  they  grew  secure  ;  and  imagining 
that  time  had  reconciled  the  king  to  them  and  to  his  situation,  they  watched 
him  with  little  care.  Some  occasions  of  discord  had  arisen  among  them- 
selves; and  the  French  ambassador,  by  fomenting  these  during  the  time 
of  his  residence  in  Scotland,  had  weakened  the  union  in  which  alone  their 
safety  consisted. t  Colonel  William  Stewart,  the  commander  of  the  band 
of  gentlemen  who  guarded  the  king's  person,  being  gained  by  James,  had 
the  principal  merit  in  the  scheme  for  restoring  his  master  to  liberty.  U'nder 
pretence  of  paying  a  visit  to  the  earl  of  March,  his  grand-uncle,  James 
was  permitted  to  go  from  Falkland  to  St.  Andrew's  [June  27].  That  he 
might  not  create  any  suspicion,  he  lodged  at  first  in  an  open  defenceless 
house  in  the  town  ;  but  pretending  a  curiosity  to  see  the  castle,  no  sooner 
was  he  entered  with  some  of  his  attendants  whom  he  could  trust,  than 
colonel  Stewart  commanded  the  gates  to  be  shut,  and  excluded  all  the  rest 
of  his  train.  Next  morning  the  earls  of  Argyll,  Huntly,  Crawford,  Mont- 
rose, Rothes,  with  others  to  whom  the  secret  had  been  communicated, 
entered  the  town  with  their  followers  ;  and  though  Mar,  with  several  of 
the  leaders  of  the  faction,  appeared  in  arms,  they  found  themselves  so  far 
outnumbered  that  it  was  in  vain  to  think  oi  recovering  possession  of  the 
king's  person,  which  had  been  in  their  power  somewha'.  longer  than  ten 
months.  James  was  naturally  of  so  soft  and  ductile  a  temper  that  those 
who  were  near  his  person  commonly  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  heart, 
which  was  formed  to  he  under  the  sway  of  favourites.  As  he  remained 
implacable  and  unreconciled  to  the  conspirators  during  so  long  a  time,  and 
at  a  period  of  life  when  resentments  are  rather  violent  than  lasting,  they 
must  either  have  improved  the  opportunities  of  insinuating  themselves  into 
favour  with  little  dexterity,  or  the  indignation,  with  which  this  first  insult 
to  his  person  and  authority  filled  him,  must  have  been  very  great. 

His  joy  at  his  escape  whs  youthful  and  excessive.  He  resolved,  how- 
ever, by  the  advice  ol  sir  James  Melvil,  and  his  wisest  counsellors,  to  act 
with  the  utmost  moderation.  Having  called  into  his  presence  the  leaders 
of  both  factious,  the  neighbouring  gentry,  the  deputies  of  the  adjacent 
boroughs,  the  ministers  and  the  heads  of  colleges,  he  declared,  that 
although  he  had  been  held  under  restraint  for  some  time  by  violence,  he 
would  not  impute  that  as  a  crime  to  any  man,  but,  without  remembering: 
the  irregularities  which  had  been  so  frequent  during  his  minority,  would 

Cftld.  in.  307     SooWw.  324.     Murdin,  37a,  &c      See  Appendix,  No.  XLII.  t  Camd  488. 


244  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI. 

pass  a  general  act  of  oblivion,  and  govern  all  his  subjects  with  undistin 
guishing  and  equal  affection.     As  an  evidence  of  his  sincerity  he  visited 
the  earl  of  Gowrie  at  Ruthven  castle,  and  granted  him  a  full  pardon  of 
any  guilt  he  had  contracted  by  the  crime  committed  in  that  very  place.* 

But  James  did  not  adhere  long  to  this  prudent  and  moderate  plan.  His 
former  favourite,  the  earl  of  Arran,  had  been  permitted  for  some  time  to 
reside  at  Kinneil,  one  of  his  country  seats.  As  soon  as  the  king  felt  himseli 
at  liberty,  his  love  for  him  began  to  revive,  and  he  expressed  a  strong 
desire  to  see  him.  The  courtiers  violently  opposed  the  return  of  a  minJun, 
whose  insolent  and  overbearing  temper  they  dreaded  as  much  as  the 
nation  detested  his  crimes.  James,  however,  continued  his  importunity, 
and  promising  that  he  should  continue  with  him  no  longer  than  one  day, 
they  were  obliged  to  yield.  This  interview  rekindled  ancient  affection  ; 
the  king  forgot  his  promise  ;  Arran  regained  his  ascendant  over  him  ;  and 
within  a  few  da)rs  resumed  the  exercise  of  power,  with  all  the  arrogance 
of  an  undeserving  favourite,  and  all  the  rashness  peculiar  to  himself.] 

The  first  effect  of  his  influence  was  a  proclamation  with  regard  to  those 
concerned  in  the  Raid  of  Ruthven.  They  were  required  to  acknowledge 
their  crime  in  the  humblest  manner  ;  and  the  king  promised  to  grant  them 
a  full  pardon,  provided  their  future  conduct  were  such  as  did  not  oblige 
him  to  remember  past  miscarriages.  The  tenor  of  this  proclamation  was 
extremely  different  from  the  act  of  oblivion  which  the  conspirators  had 
been  encouraged  to  expect.  Nor  did  any  of  them  reckon  it  safe  to  rely 
on  a  promise  clogged  with  such  an  equivocal  condition,  and  granted  by  a 
young  prince  under  the  dominion  of  a  minister  devoid  of  faith,  regardless  of 
decency,  and  transported  by  the  desire  of  revenge  even  beyond  the  usual 
ferocity  of  his  temper.  Many  of  the  leaders,  who  had  at  first  appeared  openly 
at  court,  retired  to  their  own  houses  ;  and  foreseeing  the  dangerous  storm 
which  was  gathering,  began  to  look  for  a  retreat  in  foreign  countries.^ 

Elizabeth,  who  had  all  along  protected  the  conspirators,  was  extremely 
disgusted  with  measures  which  tended  so  visibly  to  their  destruction,  and 
wrote  to  the  king  [Aug;-  7],  a  harsh  and  haughty  letter,  reproaching  him,  in 
a  style  very  uncommon  among  princes,  with  breach  of  faith  in  recalling 
Arran  to  court,  and  with  imprudence  in  proceeding  so  rigorously  against 
his  best  and  most  faithful  subjects.  James,  with  a  becoming  dignity, 
replied,  that  promises  extorted  by  violence,  and  conditions  yielded  out  of 
fear,  were  no  longer  binding  when  these  were  removed  ;  that  it  belonged  to 
him  alone  to  choose  what  ministers  he  would  employ  in  his  service  ;  and 
that  though  he  resolved  to  treat  the  conspirators  at  Ruthven  with  the 
utmost  clemency,  it  was  necessary,  for  the  support  of  his  authority,  that 
such  an  insult  on  his  person  should  not  pass  altogether  uncensured.§ 

Elizabeth's  letter  was  quickly  followed  [Sept.  1],  by  Walsingham  her 
secretary,  whom  she  appointed  her  ambassador  to  James,  and  who 
appeared  at  the  Scottish  court  with  a  splendour  and  magnificence  we!) 
calculated  to  please  and  dazzle  a  young  prince.  Walsingham  was  admit- 
ted to  several  conferences  with  James  himself,  in  which  he  insisted  on  th? 
same  topics  contained  in  the  letter,  and  the  king  repeated  his  former 
answers. 

After  suffering  several  indignities  from  the  arrogance  of  Arran  and  his 
creatures,  he  returned  to  England  without  concluding  any  new  treaty  with 
the  king.  Walsingham  was,  next  to  Burleigh,  the  minister  on  whom  the 
chief  weight  of  the  English  administration  rested  ;  and  when  a  person  of 
his  rank  stepped  so  far  out  of  the  ordinary  road  of  business  as  to  undertake 
a  long  journey  in  his  old  age,  and  under  a  declining  state  of  health,  some 
affair  oi  consequence  was  supposed  to  be  the  cause,  or  some  important 
event  was  expected  to  be  the  effect  of  this  measure.     But  as  nothing  con- 

*  Mat*  ITS.  t  IWd.  874.  (.  Idid.  2^b     Spotsw.  326.    Cald.  ill.  33a         $  Mehr.  979 


OF  SCOTLAND.  245 

apicuous  either  occasioned  or  followed  this  embassy,  it  is  probable  that 
Elizabeth  had  no  other  intention  in  employing  this  sagacious  minister  than 
to  discover  with  exactness  the  capacity  and  disposition  of  the  Scottish 
king,  who  was  now  arrived  at  a  time  of  life  when,  with  some  degree  Oi 
certainty,  conjectures  might  be  formed  concerning  his  character  and  future 
conduct.  As  James  possessed  talents  of  that  kind  which  make  a  better 
figure  in  conversation  than  in  action,  he  gained  a  great  deal  by  this  inter- 
view with  the  English  secretary,  who,  notwithstanding  the  cold  reception 
which  he  met  with,  gave  such  an  advantageous  representation  of  his  abili- 
ties, as  determined  Elizabeth  to  treat  him,  henceforward,  with  greater 
decency  and  respect.* 

Elizabeth's  eagerness  to  protect  the  conspirators  rendered  James  more 
violent  in  his  proceedings  against  them.  As  they  had  all  refused  to  accept 
of  pardon  upon  the  terms  which  he  had  offered,  they  were  required,  by  a 
new  proclamation,  to  surrender  themselves  prisoners.  The  earl  of  Angus 
alone  complied;  the  rest  either  rled  into  England,  or  obtained  the  king's 
license  to  retire  into  foreign  parts.  A  convention  of  estates  was  held 
[Dec.  17],  the  members  of  which,  deceived  by  an  unworthy  artifice  of 
Arran's,  declared  those  concerned  in  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  to  have  been 
guilty  of  high  treason ;  appointed  the  act  passed  last  year  approving  of 
their  conduct  to  be  expunged  out  of  the  records  ;  and  engaged  to  support 
the  king  in  prosecuting  the  fugitives  with  the  utmost  rigour  of  law. 

The  conspirators,  though  tar  from  having  done  any  thing  that  was 
uncommon  in  that  age,  among  mutinous  nobles,  and  under  an  unsettled 
state  of  government,  must  be  acknowledged  to  have  been  guilty  of  an  act 
of  treason  against  their  sovereign  ;  and  James,  who  considered  their  con- 
duct in  this  light,  had  good  reason  to  boast  of  his  clemency,  when  he 
offered  to  pardon  them  upon  their  confessing  their  crime.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  must  be  allowed  that,  after  the  king's  voluntary  promise  of 
a  general  oblivion,  they  had  some  reason  to  complain  of  breach  of  faith, 
and  without  the  most  unpardonable  imprudence,  could  not  have  put  theii 
lives  in  Arran's  power. 

1584.]  The  interest  of  the  church  was  considerably  affected  by  these 
contrary  revolutions.  While  the  conspirators  kept  possession  of  power, 
the  clergy  not  only  recovered,  but  extended  their  privileges.  As  they  had 
formerly  declared  the  hierarchy  to  be  unlawful,  they  took  some  bold  mea- 
sures towards  exterminating  the  episcopal  order  out  of  the  church  ;  and  it 
was  owing  more  to  Adamson's  dexterity  in  perplexing  and  lengthening  out 
the  process  for  that  purpose,  than  to  their  own  want  of  zeal,  that  they  did 
not  deprive,  and  perhaps  excommunicate,  all  the  bishops  in  Scotland. 
When  the  king  recovered  his  liberty,  things  put  on  a  very  different  aspect. 
The  favour  bestowed  upon  Arran,  the  enemy  of  every  thing  decent  and 
sacred,  and  the  rigorous  prosecution  of  those  nobles  who  had  been  the 
most  zealous  defenders  of  the  protestant  cause,  were  considered  as  sure 
presages  of  the  approaching  ruin  of  the  church.  The  clergy  could  not 
conceal  their  apprehensions,  nor  view  this  impending  danger  in  silence. 
Dury,  who  had  been  restored  to  his  office  as  one  of  tne  ministers  of  Edin- 
burgh, openly  applauded  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  in  the  pulpit ;  at  which  the 
king  was  so  enraged  that,  notwithstanding  some  symptoms  of  his  submis- 
sion, he  commanded  him  to  resign  his  charge  in  the  city.  Mr.  Andrew 
Melvil,  being  summoned  before  the  privy  council  to  answer  for  the  doc- 
trine which  he  had  uttered  in  a  sermon  at  St.  Andrew's,  and  ac<  used  ot 
comparing  the  present  grievances  of  the  nation  with  those  under  James  III., 
and  of  intimating  obliquely  that  they  ought  to  be  redressed  in  the  same 
manner,  thought  it  incumbent  on  him  to  behave  with  great  firmness.  He 
declined  the  jurisdiction  of  a  civil  court  in  a  cause  which  he  maintained  tc 

•  Melv.  293.    Cald.  iii.  258.    Jebb,  ii.  338. 


246  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI 

be  purely  ecclesiastical ;  the  presbytery,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  had, 
as  he  contended,  the  sole  right  to  call  him  to  account,  for  words  spoken  in 
the  pulpit;  and  neither  the  king  nor  council  could  judge,  in  the  firsi 
instance,  of  the  doctrine  delivered  by  preachers,  without  violating  the 
immunities  of  the  church.  This  exemption  from  civil  jurisdiction  was  a 
privilege  which  the  popish  ecclesiastics,  admirable  judges  of  whatevei 
contributed  to  increase  the  lustre  or  power  of  their  body,  had  long  struggled 
for,  and  had  at  last  obtained.  If  the  same  plea  had  now  been  admitted, 
the  protestant  clergy  would  have  become  independent  on  the  civil  magis- 
trate ;  and  an  order  of  men  extremely  useful  to  society,  while  they  incul- 
cate those  duties  which  tend  to  promote  its  happiness  and  tranquillity, 
might  have  become  no  less  pernicious,  by  teaching  without  fear  or  control 
the  most  dangerous  principles,  or  by  exciting  their  hearers  to  the  most  des- 
perate and  lawless  actions.  The  king,  jealous  to  excess  of  his  prerogative, 
was  alarmed  at  this  daring  encroachment  on  it;  and  as  Melvil,  by  his 
learning  and  zeal,  had  acquired  the  reputation  and  authority  of  head  of  the 
party,  he  resolved  to  punish  him  with  the  rigour  which  that  pre-eminence 
rendered  necessary,  and  to  discourage,  by  a  timely  severity,  the  revival  of 
such  a  dangerous  claim.  Melvil,  however,  avoided  bis  rage  by  flying  into 
England  ;  and  the  pulpits  resounded  with  complaints  that  the  king  had 
extinguished  the  light  of  learning  in  the  kingdom,  and  deprived  the  church 
of  the  ablest  and  most  faithful  guardian  of  its  liberties  and  discipline.* 

These  violent  declamations  of  the  clergy  against  the  measures  of  the 
court  were  extremely  acceptable  to  the  people.  The  conspirators,  though 
driven  out  of  the  kingdom,  still  possessed  great  influence  there  ;  and  as 
they  had  every  thing  to  fear  irom  the  resentment  of  a  young  prince,  irri- 
tated by  the  furious  counsels  of  Arran,  they  never  ceased  soliciting  their 
adherents  to  take  arms  in  their  defence.  Gowrie,  the  only  person  among 
them  who  had  submitted  to  the  king,  and  accepted  of  a  pardon,  soon 
repented  of  a  step  which  lost  him  the  esteem  of  one  party,  without  gaining 
the  confidence  of  the  other ;  and,  after  suffering  many  mortifications  from 
the  king's  neglect  and  the  haughtiness  of  Arran,  he  was  at  last  commanded 
to  leave  Scotland,  and  to  reside  in  France.  While  he  waited  at  Dundee 
for  an  opportunity  to  embark,  he  was  informed  that  the  earls  of  Angus, 
Mar,  and  the  tutor  of  Glamis,  had  concerted  a  scheme  for  surprising  the 
castle  of  Stirling.  In  his  situation,  little  persuasion  was  necessaiy  to  draw 
him  to  engage  in  it.  Under  various  pretexts  he  put  off  his  voyage,  and  lay 
ready  to  take  arms  on  the  day  fixed  by  the  conspirators  for  the  execution 
of  their  enterprise.  His  lingering  so  long  at  Dundee,  without  any  apparent 
reason,  awakened  the  suspicion  of  the  court,  proved  fatal  to  himself,  and 
disappointed  the  success  of  the  conspiracy.  Colonel  William  Stewart  sur- 
rounded the  house  where  he  lodged  with  a  body  of  soldiers,  and  in  spite 
of  his  resistance,  took  him  prisoner.  Two  days  after,  Angus,  Mar,  £_nd 
Glamis  seized  the  castle  of  Stirling,  and  erecting  their  standard  there,  pub- 
lished a  manifesto,  declaring  that  they  took  arms  for  no  other  reason  but  to 
remove  from  the  king's  presence  a  minion  who  had  acquired  power  by 
the  most  unworthy  actions,  and  who  exercised  it  with  the  most  intolerable 
insolence.  The  account  of  Gowrie's  imprisonment  struck  a  damp  upon 
their  spirits.  They  imputed  it  to  treachery  on  his  part,  and  suspected, 
that  as  he  had  formerly  deserted,  he  had  now  betrayed  them.  At  the 
same  time  Elizabeth  having  neglected  to  supply  them  in  good  time  with  a 
sum  of  money,  which  she  had  promised  to  them,  and  their  friends  and  vas- 
sals coming  in  slowly,  they  appeared  irresolute  and  disheartened:  and  as 
the  king,  who  acted  with  great  vigour,  advanced  towards  them  at  the  head 
of  twenty  thousand  men,  they  fled  precipitately  towards  England,  and  with 
difficulty  made  their  escape. t     This  rash  and  feeble  attempt  produced 

•  Spotsw.  330.  Cald.  iii.  304.  t  Home's  Hist  of  House  of  Dougl.  376.    Spotiw.  330.    Calder 

li  334  fee 


OF   SCOTLAND  *47 

such  effects  as  usually  follow  disappointed  conspiracies.  It  not  only  hurt 
the  cause  for  which  it  was  undertaken,  but  added  strength  and  reputation 
to  the  king  ;  confirmed  Ativan's  power ;  and  enabled  them  to  pursue  tbeii 
measures  with  more  boldness  and  greater  success.  Gowrie  was  the  first 
victim  of  their  resentment.  After  a  very  informal  trial,  a  jury  of  peers 
found  him  guilty  of  treason,  and  he  was  publicly  beheaded  at  Stirling. 

To  humble  the  church  was  the  king's  next  step.  But  as  it  became  ne- 
cessary, for  this  purpose,  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  legislative  authority,  a 
parliament  was  hastily  summoned  [May  22] :  and  while  so  many  of  the 
nobles  were  banished  out  of  the  kingdom,  or  forbidden  to  appear  in  the 
king's  presence:  while  Arran's  haughtiness  kept  some  at  a  distance,  and 
intimidated  others  ;  the  meeting  consisted  only  of  such  as  were  absolutely 
at  the  devotion  of  the  court.  In  order  to  conceal  the  laws  which  were 
baming  from  the  knowledge  of  the  clergy,  the  lords  of  the  articles  were 
sworn  to  secrecy  ;  and  when  some  of  the  ministers,  who  either  suspected 
or  were  informed  ot  the  danger,  deputed  one  of  their  number  to  declare 
their  apprehensions  to  the  king,  he  was  seized  at  the  palace  gate,  and 
carried  to  a  distant  prison.  Others,  attempting  to  enter  the  parliament 
house,  were  refused  admittance  ;*  and  such  laws  were  passed  as  totally 
overturned  the  constitution  and  discipline  of  the  church.  The  refusing 
to  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of  the  privy  council  ;  the  pretending  an 
exemption  from  the  authority  of  the  civil  courts  ;  the  attempting  to  diminish 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  any  of  the  three  estates  in  parliament,  were 
declared  to  be  high  treason.  The  holding  assemblies,  whether  civil  or 
ecclesiastical,  without  the  king's  permission  or  appointment ;  the  uttering:, 
either  privately  or  publicly,  in  sermons  or  in  declamations,  any  false  and 
scandalous  reports  against  the  king,  his  ancestors,  or  ministers,  were  pro- 
nounced capital  crimes.! 

When  these  laws  were  published  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh,  according 
to  the  ancient  custom,  Mr.  Robert  Pont,  minister  of  St.  Cuthbert's  and  one 
of  the  lords  of  session,  solemnly  protested  against  them,  in  the  name  of  his 
brethren,  because  they  had  been  passed  without  the  knowledge  or  consent 
of  the  church.  Ever  since  the  reformation,  the  pulpits  and  ecclesiastical 
judicatories  had  both  been  esteemed  sacred.  In  the  former,  the  clergy 
had  been  accustomed  to  censure  and  admonish  with  unbounded  liberty. 
In  the  latter,  they  exercised  an  uncontrolled  and  independent  jurisdiction. 
The  blow  was  now  aimed  at  both  these  privileges.  These  new  statutes 
were  calculated  to  render  churchmen  as  inconsiderable  as  they  were  indi- 
gent ;  and  as  the  avarice  of  the  nobles  had  stripped  them  of  the  wealth, 
the  king's  ambition  was  about  to  deprive  them  of  the  power  which  once 
nelonged  to  their  order.  No  wonder  the  alarm  was  universal,  and  the 
complaints  loud.  All  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  forsook  their  charge,  and 
fled  into  England.  The  most  eminent  clergymen  throughout  the  kingdom 
imitated  their  example.  Desolation  and  astonishment  appeared  in  every 
oart  of  the  Scottish  church  ;  the  people  bewailed  the  loss  of  pastors  whom 
.hey  esteemed  ;  and,  full  of  consternation  at  an  event  so  unexpected,  openly 
expressed  their  rage  against  Arran,  and  began  to  suspect  the  king  himself 
i  be  an  enemy  to  the  refo^ned  religion.J 

*  C.al&.  iii  36&  ♦  *art  8.  Ja«  VL  t  8pottw.333 


248  THE  HISTORY  fBooK  Vll. 


BOOK  VII. 

it>84.]  While  Scotland  was  torn  by  intestine  tactions,  Elizabeth  was 
alarmed  with  the  rumour  of  a  project  in  agitation  for  setting'  Mary  at  liberty. 
Francis  Throkmorton,  a  Cheshire  gentleman,  was  suspected  of  being  deeply 
concerned  in  the  design,  and  on  that  suspicion  he  was  taken  into  custody. 
Among  his  papers  were  found  two  lists,  one  of  the  principal  harbours  in 
the  kingdom,  with  an  account  of  their  situation,  and  of  the  depth  of  watei 
in  each  ;  the  other,  of  all  the  eminent  Roman  Catholics  in  England.  Tint 
circumstance  confirmed  the  suspicion  against  him,  and  some  dark  and  des- 
perate conspiracy  was  supposed  just  ready  to  break  out.  At  first  he  bolriiy 
avowed  his  innocence,  and  declared  that  the  two  papers  were  forged  by 
the  queen's  ministers,  in  order  to  intimidate  or  ensnare  him  ;  and  he  even 
endured  the  rack  with  the  utmost  fortitude.  But  being  brought  a  second 
time  to  the  place  of  torture,  his  resolution  failed  him,  and  he  not  only  ac- 
knowledged that  he  had  held  a  secret  correspondence  with  the  queen  of 
Scots,  but  discovered  a  design  that  was  formed  to  invade  England.  The 
duke  of  Guise,  he  said,  undertook  to  furnish  troops,  and  to  conduct  the  en- 
terprise. The  pope  and  king  of  Spain  were  to  supply  the  money  neces- 
sary for  carrying  it  on  ;  all  the  English  exiles  were  ready  to  take  arms  , 
many  of  the  catholics  at  home  would  be  ready  to  join  them  at  their  landing  ; 
Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  who  was  the  life  of  the  conspiracy, 
spared  no  pains  in  fomenting  the  spirit  of  disaffection  among  the  English, 
or  in  hastening  the  preparations  on  the  continent ;  and  by  his  command  he 
made  the  two  lists,  the  copies  whereof  had  been  found  in  his  possession. 
This  confession  he  retracted  at  his  trial  ;  returned  to  it  again  after  sentence 
was  passed  on  him  ;  and  retracted  it  once  more  at  the  place  of  execution.* 

To  us  in  the  present  age,  who  are  assisted  in  forming  our  opinion  of  this 
matter  by  the  light  which  time  and  history  have  thrown  upon  the  designs 
and  characters  of  the  princes  of  Guise,  many  circumstances  of  Throkmor- 
ton's  confession  appear  to  be  extremely  remote  from  truth,  or  even  from 
probability.  The  duke  of  Guise  was,  at  that  juncture,  far  from  being  in  a 
situation  to  undertake  foreign  conquests.  Without  either  power  or  office 
at  court ;  hated  by  the  king,  and  persecuted  by  the  favourites  ;  he  had  no 
leisure  for  any  thoughts  of  disturbing  the  quiet  of  neighbouring  states  ;  his 
vast  and  ambitious  mind  was  wholly  occupied  in  laying  the  foundation  of 
that  famous  league  which  shook  the  throne  of  France.  But  at  the  time 
when  Elizabeth  detected  this  conspiracy,  the  close  union  between  the  house 
of  Guise  and  Philip  was  remarkable  to  all  Europe  ;  and  as  their  great  en- 
terprise against  Henry  III.  was  not  yet  disclosed,  as  they  endeavoured  to 
conceal  that  under  their  threatenings  to  invade  England,  Throkmorton's 
discovery  appeared  to  be  extremely  probable  ;  and  Elizabeth,  who  knew 
how  ardently  all  the  parties  mentioned  by  him  wished  her  downfall,  thought 
hat  she  could  not  guard  her  kingdom  with  too  much  care.  The  indiscreet 
zeal  of  the  English  exiles  increased  her  fears.  Not  satisfied  with  incessant 
outcries  against  her  severity  towards  the  Scottish  queen,  and  her  cruel  per- 
secution of  her  catholic  subjects,  not  thinking  it  enough  that  one  pope  had 
threatened  her  with  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  and  another  had  ac- 
tually pronounced  it,  they  now  began  to  disperse  books  and  writings,  in 
which  they  endeavoured  to  persuade  their  disciples,  that  it  would  be  a 
meritorious  action  to  take  away  her  life  ;  they  openly  exhorted  the  maids 
of  honour  to  treat  her  as  Judith  did  Holofernes,  and,  by  such  an  illustrious 
deed,  to  render  their  own  names  honourable  and  sacred  in  the  church 


*  HoUingsned,  1370 


OF   SCOTLAND.  «4<* 

throughout  all  f  iture  ages.*  For  all  these  reasons,  Elizabeth  not  only  in- 
flicted the  punishment  of  a  traitor  on  Throkmorton,  hut  commanded  the 
Spanish  ambassador  instantly  to  leave  England  ;  and  that  she  might  be  in 
no  dinger  of  being  attacked  within  the  island,  she  determined  to  use  her 
utmost  efforts  in  order  to  recover  that  influence  over  the  Scottish  councils, 
which  she  had  for  some  time  entirely  lost. 

There  were  three  different  methods  by  which  Elizabeth  might  hope  to 
accomplish  this  ;  either  by  furnishing  such  effectual  aid  to  the  banished  no- 
bles as  would  enable  them  to  resume  the  chief  direction  of  affairs;  or  by 
entering  into  such  a  treaty  with  Mary,  as  might  intimidate  her  son,  who, 
being  now  accustomed  to  govern,  would  not  be  averse  from  agreeing  to  any 
terms  rather  than  resign  the  sceptre,  or  admit  an  associate  in  the  throne, 
or  by  gaining  the  earl  of  Arran,  to  secure  the  direction  of  the  king  his  mas- 
ter. The  last  was  not  only  the  easiest  and  speediest,  but  most  likely  to  be 
successful.  This  Elizabeth  resolved  to  pursue  ;  but  without  laying  the 
other  two  altogether  aside.  With  this  view  she  sent  Davison,  one  of  her 
principal  secretaries,  a  man  of  abilities  and  address,  into  Scotland.  A 
minister  so  venal  as  Arran,  hated  by  his  own  countrymen,  and  holding  his 
power  by  the  most  precarious  of  all  tenures,  the  favour  of  a  young  prince, 
accepted  Elizabeth's  offers  without  hesitation,  and  deemed  the  acquisition 
of  her  protection  to  be  the  most  solid  foundation  of  his  own  greatness  [Aug. 
13].  Soon  after  he  consented  to  an  interview  with  lord  Hunsdon,  the  go- 
vernor of  Berwick,  and  being  honoured  with  the  pompous  title  of  lieutenant 
general  for  the  king,  he  appeared  at  the  place  appointed  with  a  splendid 
train.  In  Hunsdon's  presence  he  renewed  his  promises  of  an  inviolable  and 
faithful  attachment  to  the  English  interest,  and  assured  him  that  James 
should  enter  into  no  negotiation  which  might  tend  to  interrupt  the  peace 
between  the  two  kingdoms  :  and  as  Elizabeth  began  to  entertain  the  same 
fears  and  jealousies  concerning  the  king's  marriage,  which  had  formerly 
disquieted  her  with  regard  to  his  mother's,  he  undertook  to  prevent  James 
from  listening  to  any  overture  of  that  kind,  until  he  had  previoi>*!y  obtained 
the  queen  of  England's  consent.! 

The  banished  lords  and  their  adherents  soon  felt  the  effects  of  Arran's 
friendship  with  England.  As  Elizabeth  had  permitted  them  to  take  refuge 
in  her  dominions,  and  several  of  her  ministers  were  of  opinion  that  she 
ought  to  employ  her  arms  in  defence  of  their  cause,  the  fear  of  this  was  the 
only  thing  which  restrained  James  and  his  favourite  from  proceeding  to  such 
extremities  against  them  as  might  have  excited  the  pity  or  indignation  of 
the  English,  and  have  prompted  them  to  exert  themselves  with  vigour  in 
their  behalf.  But  every  apprehension  of  this  kind  being  now  removed 
[Aug.  22],  they  ventured  to  call  a  parliament,  in  which  an  act  was  passed, 
attainting  Angus,  Mar,  Glamis,  and  a  great  number  of  their  followers. 
Their  estates  devolved  to  the  crown  ;  and,  according  to  the  practice  of  the 
Scottish  monarchs,  who  were  obliged  to  reward  the  faction  which  adhered 
i  >  them,  by  dividing  with  it  the  spoils  of  the  vanquished,  James  dealt  out 
'he  greater  part  of  these  to  Arran  and  his  associates.! 

Nor  was  the  treatment  of  the  clergy  less  rigorous.  All  ministers,  readers, 
and  professors  in  colleges  were  enjoined  to  subscribe,  within  forty  days,  a 
paper,  testifying  their  approbation  of  the  laws  concerning  the  church 
enacted  in  the  last  parliament.  Many,  overawed  or  corrupted  by  the 
court,  yielded  obedience  ;  others  stood  out.  The  stipends  of  the  latter 
were  sequestered,  some  of  the  more  active  committed  to  prison,  and  num- 
bers compelled  to  fly  the  kingdom.  Such  as  complied  fell  under  the  sus- 
picion of  acting  from  mercenary  or  ambitious  motives.  Such  as  adhered 
to  their  principles,  and  suffered  in  consequence  of  it,  acquired  a  high  re- 
putation, by  giving  this  convincing  evidence  of  their  firmness  and  sincerity 

*  Camd.  497.         f  Cald.  itt.  491      Melv   ;;i5.     See  Append.  No  XLII1.  t  Cald.IU.S97 

Vol.  III.— 32 


250  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VI) 

The  judicatories  of  the  church  were  almost  entirely  suppressed.  In  some 
places  scarce  as  many  ministers  remained  as  to  perform  the  duties  of  reli- 
gious worship;  they  soon  sunk  in  reputation  among  the  people  ;  and  being 
prohibited  not  only  from  discoursing  of  public  affairs,  but  obliged  by  the 
jealousy  of  the  administration  to  frame  every  sentiment  and  expression  it: 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  the  court  no  offence,  their  sermons  were  deemed 
languid,  insipid,  and  contemptible  ;  and  it  became  the  general  opinion,  tha* 
togetherwiththe  most  virtuousof  the  nobles  and  the  most  faithful  of  .he  clergy, 
the  power  and  vigour  of  religion  were  now  banished  out  of  the  kingdom.* 

Meanwhile,  Elizabeth  was  carrying  on  one  of  those  fruitless  negotiations 
with  the  queen  of  Scots,  which  it  had  become  almost  matter  of  form  to 
renew  every  year.  They  served  not  only  to  amuse  that  unhappy  princess 
with  some  prospect  of  liberty,  but  furnished  an  apology  for  eluding  the 
solicitations  of  foreign  powers  on  her  behalf;  and  were  of  use  to  overawe 
James,  by  showing  him  that  she  could  at  any  time  set  free  a  dangerous 
rival  to  dispute  his  authority.  These  treaties  she  suffered  to  proceed  to 
what  length  she  pleased,  and  never  wanted  a  pretence  for  breaking  them 
off  when  they  became  no  longer  necessary.  The  treaty  now  on  foot  was 
not,  perhaps,  more  sincere  than  many  which  preceded  it ;  the  reasons, 
however,  which  rendered  it  ineffectual  were  far  from  being  frivolous. 

As  Crichton,  a  Jesuit,  was  sailing  from  Flanders  towards  Scotland,  the 
ship  on  board  of  which  he  was  a  passenger  happened  to  be  chased  by 
pirates,  who,  in  that  age,  often  infested  the  narrow  seas.  Crichton,  in  great 
confusion,  tore  in  pieces  some  papers  in  his  custody,  and  threw  them  away ; 
but,  by  a  very  extraordinary  accident,  the  wind  blew  them  back  into  the 
ship,  and  they  were  immediately  taken  up  by  some  of  the  passengers, 
who  carried  them  to  Wade,  the  clerk  of  the  privy  council.  He,  with  great 
industry  and  patience,  joined  them  together,  and  they  were  found  to  con- 
tain the  account  of  a  plot,  said  to  have  been  formed  by  the  king  of  Spain 
and  the  duke  of  Guise,  for  invading  England.  The  people  were  not  yet 
recovered  from  the  fear  and  anxiety  occasioned  by  the  conspiracy  in  which 
Throkmorton  had  been  engaged  ;  and  as  his  discoveries  appeared  now  to 
be  confirmed  by  additional  evidence,  not  only  all  their  former  apprehensions 
recurred,  but  the  consternation  became  general  and  excessive.  As  all  the 
dangers,  with  which  England  had  been  threatened  for  some  years,  flowed 
either  immediately  from  Maiy  herself,  or  from  such  as  made  use  of  her 
name  to  justify  their  insurrections  and  conspiracies,  this  gradually  diminished 
the  compassion  due  to  her  situation,  and  the  English,  instead  of  pitying, 
began  to  fear  and  to  hate  her.  Elizabeth,  under  whose  wise  and  pacific 
reign  the  English  enjoyed  tranquillity,  and  had  opened  sources  of  wealth 
unknown  to  their  ancestors,  was  extremely  beloved  by  all  hei  people  ;  and 
regard  to  her  safety,  not  less  than  to  their  own  interest,  animated  them 
against  the  Scottish  queen.  In  order  to  discourage  her  adherents,  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  convince  them,  by  some  public  deed,  of  the  attach- 
ment of  the  English  to  their  own  sovereign,  and  that  any  attempt  against 
her  life  would  prove  fatal  to  her  rival.  With  this  view  an  association  was 
framed  [Oct.  19],  the  subscribers  of  which  bound  themselves  by  the  most 
solemn  oaths,  "  to  defend  the  queen  against  all  her  enemies,  foreign  and 
domestic  ;  and  if  violence  should  be  offered  to  her  life,  in  order  to  favour 
the  title  of  any  pretender  to  the  crown,  they  not  only  engaged  never  to 
allow  or  acknowledge  the  person  or  persons  by  whom,  or  for  whom,  such 
a  detestable  act  should  be  committed,  but  vowed,  in  the  presence  of  the 
eternal  God,  to  prosecute  such  person  or  persons  to  the  death,  and  to 
pursue  them,  with  their  utmost  vengeance,  to  their  utter  overthrow  and 
extirpation. "f  Persons  of  all  ranks  subscribed  this  combination  with  the 
greatest  eagerness  and  unanimity.^ 

•  Cald.  iU.589.  t  State  Trials,  i.  1S&  i  Caud.  4S* 


OF   SCOTLAND.  25i 

Mary  considered  this  association,  not  only  as  an  avowed  design  to  exclude 
her  from  all  right  of  succession,  but  as  the  certain  and  immediate  forerunner 
of  her  destruction.  In  order  to  avert  this,  she  made  such  feeble  efforts  as 
were  still  in  her  power,  and  sent  Naue,  her  secretary,  to  court,  with  offers 
of  more  entire  resignation  to  the  will  of  Elizabeth,  in  every  point  which 
had  been  the  occasion  of  their  long  enmity,  than  all  her  sufferings  Htherto 
had  been  able  to  extort.*  But  whether  Mary  adhered  inflexibly  to  her 
privileges  as  an  independent  sovereign,  or,  yielding  to  the  necessity  of  her 
situation,  endeavoured  by  concessions  to  sooth  her  rival,  she  was  equally 
unsuccessful.  Her  firmness  was  imputed  to  obstinacy,  or  to  the  secret 
hope  of  foreign  assistance  ;  her  concessions  were  either  believed  to  be 
insincere,  or  to  flow  from  the  fear  of  some  imminent  danger.  Her  present 
willingness,  however,  to  comply  with  any  terms  was  so  great  that  Wal 
singham  warmly  urged  his  mistress  to  come  to  a  final  agreement  with  her.t 
But  Elizabeth  was  persuaded,  that  it  was  the  spirit  raised  by  the  associa- 
tion which  had  rendered  her  so  passive  and  compliant.  She  always  ima- 
gined that  there  was  something  mysterious  and  deceitful  in  all  Mary's 
actions,  and  suspected  her  of  canying  on  a  dangerous  correspondence  with 
the  English  Catholics,  both  within  and  without  the  kingdom.  Nor  were 
her  suspicions  altogether  void  of  foundation.  Mary  had,  about  this  time, 
written  a  letter  to  Sir  Francis  Inglefield,  urging  him  to  hasten  the  execution 
of  what  she  calls  the  Great-  Plot  or  Designment,  without  hesitating  on 
account  of  any  danger  in  which  it  might  involve  her  life,  which  she  would 
most  willingly  part  with,  if  by  that  sacrifice  she  could  procure  relief  for 
so  great  a  number  of  the  oppressed  children  of  the  cnurch.J  Instead, 
therefore,  of  hearkening  to  the  overtures  which  the  Scottish  queen  made 
or  granting  any  mitigation  of  the  hardships  of  which  she  complained, 
Elizabeth  resolved  to  take  her  out  of  the  hands  of  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury, 
and  to  appoint  sir  Amias  Paulet  and  sir  Drue  Drury  to  be  her  keepers. 
Shrewsbury  had  discharged  his  trust  with  great  fidelity,  during  fifteen 
years,  but  at  the  same  time,  had  treated  Mary  with  gentleness  and  respect, 
and  had  always  sweetened  harsh  commands  by  the  humanity  with  which 
he  put  them  in  execution.  The  same  politeness  was  not  to  be  expected 
from  men  of  an  inferior  rank,  whose  severe  vigilance  perhaps  was  their 
chief  recommendation  to  that  employment,  and  the  only  merit  by  which 
they  could  pretend  to  gain  favour  or  preferment.§ 

As  James  was  no  less  eager  than  ever  to  deprive  the  banished  nobles  ol 
Elizabeth's  protection,  he  appointed  the  master  of  Gray  his  ambassador  to 
the  court  of  England,  and  intrusted  him  with  the  conduct  of  a  negotiation 
for  that  purpose.  For  this  honour  he  was  indebted  to  the  envy  and  jea- 
lousy of  the  earl  of  Arran.  Gray  possessed  all  the  talents  of  a  courtier ; 
a  graceful  person,  an  insinuating  address,  boundless  ambition,  and  a  restless 
and  intriguing  spirit.  During  his  residence  in  France,  he  had  been  ad- 
mitted into  the  most  intimate  familiarity  with  the  duke  of  Guise,  and  in 
order  to  gain  his  favour,  had  renounced  the  protestant  religion,  and  pro- 
fessed the  utmost  zeal  for  the  captive  queen,  who  carried  on  a  secret  cor- 
respondence with  him,  from  which  she  expected  great  advantages.  On 
his  return  into  Scotland,  he  paid  court  to  James  with  extraordinary  assi- 
duity, and  his  accomplishments  did  not  fail  to  make  their  usual  impression 
on  the  king's  heart.  Arran,  who  had  introduced  him,  began  quickly  to 
dread  his  growing  favour;  and,  flattering  himself  that  absence  would 
efface  any  sentiments  of  tenderness  which  were  forming  in  the  mind  of  a 
young  prince,  pointed  him  out  by  his  malicious  praises  as  the  most  proper 
person  in  the  kingdom  for  an  embassy  of  such  importance  ;  and  contributed 
to  raise  him  to  that  high  dignity,  in  order  to  hasten  his  fall.  Elizabeth, 
who  had  an  admirable  dexterity  in  discovering  the  proper  instruments  for 

•  narad.  49U.  t  See  A  pp.  No.  X  LI  V.  J  Strype,  iii.  246.  $Camd.500 


252  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VU. 

carrying  on  her  designs,  endeavoured,  by  caresses  and  by  presents,  to 
secure  Gray  to  her  interest.  The  former  flattered  his  vanity,  which  was 
great ;  the  latter  suppbed  his  profuseness,  which  was  still  greater.  He 
abandoned  himself  without  reserve  to  Elizabeth's  direction,  and  not  only 
undertook  to  retain  the  king  under  the  influence  of  England,  but  acted  as 
a  spy  upon  the  Scottish  queen,  and  betrayed  to  her  rival  every  secret  that 
he  could  draw  from  her  by  his  high  pretensions  of  zeal  in  her  service.* 

Gray's  credit  with  the  English  court  was  extremely  galling  to  the  ban- 
ished nobles  Elizabeth  no  longer  thought  of  employing  her  power  to  re- 
store them  ;  she  found  it  easier  to  govern  Scotland  by  corrupting  the  king's 
favourites ;  and,  in  compliance  with  Gray's  solicitations  [Dec.  31],  she 
commanded  the  exiles  to  leave  the  north  of  England,  and  to  remove  into  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom.  This  rendered  it  difficult  for  them  to  hold  any  cor 
respondence  with  their  partisans  in  Scotland,  and  almost  impossible  to 
return  thither  without  her  permission.  Gray,  by  gaining  a  point  which 
James  had  so  much  at  heart,  riveted  himself  more  firmly  than  ever  in  his 
favour  ;  and,  by  acquiring  greater  reputation,  became  capable  of  serving 
Elizabeth  with  greater  success.! 

1585.1  Arran  had  now  possessed  for  some  time  all  the  power,  the  riches, 
and  the  nonours,  that  his  immoderate  ambition  could  desire,  or  the  fond- 
ness of  a  prince,  who  set  no  limits  to  his  liberality  towards  his  favourites, 
could  bestow.  The  office  of  lord  chancellor,  the  highest  and  most  import- 
ant in  the  kingdom,  was  conferred  upon  him,  even  during  the  life  ol  the 
earl  of  Argyll,  who  succeeded  Athol  in  that  dignity  ;|  and  the  public  be- 
held with  astonishment  and  indignation,  a  man  educated  as  a  soldier  of  for- 
tune, ignorant  of  law,  and  a  contemner  of  justice,  appointed  to  preside  in 
parliament,  in  the  privy  council,  in  the  court  of  session,  and  intrusted  with 
the  supreme  disposal  of  the  property  of  his  fellow  subjects.  He  was,  at 
the  same  time,  governor  of  the  castles  of  Stirling  and  Edinburgh,  the  two 
principal  forts  in  Scotland  ;  provost  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh  ;  and,  as  if 
by  all  these  accumulated  dignities,  his  merits  were  not  sufficiently  recom- 

Kensed,  he  had  been  created  lieutenant-general  over  the  whole  kingdom. 
lo  person  was  admitted  into  the  king's  presence  without  his  permission ; 
no  favour  could  be  obtained  but  by  his  mediation.  James,  occupied  with 
youthful  amusements,  devolved  upon  him  the  whole  regal  authority.  Such 
unmerited  elevation  increased  his  natural  arrogance,  and  rendered  it  intole- 
rable. He  was  no  longer  content  with  the  condition  of  a  subject,  but  pre- 
tended to  derive  his  pedigree  from  Murdo  duke  of  Albany ;  and  boasted 
openly,  that  his  title  to  the  crown  was  preferable  to  that  of  the  king  himself. 
But,  together  with  these  thoughts  of  royalty,  he  retained  the  meanness  suit- 
able to  his  primitive  indigence.  His  venality  as  a  judge  was  scandalous,  and 
was  exceeded  only  by  that  of  his  wife,  who,  in  defiance  of  decency,  made 
herself  a  parly  in  almost  every  suit  which  came  to  be  decided,  employed 
her  influence  to  corrupt  or  overawe  the  judges,  and  almost  openly  dictated 
their  decisions.§  His  rapaciousness  as  a  minister  was  insatiable.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  revenues  of  so  many  offices  ;  with  the  estate  and  honours 
which  belonged  to  the  family  of  Hamilton;  or  with  the  greater  part  ol 
Gowrie's  lands,  which  had  fallen  to  his  share  ;  he  grasped  at  the  posses- 
sions of  several  of  the  nobles.  He  required  lord  Maxwell  to  exchange 
part  of  his  estate  for  the  forfeited  lands  of  Kinneil ;  and  because  he  was 
unwilling  to  quit  an  ancient  inheritance  for  a  possession  so  precarious,  he 
stirred  up  against  him  his  hereditary  rival,  the  laird  of  Johnson,  and  in- 
volved that  corner  of  the  kingdom  in  a  civil  war.  He  committed  to  prison 
the  earl  of  Athol,  lord  Home,  and  the  master  of  Cassils ;  the  first,  because 
he  would  not  divorce  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  and 

*  Strype,  111.  302.    Melv.  316.  t  Cald  Hi.  643.  J  Crawf.  Offic.  of  Slate,  App.  447 

jCald.  iii  331.    Scotstarvet'a  Staggering  Stale, 7. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  253 

entail  his  estate  on  him ;  the  second,  because  he  was  unwilling  to  part 
with  some  lands  adjacent  to  one  of  Arran's  estates  ;  and  the  third,  for  refu- 
sing to  lend  him  money.  His  spies  and  informers  filled  the  whole  country, 
and  intruded  themselves  into  every  company.  The  nearest  neighbours 
distrusted  and  feared  each  other.  All  familiar  society  was  at  an  end. 
Even  the  common  intercourses  of  humanity  were  interrupted,  no  man 
knowing  in  whom  to  confide  or  where  to  utter  his  complaints.  There  is 
not  perhaps  in  history  an  example  of  a  minister  so  universally  detestable 
to  a  nation,  or  who  more  justly  deserved  its  detestation.* 

Arran,  notwithstanding,  regardless  of  the  sentiments  and  despising  the 
murmurs  of  the  people,  gave  a  loose  to  his  natural  temper,  and  proceeded 
to  acts  still  more  violent.  Da /id  Home  of  Argaty,  and  Patrick  his  brother, 
having  received  letters  from  one  of  the  banished  lords  about  private  busi- 
ness, were  condemned  and  put  to  death,  for  holding  correspondence  with 
rebels.  Cunninghame  of  Drumwhasel,  and  Douglas  of  Mains,  two  gentle- 
men of  honour  and  reputation,  were  accused  of  having  conspired  with  the 
exiled  nobles  to  seize  the  king's  person  :  a  single  witness  only  appeared  ; 
the  evidence  they  produced  of  their  innocence  was  unanswerable;  their 
accuser  himself  not  long  after  acknowledged  that  he  had  been  suborned 
by  Arran  ;  and  all  men  believed  the  charge  against  them  to  be  groundless : 
they  were  found  guilty,  notwithstanding,  and  suffered  the  death  of  traitors.  \ 

About  the  same  time  that  these  gentlemen  were  punished  for  a  pretended 
conspiracy,  Elizabeth's  life  was  endangered  by  a  real  one.  Parry,  a  doc- 
tor of  laws,  and  a  member  of  the  house  of  commons,  a  man  vain  and  fan- 
tastic, but  of  a  resolute  spirit,  had  lately  been  reconciled  to  the  church  of 
Rome  ;  and  fraught  with  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert,  he  offered  to  demon- 
strate the  sincerity  of  his  attachment  to  the  religion  which  he  had  em- 
braced, by  killing  Elizabeth.  Cardinal  Allan  had  published  a  book,  to 
prove  the  murder  of  an  excommunicated  prince  to  be  not  only  lawful,  but 
a  meritorious  action.  The  pope's  nuncio  at  Venice,  the  Jesuits  both  there 
and  at  Paris,  the  English  exiles,  all  approved  of  the  design.  The  pope 
himself  exhorted  him  to  persevere  ;  and  granted  him  for  his  encourage- 
ment a  plenary  indulgence,  and  remission  of  his  sins.  Cardinal  di  Como 
wrote  to  him  a  letter  to  the  same  purpose  ;  but  though  he  often  got  access 
to  the  queen,  fear,  or  some  remaining  sense  of  duty,  restrained  him  from 

Rerpetrating  the  crime.  Happily  his  intention  was  at  last  discovered  by 
(evil,  the  only  person  in  England  to  whom  he  had  communicated  it;  and 
having  himself  voluntarily  confessed  his  guilt,  he  suffered  the  punishment 
which  it  deserved.^ 

These  repeated  conspiracies  against  their  sovereign  awakened  the  indig- 
nation of  the  English  parliament,  and  produced  a  very  extraordinary  sta- 
tute, which,  in  the  end,  proved  fatal  to  the  queen  of  Scots.  By  this  law 
the  association  in  defence  of  Elizabeth's  life  was  ratified  ;  and  it  was  fur- 
ther enacted,  "  That  if  any  rebellion  shall  be  excited  in  the  kingdom,  or 
any  thing  attempted  to  the  hurt  of  her  majesty's  person,  by  or  for  any 

fjerson  pretending  a  title  to  the  crown,  the  queen  shall  empower  twenty- 
bur  persons,  by  a  commission  under  the  great  seal,  to  examine  into,  and 
pass  sentence  upon  such  offences;  and  after  judgment  given,  a  proclama- 
tion shall  be.  issued,  declaring  the  persons  whom  they  find  guilty  excluded 
from  any  right  to  the  crown  ;  and  her  majesty's  subjects  may  lawfully  pur- 
sue every  one  of  them  to  the  death,  with  all  their  aiders  and  abettors ; 
and  if  any  design  against  the  life  of  the  queen  take  effect,  the  persons  by 
or  for  whom  such  a  detestable  act  is  executed,  that  their  issues,  being  in 
any  wise  assenting  or  privy  to  the  same,  shall  be  disabled  for  ever  from 
pretending  to  the  crown,  and  be  pursued  to  death  in  the  like  manner."§ 
This  act  was  plainly  levelled  at  the  queen  of  Scots;  and,  whether  we  con- 

•  Bpouw.  337, 336.        t  Ibid.  338.    Cold  lii.  794.        X  State  Trials,  i.  103.       $  Ibid.  133 


t54  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

sider  it  as  a  voluntary  expression  of  the  zeal  and  concern  of  the  nation  foi 
Elizabeth's  safety,  or  whether  we  impute  it  to  the  influence  which  that 
artful  princess  preserved  over  her  parliaments,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to 
reconcile  it  with  the  general  principles  of  justice  or  humanity.  Mary  was 
thereby  rendered  accountable  not  only  for  her  own  actions,  but  for  those 
>f  others  ;  in  consequence  of  which  she  might  forfeit  her  right  of  succes- 
sion, and  even  her  life  itself. 

Mary  justly  considered  this  act  as  a  warning  to  prepare  for  the  worst 
extremities.  Elizabeth's  ministers,  it  is  probable,  had  resolved  by  this 
time  to  take  away  her  life ;  and  suffered  books  to  be  published,  in  order 
to  persuade  the  nation  that  this  cruel  and  unprecedented  measure  was  not 
only  necessary  but  just.*  Even  that  short  period  of  her  days  which  re- 
mained they  rendered  uncomfortable,  by  every  hardship  and  indignity 
which  it  was  in  their  power  to  inflict.  Almost  all  her  servants  were  dis- 
missed, she  was  treated  no  longer  with  the  respect  due  to  a  queen  ;  and, 
though  the  rigour  of  seventeen  years'  imprisonment  had  broken  her  con- 
stitution, she  was  confined  to  two  ruinous  chambers,  scarcely  habitable,  even 
in  the  middle  of  summer,  by  reason  of  cold.  Notwithstanding  the  scanti- 
ness of  her  revenue,  she  had  been  accustomed  to  distribute  regularly  some 
alms  among  the  poor  in  the  village  adjoining  to  the  castle.  Paulet  now 
refused  her  liberty  to  perform  this  pious  and  humane  office,  which  had 
afforded  her  great  consolation  amidst  her  own  sufferings.  The  castle  in 
which  she  resided  was  converted  into  a  common  prison ;  and  a  young 
man,  suspected  of  popery,  was  confined  there,  and  treated  under  her  eye 
with  such  rigour  that  he  died  of  the  ill  usage.  She  often  complained  to 
Elizabeth  of  these  multiplied  injuries,  and  expostulated  as  became  a  woman 
and  a  queen  ;  but  as  no  political  reason  now  obliged  that  princess  to  amuse 
her  any  longer  with  fallacious  hopes,  far  from  granting  her  any  redress,  she 
did  not  even  deign  to  give  her  any  answer.  The  king  of  France,  closely 
allied  to  Elizabeth,  on  whom  he  depended  for  assistance  against  his  rebel- 
lious subjects,  was  afraid  of  espousing  Mary's  cause  with  any  warmth  ; 
and  all  his  solicitations  in  her  behalf  were  feeble,  formal,  and  inefficacious. 
But  Castelnau,  the  French  ambassador,  whose  compassion  and  zeal  for  the 
unhappy  queen  supplied  the  defects  in  his  instructions,  remonstrated  with 
such  vigour  against  the  indignities  to  which  she  was  exposed,  that,  by  his 
importunity,  he  prevailed  at  length  to  have  her  removed  to  Tuthbury ; 
though  she  was  confined  the  greater  part  of  another  winter  in  her  present 
wretched  habitation.! 

Neither  the  insults  of  her  enemies  nor  the  neglect  of  her  friends  made 
«uch  an  impression  on  Mary  as  the  ingratitude  of  her  son.  James  had 
hitherto  treated  his  mother  with  filial  respect,  and  had  even  entered  into 
negotiations  with  her,  which  gave  umbrage  to  Elizabeth.  But  as  it  was 
not  the  interest  of  the  English  queen  that  his  good  correspondence  should 
continue,  Gray,  who,  on  his  return  to  Scotland,  found  his  favour  with  the 
kins;  greatly  increased  by  the  success  of  his  embassy,  persuaded  him  to 
write  a  harsh  and  undutiful  letter  to  his  mother,  in  which  he  expressly 
refused  to  acknowledge  her  to  be  queen  of  Scotland,  or  to  consider  his 
affairs  as  connected,  in  any  wise,  with  hers.  This  cruel  requital  of  her 
maternal  tenderness  overwhelmed  Mary  with  sorrow  and  despair.  "Was 
it  lor  this,"  said  she,  in  a  letter  to  the  French  ambassador  [March  24J, 
"  that  I  have  endured  so  much,  in  order  to  preserve  for  him  the  inherit- 
ance to  which  I  have  just  right  ?  I  am  far  from  envying  his  authority  ID 
Scotland.  I  desire  no  power  there  ;  nor  wish  to  set  my  foot  in  that  king- 
dom, if  it  were  not  for  the  pleasure  of  once  embracing  a  son,  whom  I  have 
hitherto  loved  with  too  tender  affection.  Whatever  he  either  enjoys  or 
rxpects  he  derived  it  from  me.     From  him  I  never  received  assistance. 

•  Strype,  111.  299.  f  Jebb.  vol.  lL  57*-5fi8. 


OF   SCOTLAND  265 

supply,  or  benefit  of  any  kind.  Let  not  my  allies  treat  him  any  longer  as 
a  king :  he  holds  that  dignity  by  my  consent ;  and  if  a  speedy  repentance 
do  not  appease  my  just  resentment,  1  will  load  him  with  a  parent's  curse, 
and  surrender  ny  crown,  with  nil  my  pretensions,  to  one  who  will  receive 
them  with  gratitude,  and  defend  them  with  vigour."*  J  ne  love  which 
James  bore  to  his  mother,  whom  he  had  never  known,  and  whom  he  had 
been  early  taught  to  consider  as  one  of  the  most  abandoned  persons  of  her 
sex,  cannot  be  supposed  ever  to  have  been  ardent ;  and  he  did  not  now  take 
any  pains  to  regain  her  favour.  But  whether  her  indignation  at  his  undu- 
tilul  behaviour,  added  to  her  bigoted  attachment  to  popery,  prompted 
Mary  at  any  time  to  think  seriously  of  disinheriting  her  son;  or  whether 
these  threatenings  were  uttered  in  a  sadden  sally  of  disappointed  affection. 
it  is  now  no  easy  matter  to  determine.  Some  papers  which  are  still  extant 
seem  to  render  the  former  not  improbable.! 

Cares  of  another  kind,  and  no  less  disquieting,  occupied  Elizabeth's 
thoughts.  The  calm  which  she  had  long  enjoyed  seemed  now  to  be  at  an 
end  ;  and  such  storms  were  gathering  in  every  quarter  as  filled  her  with 
just  alarm.  All  the  neighbouring  nations  had  undergone  revolutions 
extremely  to  her  disadvantage.  The  great  qualities  which  Henry  III 
had  displayed  in  his  youth,  and  which  raised  the  expectations  of  his  sub- 
jects so  high,  vanished  on  his  ascending  the  throne  ;  and  his  acquiring 
supreme  power  seems  not  only  to  have  corrupted  his  heart,  but  to  bav* 
impaired  his  understanding.  He  soon  lost  the  esteem  and  affection  of  the 
nation  ;  and  a  life  divided  between  the  austerities  of  a  superstitious  devotion, 
and  the  extravagancies  of  the  most  dissolute  debauchery,  rendered  him  at 
contemptible  as  ne  was  odious  on  account  of  his  rapaciousness,  his  profusion 
and  the  fondness  with  which  he  doted  on  many  unworthy  minions.  On 
the  death  of  his  only  brother,  those  sentiments  of  the  people  burst  out 
with  violence.  Henry  had  no  children,  and  though  but  thirty-two  years 
of  age,  the  succession  of  the  crown  was  already  considered  as  open.  The 
king  of  Navarre,  a  distant  descendant  of  the  royal  family,  but  the  undoubted 
heir  to  the  crown,  was  a  zealous  protestant.  The  prospect  of  an  event  so 
fatal  to  their  religion,  as  his  ascending  the  throne  of  France,  alarmed  all 
the  catholics  in  Europe  ;  and  induced  the  duke  of  Guise,  countenanced 
by  the  pope  and  aided  by  the  king  of  Spain,  to  appear  as  the  defender  ol 
the  Romish  faith,  and  the  asserter  of  the  cardinal  of  Bourbon's  right  to 
the  crown.  In  order  to  unite  the  party,  a  bond  of  confederacy  was  formed 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Holy  League.  All  ranks  of  men  joined 
in  it  with  emulation.  The  spirit  spread  with  the  irresistible  rapidity 
which  was  natural  to  religious  passions  in  that  age.  The  destruction  o' 
the  reformation,  not  only  in  France,  but  all  over  Europe,  seemed  to  be  the 
object  and  wish  of  the  whole  party ;  and  the  duke  of  Guise,  the  head  of 
this  mighty  and  zealous  body,  acquired  authority  in  the  kingdom  far  supe- 
rior to  that  which  the  king  himself  possessed.  Philip  II.  by  the  conqueM 
of  Portugal,  had  greatly  increased  the  naval  power  of  Spain,  and  had  at 
last  reduced  under  his  dominion  all  that  portion  of  the  continent  which 
lies  beyond  the  Pyrenean  mountains,  and  which  nature  seems  to  have  des- 
tined to  form  one  great  monarchy.  William  prince  of  Orange,  who  first 
sncouraged  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  to  assert  their  liberties,  and 
whose  wisdom  and  valour  formed  and  protected  the  rising  commonwealth, 
had  fallen  by  the  hands  of  an  assassin.  The  superior  genius  of  the  prince 
of  Parma  had  given  an  entire  turn  to  the  fate  of  war  in  the  Low-Countries  ; 
all  his  enterprises,  concerted  with  consummate  skill,  and  executed  with 
equal  bravery,  had  been  attended  with  success;  and  the  Dutch,  reduced 
to  the  last  extremity,  were  on  the  point  of  falling  under  the  dominion  of 
their  ancient  master. 

•  Murdln,  566.    Jebb,  U.  571.    See  Append.  No.  XLV.  t  See  Append.  No.  XLVI 


256  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

None  of  those  circumstances  to  which  Elizabeth  had  hitherto  owed  hei 
security  existed  any  longer.  She  could  derive  no  advantage  from  the 
jealousy  which  had  subsisted  between  France  and  Spain;  Philip,  by  means 
of  his  confederacy  with  the  duke  of  Guise,  had  an  equal  sway  in  the  coun- 
cils of  both  kingdoms.  The  Hugonots  were  unable  to  contend  with  the 
power  of  the  league ;  and  little  could  be  expected  from  any  diversion 
which  they  might  create.  Nor  was  it  probable  that  (he  Netherlands  could 
long  employ  the  arms  or  divide  the  strength  of  Spain.  In  this  situation  of 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  it  became  necessary  for  Elizabeth  to  form  a  new  plan 
>f  conduct;  and  her  wisdom  in  forming  it  was  not  greater  than  the  vigour 
rvith  which  she  carried  it  on.  The  measures  most  suitable  to  her  natural 
emper,  and  which  she  had  hitherto  pursued,  were  cautious  and  safe  ;  those 
vhich  she  now  adopted  were  enterprising  and  hazardous.  She  preferred 
jeace,  but  was  not  afraid  of  war;  and  was  capable,  when  compelled  by 
iecessity,  not  only  of  defending  herself  with  spirit,  but  of  attacking  hei 
memies  with  a  boldness  which  averted  danger  from  her  own  dominions. 
She  immediately  furnished  the  Hugonots  with  a  considerable  supply  in 
>noney.  She  carried  on  a  private  negotiation  with  Henry  III.,  who, 
though  compelled  to  join  the  league,  hated  the  leaders  of  it,  and  wished 
for  their  destruction.  She  openly  undertook  the  protection  of  the  Dutch 
commonwealth,  and  sent  a  powerful  army  to  its  assistance.  She  endea- 
voured to  form  a  general  confederacy  of  the  protestant  princes,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  popish  league.  She  determined  to  proceed  with  the  utmost 
ngour  against  the  queen  of  Scots,  whose  sufferings  and  rights  afforded  her 
enemies  a  specious  pretence  for  invading  her  dominions.  She  resolved  to 
redouble  her  endeavours,  in  order  to  effect  a  closer  union  with  Scotland, 
and  to  extend  and  perpetuate  her  influence  over  the  councils  of  that  nation. 

She  found  it  no  difficult  matter  to  induce  most  of  the  Scottish  courtiers  to 
promote  all  her  designs.  Gray,  sir  John  Maitland,  who  had  been  advancea 
to  the  office  of  secretary,  which  his  brother  formerly  held,  sir  Lewis 
Bellenden,  the  justice  clerk,  who  had  succeeded  Gray  as  the  king's  resident 
at  London,  were  the  persons  in  whom  she  chiefly  confided.  In  order  to 
direct  and  quicken  their  motions,  she  despatched  [May  29]  sir  Edward 
Wotton,  along  with  Bellenden,  into  Scotland.  This  man  was  gav,  well 
bred,  and  entertaining;  he  excelled  in  all  the  exercises  for  which  James 
had  a  passion,  and  amused  the  young  king  by  relating  the  adventures  whicn 
ne  had  met  with,  and  the  observations  he  had  made  during  a  long  resi- 
dence in  foreign  countries  ;  but,  under  the  veil  of  these  superficial  qualities, 
he  concealed  a  dangerous  and  intriguing  spirit.  He  soon  grew  into  high 
favour  with  James;  and  while  he  was  seemingly  attentive  only  to  pleasure 
and  diversions,  he  acquired  influence  over  the  public  councils  to  a  degree 
which  was  indecent  for  a  stranger  to  possess.* 

Nothing,  however,  could  be  more  acceptable  to  the  nation,  than  the 
proposal  which  he  made  of  a  strict  alliance  between  the  hvo  kingdoms,  in 
defence  of  the  reformed  religion.  The  rapid  and  alarming  progress  of  the 
popish  league  seemed  to  call  on  all  protestant  princes  to  unite  for  the 
preservation  of  their  common  faith.  James  embraced  the  overture  with 
warmtii  FJuly  29],  and  a  convention  of  estates  empowered  him  to  conclude 
such  a  treaty,  and  engaged  to  ratify  it  in  parliament.!  The  alacrity  with 
which  James  concurred  in  this  measure  must  not  be  wholly  ascribed  either 
to  his  own  zeal,  or  to  Wotton's  address;  it  was  owing  in  part  to  Eliza- 
beth's liberality.  As  a  mark  of  her  rrotherly  affection  for  the  young  king, 
she  settled  on  him  an  annual  pension  of  five  thousand  pounds ;  the  same 
sum  which  her  father  had  allotted  hei  before  she  ascended  the  throne. 
This  circumstance,  which  she  took  care  to  mention,  rendered  a  sum,  which 
m  that  age  was  far  from  being  inconsideiable,  a  very  acceptable  present 

•  Melv.  317.  t  SjxHsw.  338. 


(! 


OF   SCOTLAND.  157 

to  the  king,  whose  revenues,  during  a  long  minority,  had  been  almost 
totally  dissipated.* 

But  the  chief  object  of  Wotton's  intrigues  was  to  ruin  Arran.  While  a 
minion  so  odious  to  the  nation  continued  to  govern  the  king,  his  assistance 
could  be  of  little  advantage  to  Elizabeth.  And  though  Arran,  ever  since 
his  interview  with  Hunsdon,  had  appeared  extremely  for  her  interest,  she 
could  place  no  great  confidence  in  a  man  whose  conduct  was  so  capricious 
and  irregular,  and  who,  notwithstanding  his  protestations  to  the  contrary, 
-till  continued  a  secret  correspondence  both  with  Mary  and  with  the  duke 
:  Guise.  The  banished  lords  were  attached  to  England  from  affection  as 
.;ll  as  principle,  and  were  the  only  persons  among  the  Scots,  whom,  in 
iiiy  dangerous  exigency,  she  could  thoroughly  trust.  Before  Bellenden  left 
London,  they  had  been  summoned  thither,  under  colour  of  vindicating 
themselves  from  his  accusations,  but,  in  reality,  to  concert  with  him  the 
most  proper  measures  for  restoring  them  to  their  country.  Wotton  pursued 
this  plan,  and  endeavoured  to  ripen  it  for  execution;  and  it  was  greatly 
facilitated  by  an  event  neither  uncommon  nor  considerable.  Sir  John 
Forster,  and  Ker  of  Ferniherst,  the  English  and  Scottish  wardens  of  the 
middle  marches,  having  met,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  borders, 
about  midsummer,  a  fray  arose,  and  lord  Russel,  the  earl  of  Bedford's 
eldest  son,  happened  to  be  killed.  This  scuffle  was  purely  accidental ;  but 
Elizabeth  chose  to  consider  it  as  a  design  formed  by  Ker,  at  the  instigation 
of  Arran,  to  involve  the  two  kingdoms  in  war.  She  insisted  that  both 
should  be  delivered  up  to  her;  and,  though  .lames  eluded  that  demand,  he 
was  obliged  to  confine  Arran  in  St.  Andrew's,  and  Ker  in  Aberdeen. 
During  his  absence  from  court,  Wotton  and  his  associates  carried  on  their 
intrigues  without  interruption.  By  their  advice  [Oct.  16],  the  banished 
nobles  endeavoured  to  accommodate  their  differences  with  lord  John  and 
lord  Claud,  the  duke  of  Chatelherault's  two  sons,  whom  Morton's  violence 
had  driven  out  of  the  kingdom.  Their  common  sufferings  and  common 
interest  induced  both  parties  to  bury  in  oblivion  the  ancient  discord  vhicb 
had  subsisted  between  the  houses  of  Hamilton  and  Douglas.  B}  Eliza- 
beth's permission,  they  returned  in  a  body  to  the  borders  of  Sc:  Hand. 
Arran,  who  had  again  recovered  favour,  insisted  on  putting  the  kinu  iom  :n 
a  posture  of  defence ;  but  Gray,  Bellenden,  and  Maitland,  secretly  thwar^d 
all  his  measures.  Some  necessary  orders  they  prevented  from  being 
issued;  others  they  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  manner  of  execution;  and 
all  of  them  were  obeyed  slowly,  and  with  reluctance.t 

Wotton's  fertile  brain  was,  at  the  same  time,  big  with  another  and  more 
dangerous  plot.  He  had  contrived  to  seize  the  king,  and  to  carry  him  by 
force  into  England.  But  the  design  was  happily  discovered  ;  and,  in  order 
to  avoid  the  punishment  which  his  treachery  merited,  he  departed  without 
taking  leave.J 

Meanwhile  the  banished  lords  hastened  the  execution  of  their  enterprise  ; 
wid,  as  their  friends  and  vassals  were  now  ready  to  join  them,  they  entered 
Scotland.  Wherever  they  came,  they  were  welcomed  as  the  deliverers  of 
their  country,  and  the  most  fervent  prayers  were  addressed  to  heaven  for 
the  success  of  their  arms.  They  advanced,  without  losing  a  moment, 
towards  Stirling,  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  men.  The  king,  though  he 
had  assembled  an  army  superior  in  number,  couid  not  venture  to  meet  them 
in  the  field  with  troops  whose  loyalty  was  extremely  dubious,  and  who  at 
best  were  far  from  being  hearty  in  the  cause ;  nor  was  either  the  town  01 
castle  provided  for  a  siege.  The  gates,  however,  of  both  were  shut,  and 
the  nobles  encamped  at  St.  Ninian's  [Nov.  2].  That  same  night  they  sur- 
prised the  town,  or,  more  probably,  it  was  betrayed  i  ito  their  hands ;  and 
Arran,  who  had  undertaken  to  delend  it,  was  obliged  to  save  himself  by  a 

*  Cald.  iil-  505.  t  Spotsw.  340.  t  Melv.  335. 

Vol.  Ill  -33 


258  T  H  E   H  I  S  T  O  R  Y  [Book  VII. 

precipitate  flight.  Next  morning  they  invested  the  castle,  in  which  there 
were  not  provisions  for  twenty-four  hours ;  and  James  was  necessitated 
mmediately  to  hearken  to  terms  of  accommodation.  They  were  not  sa 
elated  with  success  as  to  urge  extravagant  demands,  nor  was  the  king 
unwilling  to  make  every  reasonable  concession.  They  obtained  a  pardon, 
in  the  most  ample  form,  of  all  the  offences  which  they  had  committed  ;  the 
principal  forts  in  the  kingdom  were,  by  way  of  security,  put  into  their 
hands  :  Crawford,  Montrose,  and  colonel  Stewart  v  ere  removed  from  the 
king's  presence  ;  and  a  parliament  was  called  in  order  to  establish  tranquil 
lity  in  the  nation.* 

Dec.  10.]  Though  a  great  majority  in  this  parliament  consisted  of  the 
confederate  nobles  and  their  adherents,  they  were  far  from  discovering  a 
vindictive  spirit  Satisfied  with  procuring  an  act,  restoring  them  to  their 
ancient  honours  and  estates,  and  ratifying  the  pardon  granted  by  the  king, 
ihey  seemed  willing  to  forget  all  past  errors  in  the  administration,  and 
spared  James  the  mortification  of  seeing  his  ministers  branded  with  any 
public  note  of  infamy.  Arran  alone,  deprived  of  all  his  honours,  stripped 
of  his  borrowed  spoils,  and  declared  an  enemy  to  his  country  by  public  pro- 
clamation, sunk  back  into  obscurity,  and  must  henceforth  be  mentioned  by 
his  primitive  title  of  captain  James  Stewart.  As  he  had  been,  during  his 
unmerited  prosperity,  the  object  of  the  hatred  and  indignation  of  his  coun- 
trymen, they  beheld  his  fall  without  pity,  nor  did  all  his  sufferings  mitigate 
their  resentment  in  the  least  degree. 

The  clergy  were  the  only  body  of  men  who  obtained  no  redress  of  their 
grievances  by  this  revolution.  The  confederate  nobles  had  all  along 
affected  to  be  considered  as  guardians  of  the  privileges  and  discipline  of 
the  church.  In  all  their  manifestoes  they  had  declared  their  resolution  to 
restore  these,  and  by  that  popular  pretence  had  gained  many  friends.  It 
was  now  natural  to  expect  some  fruit  of  these  promises,  and  some  returns  of 
gratitude  towards  many  of  the  most  eminent  preachers  who  had  suffered  in 
their  cause,  and  who  demanded  the  repeal  of  the  laws  passed  the  preced- 
ing year.  The  king,  however,  was  resolute  to  maintain  these  laws  in  full 
authority;  and  as  the  nobles  were  extremely  solicitous  not  to  disgust  him 
by  insisting  on  any  disagreeable  request,  the  claims  of  the  church  in  this  as 
well  as  in  many  other  instances,  were  sacrificed  to  the  interest  of  the  laity. 
The  ministers  gave  vent  to  their  indignation  in  the  pulpit,  and  their  impa- 
tience under  the  disappointment  broke  out  in  some  expressions  extremely 
disrespectful  even  towards  the  king  himself.t 

1586.]  The  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  too,  felt  the  effects  of  their 
anger.  The  provincial  synod  of  Fife  summoned  him  to  appear,  and  to 
answer  for  his  contempt  of  the  decrees  of  former  assemblies,  in  presuming 
to  exercise  the  functions  of  a  bishop.  Though  he  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  and  appealed  from  it  to  the  king,  a  sentence 
of  excommunication,  equally  indecent  and  irregular,  was  pronounced  against 
him.  Adamson,  with  no  less  indecency,  thundered  his  archiepiscopal 
excommunication  against  Melvii,  and  some  other  of  his  opponents. 

Soon  after  [April  13],  a  general  assembly  was  held,  in  which  the  king, 
with  some  difficulty,  obtained  an  act,  permitting  the  name  and  office  of 
bishop  still  to  continue  in  the  church.  The  power  of  the  order,  however, 
was  considerably  retrenched.  The  exercise  of  discipline,  and  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  life  and  doctrine  of  the  clergy,  were  committed  to  presbyteries, 
in  which  bishops  should  be  allowed  no  other  pre-eminence  but  that  of  pre- 
siding as  perpetual  moderators.  They  themselves  were  declared  to  be 
subject,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  pastors,  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  gene- 
ral assembly.  As  the  discussion  of  the  archbishop's  appeal  might  have 
kindled  unusual  heats  in  the  assembly,  that  affair  was  terminated  by  a 

•  Cald.  lii.  7U5.  f  Spouw.  M& 


OF  SCOTLAND.  25* 

compromise.     He  renounced  any  claim  of  supremacy  over  the  church,  anti 

Sromjsed  to  demean  himself  suitably  to  the  character  of  a  bishop,  as 
escribed  by  St.  Paul.  The  assembly,  without  examining  the  foundations 
of  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  declared  that  it  should  be  held  of  nc 
effect,  and  restored  him  to  all  the  privileges  which  he  enjoyed  before  it 
was  pronounced.  Notwithstanding  the  extraordinary  tenderness  shown 
for  the  honour  of  the  synod,  and  the  delicacy  and  respect  with  which  its 
jurisdiction  was  treated,  several  members  were  so  zealous  as  to  protest 
against  this  decision.* 

The  court  of  Scotland  was  now  filled  with  persons  so  warmly  attached 
to  Elizabeth,  that  the  league  between  the  two  kingdoms,  which  had  been 
proposed  last  year,  met  with  no  interruption,  but  from  D'Esneval,  the  French 
envoy.  James  himself  first  offered  to  renew  the  negotiations.  Elizabeth 
did  not  suffer  such  a  favourable  opportunity  to  slip,  and  instantly  despatched 
Randolph  [July  5],  to  conclude  a  treaty,  which  she  so  much  desired.  The 
danger  to  which  the  protestant  religion  was  exposed,  by  the  late  combina- 
tion of  the  popish  powers  for  its  destruction,  and  the  necessity  of  a  strict 
confederacy  among  those  who  had  embraced  the  reformation,  in  order  to 
obstruct  their  pernicious  designs,  were  mentioned  as  the  foundation  of  the 
league.  The  chief  articles  in  it  were,  that  both  parties  should  bind  them- 
selves to  defend  the  evangelical  religion  ;  that  the  league  should  be  offensive 
and  defensive  against  all  who  shall  endeavour  to  disturb  the  exercise  of 
religion  in  either  kingdom  ;  that  if  one  of  the  two  parties  be  invaded,  the 
other,  notwithstanding  any  former  alliance,  should  not,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, assist  the  invader ;  that  if  England  be  invaded  in  any  part  remote 
from  Scotland,  James  should  assist  the  queen  with  two  thousand  horse  and 
five  thousand  foot :  that  if  the  enemy  landed  or  approached  within  sixty  miles 
of  Scotland,  the  king  should  take  the  field  with  his  whole  forces,  in  the 
same  manner  as  he  would  do  in  defence  of  his  own  kingdom.  Elizabeth, 
in  return,  undertook  to  act  in  defence  of  Scotland,  if  it  should  be  invaded. 
At  the  same  time  she  assured  the  king  that  no  step  should  be  taken,  which 
might  derogate  in  any  degree  from  his  pretensions  to  the  English  crown. f 
Elizabeth  expressed  great  satisfaction  with  a  treaty,  which  rendered  Scot- 
land an  useful  ally,  instead  of  a  dangerous  neighbour,  and  afforded  her  a 
degree  of  security  on  that  side,  which  all  her  ancestors  had  aimed  at,  but 
none  of  them  had  been  able  to  obtain.  Zeal  for  religion,  together  with  the 
blessings  of  peace  which  both  kingdoms  had  enjoyed  during  a  considerable 
period,  had  so  far  abated  the  violence  of  national  antipathy,  that  the  king's 
conduct  was  universally  acceptable  to  his  own  people.J 

The  acquittal  of  Archibald  Douglas,  at  this  time,  exposed  James  to  much 
and  deserved  censure.  This  man  was  deeply  engaged  in  the  conspiracy 
against  the  life  of  the  king  his  father.  Both  Morton  and  Blinny,  one  of  his 
own  servants,  who  suffered  for  that  crime,  had  accused  him  of  being  present 
at  the  murder.§  He  had  escaped  punishment  by  flying  into  England,  and 
James  had  often  required  Elizabeth  to  deliver  up  a  person  so  unworthy  of 
her  protection.  He  now  obtained  a  license,  from  the  king  himself,  to 
return  into  Scotland  ;  and,  after  undergoing  a  mock  trial,  calculated  to  con- 
ceal rather  than  to  detect  his  guilt,  he  was  not  only  taken  into  favour  by 
the  king,  but  sent  back  to  the  court  of  England  with  the  honourable  cha- 
racter of  his  ambassador.  James  was  now  of  such  an  age  that  his  youth 
and  inexperience  cannot  be  pleaded  in  excuse  for  this  indecent  transaction. 
It  must  be  imputed  tothe  excessive  facility  of  his  temper,  which  often  led 
him  to  gratify  his  courtiers  at  the  expense  of  his  own  dignity  and  reputation. || 
Not  long  after,  the  inconsiderate  affection  of  the  English  catholics  towards 
Mary,  and 'leir  implacable  resentment  against  Elizabeth,  gave  rise  to  a 

•  Cald.  iii.  894.    Spotaw.346.        fSpotsw.  351.       t  Camd.  513.       ft  See  Append.  No.  XLVI1 

Arnot.  Criin  Triala,  7,&c.  ||  Spotsw  348      f'ald.  iii.  917. 


160  T  H  E   H  I  S  T  O  R  Y  [Book  VII. 

conspiracy  which  proved  fatal  to  the  one  queen,  left  an  indelible  stain  or 
the  re  >utation  of  the  other,  and  presented  a  spectacle  to  Europe,  of  which 
there  .iad  been  hitherto  no  example  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

Doctor  Gifford,  Gilbert  Gifford,  and  Hodgson,  priests  educated  in  the 
•eminary  at  Rheims,  had  adopted  an  extravagant  and  enthusiastic  noting, 
that  the  bull  of  Pius  V.  against  Elizabeth  was  dictated  immediately  by  tne 
Holy  Ghost.  This  wild  opinion  they  instilled  into  Savage,  an  officer  in  the 
Spanish  army,  noted  for  his  furious  zeal  and  daring  courage ;  and  per- 
suaded him  that  no  service  could  be  so  acceptable  to  heaven,  as  to  take 
away  the  life  of  an  excommunicated  heretic.  Savage,  eager  to  obtain  the 
crown  of  martyrdom,  bound  himself  by  a  solemn  vow  to  kill  Elizabeth. 
Ballard,  a  pragmatical  priest  of  that  seminary,  had  at  that  time  come  over 
to  Paris  [April  26],  and  solicited  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  ambassador  there, 
to  procure  an  invasion  of  England,  while  the  affairs  of  the  league  were  so 
prosperous,  and  the  kingdom  left  naked  by  sending  so  many  ofthe  queei.'s 
best  troops  into  the  Netherlands.  Paget  and  the  English  exiles  demon- 
strated the  fruitlessness  of  such  an  attempt,  unless  Elizabeth  were  first  cut 
off,  or  the  invaders  secured  of  a  powerful  concurrence  on  their  landing.  If 
it  could  be  hoped  that  either  of  these  events  would  happen,  effectual  aid 
was  promised  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  Ballard  was  sent  back  to  renew  his 
intrigues. 

May  15.]  He  communicated  his  designs  to  Anthony  Babington,  a  young 
gentleman  in  Derbyshire,  of  a  large  fortune  and  many  amiable  qualities, 
who  having  contracted,  during  his  residence  in  France,  a  familiarity  with 
the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  had  been  recommended  by  him  to  the  queen  of 
Scots.  He  concurred  with  Paget  in  considering  the  death  of  Elizabeth  as 
a  necessaiy  preliminary  to  any  invasion.  Ballard  gave  him  hopes  that  an 
end  would  soon  be  put  to  her  days,  and  imparted  to  him  Savage's  vow, 
who  was  now  in  London  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  strike  the  blow. 
But  Babington  thought  the  attempt  of  too  much  importance  to  rely  on  a 
single  hand  for  the  execution  of  it,  and  proposed  that  five  resolute  gentlemen 
should  be  joined  with  Savage  in  an  enterprise,  the  success  of  which  was 
the  foundation  of  all  their  hopes.  He  offered  to  find  out  persons  willing  to 
undertake  the  service,  whose  honour,  secrecy,  and  courage,  they  might 
safely  trust.  He  accordingly  opened  the  matter  to  Edward  Windsor, 
Thomas  Salisbury,  Charles  Tinley,  Chidioc  Tichbourne,  Robert  Gage, 
John  Travers,  Robert  Barnwell,  John  Charnock,  Henry  Dun,  John  Jones, 
and  Robert  Polly;  all  of  them,  except  Polly,  whose  bustling  forward  zeal 
introduced  him  into  their  society,  gentlemen  of  good  families,  united 
together  in  the  bonds  of  private  friendship,  strengthened  by  the  more 
powerful  tie  of  religious  zeal.  Many  consultations  were  held;  their  plan 
of  operations  was  at  last  settled ;  and  their  different  parts  assigned  [June] 
Babington  himself  was  appointed  to  rescue  the  queen  of  Scots  ;  Salisbury, 
with  some  others,  undertook  to  excite  several  counties  to  take  arms ;  the 
murder  ofthe  queen,  the  most  dangerous  and  important  service  of  all,  fell 
to  Tichbourne  and  Savage,  with  four  associates.  So  totally  had  their 
bigotted  prejudices  extinguished  the  principles  of  honour,  and  the  senti- 
ments of  humanity  suitable  to  their  rank,  that,  without  scruple  or  compunc- 
tion, they  undertook  an  action  which  is  viewed  with  horror,  even  when 
committed  by  the  meanest  and  most  profligate  of  mankind.  This  attempt, 
on  the  contrary,  appeared  to  them  no  less  honourable  than  it  was  desperate  ; 
and  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  it,  they  had  a  picture  drawn,  con- 
taining the  portraits  of  the  six  assassins,  with  that  of  Babington  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  a  motto  intimating  that  they  were  jointly  embarked  in  some  hazard- 
ous design. 

The  conspirators,  as  appears  by  this  wanton  and  imprudent  instance  oi 
vanity,  seem  to  have  thought  a  discovery  hardly  possible,  and  neither  dis- 
trusted ths  fidelity  of  their  companions  nor  doubted  the  success  of  their 


OF   SCOTLAND  261 

undertaking.  But  while  they  believed  that  their  machinations  were  carried 
on  with  the  most  profound  and  impenetrable  secrecy,  every  step  they  took 
was  fully  known  to  Walsingham.  Polly  was  one  of  his  spies,  and  had 
entered  into  the  conspiracy  with  no  other  design  than  to  betray  his  associates. 
Gilbert  GifTord  too,  having  been  sent  over  to  England  to  quicken  the  motions 
of  the  conspirators,  had  been  gained  by  Walsingham.  and  gave  him  sure 
intelligence  of  all  their  projects.  That  vigilant  minister  immediately  im- 
parted the  discoveries  which  he  had  made  to  Elizabeth ;  and,  without 
communicating  the  matter  to  any  other  of  the  counsellors,  they  agreed,  tr ■ 
order  to  understand  the  plot  more  perfectly,  (o  wait  until  it  was  ripened 
into  some  form,  and  brought  near  the  point  of  execution. 

At  last,  Elizabeth  thought  it  dangerous  and  criminal  to  expose  ht  r  own 
life,  and  to  tempt   Providence  any  further.     Ballard,  the  prime  mover  in 


the  whole  conspiracy,  was  arrested  [Aug.  4].  Hi?  associates,  disconcerted 
and  struck  with  astonishment,  endeavoured  to  save  themselves  by  flight. 
But  within  a  few  days,  all  of  them,  except  Windsor,  were  seized  in  dif- 


ferent places  of  the  kingdom,  and  committed  to  the  tower.  Though  they 
had  undertaken  the  part,  they  wanted  the  firm  and  determined  spiri'  ot 
assassins  ;  and,  influenced  by  fear  or  by  hope,  at  once  confessed  all  that 
they  knew.  The  indignation  of  the  people,  and  their  impatience  to  revenge 
such  an  execrable  combination  against  the  life  of  their  sovereign,  hastened 
their  trial,  and  all  of  them  suffered  the  death  of  traitors.* 

Thus  far  Elizabeth's  conduct  may  be  pronounced  both  prudent  and 
laudable,  nor  can  she  be  accused  of  violating  any  law  of  humanity  or  of 
taking  any  precautions  beyond  what  were  necessary  for  her  own  safety. 
But  a  tragical  scene  followed,  with  regard  to  which  posterity  will  pass  a 
very  different  judgment. 

The  frantic  zeal  of  a  few  rash  young  men  accounts  sufficiently  for  all 
the  wild  and  wicked  designs  which  they  had  formed.  But  this  was  not 
the  light  in  which  Elizabeth  and  her  ministers  chose  to  place  the  con- 
spiracy. They  wished  to  persuade  the  nation,  that  Babington  and  his 
associates  should  be  considered  merely  as  instruments  employed  by  the 
queen  of  Scots,  the  real  though  secret  author  of  so  many  attempts  against 
the  life  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  peace  of  her  kingdoms.  They  produced 
letters,  which  they  ascribed  to  her,  in  support  of  this  charge.  These,  as 
they  gave  out,  had  come  into  their  hands  by  the  following  singular  and 
mysterious  method  of  conveyance.  Giffbrd,  on  his  return  into  England, 
had  been  trusted  by  some  of  the  exiles  with  letters  to  Mary;  but,  in  order 
to  make  a  trial  of  his  fidelity  and  address,  they  were  only  blank  papers 
made  up  in  that  form.  These  being  safely  delivered  by  him,  he  was 
afterwards  employed  without  further  scruple.  Walsingham  having  found 
means  to  gain  this  man,  he,  by  the  permission  of  that  minister,  and  the 
connivance  of  Paulet,  bribed  a  tradesman  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chartley, 
whither  Mary  had  been  conveyed,  who  deposited  the  letters  in  a  hole  in 
the  wall  of  the  castle,  covered  with  a  loose  sione.  Thence  thev  were 
taken  by  the  queen,  and  in  the  same  manner  her  answers  returned.  All 
these  were  carried  to  Walsingham,  opened  by  him.  deciphered,  sealed 
again  so  dexterously  that  the  fraud  could  not  be  perceived,  and  then  trans- 
mitted to  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  directed.  Tavo  letters  to  Ba- 
bington, with  several  to  Mendoza,  Paget,  Englefield,  and  the  English 
fugitives,  were  procured  by  this  artifice.  It  was  given  out,  that  in  thest 
letters  Mary  approved  of  the  conspiracy,  and  even  of  the  assassination ; 
that  she  directed  them  to  proceed  with  the  utmost  circumspection,  and 
not  to  take  arms  until  foreign  auxiliaries  were  ready  to  join  them  ;  that 
she  recommended  the  earl  of  Arundel,  his  brothers,  and  the  young  earl  of 
Northumberland,  as  proper  persons  to  conduct  and  to  add  reputation  to 

*  Cftind.  515     State  Trials,  vol.  i.  110 


«62  THE  HISTORY  |Book  Vll 

their  enterprise ;  that  she  advised  them,  if  possible,  to  excite  at  the  sam* 
time  some  commotion  in  Ireland ;  and,  above  all,  besought  them  to  con 
cert  with  care  the  means  of  her  own  escape,  suggesting  to  them  several 
expedients  for  that  purpose. 

All  these  circumstances  were  opened  at  the  trial  of  the  conspirators ; 
and  while  the  nation  was  under  the  influence  of  those  terrors  which  the 
association  had  raised,  and  the  late  danger  had  augmented,  they  were 
believed  without  hesitation  or  inquiry,  and  spread  a  general  alarm.  Mary's 
zeal  for  her  religion  was  well  known;  and  in  that  age,  examples  of  the 
violent  and  sanguinary  spirit  which  it  inspired  were  numerous.  All  the 
cabals  against  the  peace  of  the  kingdom  for  many  years  had  been  carried 
on  in  her  name  ;  and  it  now  appears  evidently,  said  the  English,  that  the 
safety  of  the  one  queen  is  incompatible  with  that  of  the  other.  Why  then, 
added  they,  should  the  tranquillity  of  England  be  sacrificed  for  the  sake 
of  a  stranger  1  Why  is  a  life  so  dear  to  the  nation  exposed  to  the  repeated 
assaults  of  an  exasperated  rival  ?  The  case  supposed  In  the  association 
has  now  happened,  the  sacred  person  of  our  sovereign  has  been  threatened, 
and  why  should  not  an  injured  people  execute  that  just  vengeance  which 
they  had  vowed  ? 

No  sentiments  could  be  more  agreeable  than  these  to  Elizabeth  and  her 
ministers.  Tbey  themselves  had  at  first  propagated  them  among  the 
people,  and  they  now  served  both  as  an  apology  and  a  motive  for  their 
proceeding  to  such  extremities  against  the  Scottish  queen  as  they  had  lone 
meditated.  The  more  numerous  the  injuries  were  which  Elizabeth  haa 
heaped  on  Mary,  the  more  she  feared  and  hated  that  unhappy  queen,  and 
came  at  last  to  be  persuaded  that  there  could  be  no  other  security  for  her 
own  life,  but  the  death  of  her  rival.  Burleigh  and  Walsingham  had  pro- 
moted so  zealously  all  Elizabeth's  measures  with  regard  to  Scottish  affairs, 
and  had  acted  with  so  little  reserve  in  opposition  to  Mary,  that  they  had 
reason  to  dread  the  most  violent  effects  of  her  resentment  if  ever  she  should 
mount  the  throne  of  England.  From  this  additional  consideration  they 
endeavoured,  with  the  utmost  earnestness,  to  hinder  an  event  so  fatal  to 
themselves,  by  confirming  their  mistress's  fear  and  hatred  of  the  Scottrsn 
queen. 

Meanwhile,  Mary  was  guarded  with  unusual  vigilance,  and  great  care 
was  taken  to  keep  her  ignorant  of  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy.  Sir 
Thomas  Gorges  was  at  last  sent  from  court  to  acquaint  her  both  01  it,  and 
of  the  imputation  with  which  she  was  loaded  as  accessary  to  that  crime, 
and  he  surprised  her  with  the  account  just  as  she  had  got  on  horseback  to 
ride  out  along  with  her  keepers.  She  was  struck  with  astonishment,  and 
would  have  returned  to  her  apartment,  but  she  was  not  permitted ;  and,  in 
her  absence,  her  private  closet  was  broken  open,  her  cabinet  and  papers 
were  seized,  sealed,  and  sent  up  to  court.  Her  principal  domestics  too 
were  arrested,  and  committed  to  different  keepers.  Naue  and  Curie  her 
two  secretaries,  the  one  a  native  of  France,  the  other  of  Scotland,  were 
carried  prisoners  to  London.  All  the  money  in  her  custody,  amounting  to 
little  more  than  two  thousand  pounds,  was  secured.*  And  after  leading 
her  about  for  some  days,  from  one  gentleman's  house  to  another,  she  was 
conveyed  to  Fotheringay,  a  strong  castle  in  Northamptonshire.! 

No  further  evidence  could  now  be  expected  against  Mary,  and  nothing 
remained  but  to  decide  what  should  be  her  fate.  With  regard  to  this, 
Elizabeth  and  those  ministers  in  whom  she  chiefly  confided  seem  to  have 
taken  their  resolution ;  but  there  v.  as  still  great  variety  of  sentiments 
among  her  other  counsellors.  Some  thought  it  sufficient  to  dismiss  all 
Mary  s  attendants,  and  to  keep  her  under  such  close  restraint,  as  would 
cut  off  all  possibility  of  corresponding  with  the  enemies  of  the  kingdom 

•  See  Appendix,  No.  XLVIJJ.  f  Camd.517- 


OF  SCOTLAND.  263 

and  as  her  constitution,  broken  by  long  confinement,  and  her  spirit,  dejected 
with  so  many  sorrows,  could  not  long;  support  such  an  additional  load,  the 
queen  and  nation  would  soon  be  delivered  from  all  their  fears.  But  though 
it  might  be  easy  to  secure  Mary's  own  person,  it  was  impossible  to  diminish 
the  reverence  which  the  Roman  Catholics  had  for  her  name,  or  to  extin- 
guish the  compassion  with  which  they  viewed  her  sufferings;  while  such 
sentiments  continued,  insurrections  and  invasions  would  never  be  wanting 
for  her  relief,  and  the  only  effect  of  any  new  rigour  would  be  to  render 
these  attempts  more  frequent  and  more  dangerous.  For  this  reason  the 
expedient  was  rejected. 

A  public  and  legal  trial,  though  the  most  unexampled,  was  judged  tht 
most  unexceptionable  method  of  proceeding ;  and  it  had  at  the  same  time 
a  semblance  of  justice,  accompanied  with  an  air  of  dignity.  It  was 
in  vain  to  search  the  ancient  records  for  any  statute  or  precedent  to 
justify  such  an  uncommon  step  as  the  trial  of  a  foreign  prince,  who  had 
not  entered  the  kingdom  in  arms,  but  had  fled  thither  for  refuge.  The 
proceedings  against  her  were  founded  on  the  act  of  last  parliament,  and 
by  applying  it  in  this  manner,  the  intention  of  those  who  had  framed  that 
severe  statute  became  more  apparent.* 

Elizabeth  resolved  that  no  circumstance  of  pomp  or  solemnity  should 
be  wanting,  which  could  render  this  tr  msaction  such  as  became  the  dignity 
of  the  person  to  be  tried.  She  appointed,  by  a  commission  under  the 
great  seal,  forty  persons,  the  most  illustrious  in  the  kingdom  by  their  birth 
or  offices,  together  with  five  of  the  judges,  to  hear  and  decide  this  great 
cause.  Many  difficulties  were  started  by  the  lawyers  about  the  name  and 
title  by  which  Mary  should  be  arraigned:  and  while  the  essentials  ot 
justice  were  so  grossly  violated,  the  empty  forms  of  it  were  the  objects  of 
their  care.  They  at  length  agreed  that  she  should  be  styled  "  Mary, 
daughter  and  heir  of  James  V.  late  king  of  Scots,  commonly  called  queen 
of  Scots,  and  dowager  of  France."! 

After  the  many  indignities  which  she  had  lately  suffered,  Mary  could  no 
longer  doubt  but  that  her  destruction  was  determined.  She  expected 
every  moment  to  end  her  days  by  poison,  or  by  some  of  those  secret 
means  usually  employed  against  captive  princes.  Lest  the  malice  of  her 
enemies,  at  the  same  time  that  it  deprived  her  of  life,  should  endeavour 
likewise  to  blast  her  reputation,  she  wrote  to  the  duke  of  Guise,  and  vin- 
dicated herself,  in  the  strongest  terms,  from  the  imputation  of  encouraging 
or  of  being  accessary  to  the  conspiracy  for  assassinating  Elizabeth.J  In 
the  solitude  of  her  prison,  the  strange  resolution  of  bringing  her  to  a  public 
trial  had  not  reached  her  ears,  nor  did  the  idea  of  any  thing  so  unpre- 
cedented, and  so  repugnant  to  regal  majesty,  once  tntsr  into  her  thoughts. 

On  the  eleventh  of  October,  the  commissioners  appointed  by  Elizabeth 
arrived  at  Fotheringay.  Next  morning  they  delivered  a  letter  from  their 
sovereign  to  Mary,  in  which,  after  the  bitterest  reproaches  and  accusations, 
she  informed  her,  that  regard  for  the  happiness  of  the  nation  had  at  last 
rendered  it  necessary  to  make  a  public  inquiry  i/ito  her  conduct,  and  there- 
fore required  her,  as  she  had  lived  so  long  lender  the  protection  of  the 
laws  of  England,  to  submit  now  to  the  trial  which  they  ordained  to  be 
taken  of  her  crimes.  Mary,  though  surprised  at  this  message,  was  neither 
appalled  at  the  danger,  nor  unmindful  of  her  own  dignity.  She  protested, 
in  the  most  solemn  manner,  that  she  was  innocent  of  the  crime  laid  to  her 
charge,  and  had  never  countenanced  any  attempt  against  the  life  of  the 
queen  of  England ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
jurisdiction  of  her  commissioners.  "  I  came  into  the  kingdom,"  said  she, 
"  an  independent  sovereign,  to  implore  the  queen's  assistance,  not  to  subject 
myself  to  her  authority.     Nor  is  my  spirit  so  broken  by  its  past  misfortunes, 

*  Camd.519.    Johnst.  Hist.  113.  t  Strype,  ili  362.  X  Jebb,  ii.  28S 


*>4  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

or  so  intimidated  by  present  dangers,  as  tc  stoop  to  any  thing  unbecoming 
the  majesty  of  a  crowned  head,  or  that  will  disgrace  the  ancestors  from 
whom  I  am  descended,  and  the  son  to  whom  I  shall  leave  my  throne.  If 
I  must  be  tried,  princes  alone  can  be  my  peers.  The  queen  of  England's 
subjects,  however  noble  their  birth  may  be,  tve  of  a  rank  inferior  to  mine. 
Ever  since  my  arrival  in  this  kingdom  I  have  been  confined  as  a  prisoner. 
Its  laws  never  afforded  me  any  protection.  Let  them  not  now  be  per- 
verted in  order  to  take  away  my  life." 

The  commissioners  employed  arguments  and  entreaties  to  overcome 
Mary's  resolution.  They  even  threatened  to  proceed  according  to  the 
forms  of  law,  and  to  pass  sentence  against  hei  on  account  of  her  contu- 
macy in  refusing  to  plead  :  she  persisted,  however,  for  two  days,  to 
decline    their   jurisdiction.      An    argument,    used    by  Hatton,   the    vice- 


chamberlain,  at  last  prevailed.  He  told  her  that,  by  avoiding  a  trial,  she 
injured  her  own  reputation,  and  deprived  herself  of  the  only  opportunity  ot 
setting  her  innocence  in  a  clear  light ;  and  that  nothing  would  be  more 


agreeable  to  them,  or  more  acceptable  to  the  queen  their  mistress,  than  tc 
be  convinced,  by  undoubted  evidence,  that  she  had  been  unjustly  loaded 
with  foul  aspersions. 

No  wonder  pretexts  so  plausible  should  impose  on  the  unwary  queen, 
or  that  she,  unassisted  at  that  time  by  any  friend  or  counsellor,  should  not 
be  able  to  detect  and  elude  all  the  artifices  of  Elizabeth's  ablest  ministers. 
In  a  situation  equally  melancholy,  and  under  circumstances  nearly  similar, 
her  grandson  Charles  I.  refused  with  the  utmost  firmness  to  acknowledge 
the  usurped  jurisdiction  of  the  high  court  of  justice;  and  posterity  has 
approved  his  conduct,  as  suitable  to  the  dignity  of  a  king.  If  Mary  was 
less  constant  m  her  resolution,  it  must  be  imputed  solely  to  her  anxious 
desire  of  vindicating  her  own  honour. 

At  her  appearaoce  before  the  judges  [Oct.  14],  who  were  seated  in  the 
great  hall  or  the  castle,  where  they  received  her  with  much  ceremony,  she 
took  care  to  protest,  that  by  condescending  to  hear  and  to  give  an  answer 
to  the  accusations  which  should  be  brought  against  her,  she  neither  acknow- 
ledged the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  nor  admitted  the  validity  and  justice 
of  those  acts  by  which  they  pretended  to  try  her. 

The  chancellor,  by  a  counter  protestation,  endeavoured  to  vindicate  the 
authority  of  the  court. 

Then  Elizabeth's  attorney  and  solicitor  opened  the  charge  against  her, 
with  all  the  circumstances  of  the  late  conspiracy.  Copies  of  Mary's  letters 
to  Mendoza,  Babington,  Englefield,  and  Paget,  were  produced.  Babing- 
ton's  confession,  those  of  Ballard,  Savage,  and  the  other  conspirators,  toge- 
ther with  the  declarations  of  Naue  and  Curie,  her  secretaries,  were  read, 
and  the  whole  ranged  in  the  most  specious  order  which  the  art  of  the 
lawyers  could  devise,  and  heightened  by  every  colour  their  eloquence 
could  add. 

Maiy  listened  to  their  harangues  attentively,  and  without  emotion.  But 
at  the  mention  of  the  earl  of  Arundel's  name,  who  was  then  confined  in  the 
Tower,  she  bi-oke  out  into  this  tender  and  generous  exclamation  :  "  Alas, 
how  much  has  the  noble  house  of  Howard  suffered  for  my  sake  !" 

When  the  queen's  counsel  had  finished,  Mary  stood  up,  and  with  great 
magnanimity,  and  equal  presence  of  mind,  began  her  defence.  She 
bewailed  the  unhappiness  of  her  own  situation,  that  after  a  captivity  ol 
nineteen  years,  during  which  she  had  suffered  treatment  no  less  cruel  than 
•mmerited,  she  was  at  last  loaded  with  an  accusation,  which  tended  not 
only  to  rob  her  of  her  right  of  succession,  and  to  deprive  her  of  life 
itself,  but  to  transmit  her  name  with  infamy  to  future  ages :  that,  without 
regarding  the  sacred  rights  of  sovereignty,  she  was  now  subjected  to  laws 
framed  against  private  persons  :  though  an  anointed  queen,  commanded  to 
appear  before  the  tribunal  of  subjects  ;  and,  like  a  common  criminal,  hei 


OF  SCOTLAND.  265 

Honour  exposed  to  the  petulant  tongues  oflawyers,  capable  of  wresting  her 
words,  and  of  misrepresenting  her  actions  :  that  even  in  this  dishonourable 
situation,  she  was  denied  the  privileges  usually  granted  to  criminals,  and 
obliged  to  undertake  her  own  defence,  without  the  presence  of  any  friend 
with  whom  to  advise,  without  the  aid  of  counsel,  and  without  the  use  of 
her  own  papers. 

She  then  proceeded  to  the  particular  articles  in  the  accusation.  She 
absolutely  denied  any  correspondence  with  Babington  or  Ballard  ;  copies 
only  of  her  pretended  letters  to  them  were  produced  ;  though  nothing  less 
than  her  handwriting  or  subscription  was  sufficient  to  convict  her  of  such 
an  odious  crime:  no  proof  could  be  brought  that  their  letters  were  deli- 
vered into  her  hands,  or  that  any  answer  was  returned  by  her  direction  ; 
the  confessions  of  wretches  condemned  and  executed  for  such  a  detestable 
action  were  of  little  weight;  fear  or  hope  might  extort  from  them  many 
things  inconsistent  with  truth,  nor  ought  the  honour  of  a  queen  to  be 
stained  by  such  vile  testimony.  The  declaration  of  her  secretaries  was 
not  more  conclusive  :  promises  and  threats  might  easily  overcome  the 
resolution  of  two  strangers ;  in  order  to  screen  themselves,  they  might 
throw  the  blame  on  her :  but  they  could  discover  nothing  to  her  prejudice 
without  violating,  in  the  first  place,  the  oath  of  fidelity  which  they  had 
sworn  to  her;  and  their  perjury  in  one  instance  rendered  them  unworthy 
of  credit  in  another :  the  letters  to  the  Spanish  ambassador  were  either 
nothing  more  than  copies,  or  contained  only  what  was  perfectly  innocent : 
"  I  have  often,"  continued  she,  "  made  such  efforts  for  the  recovery  of  my 
liberty  as  are  natural  to  a  human  creature.  Convinced,  by  the  sad  expe- 
rience of  so  many  years,  that  it  was  in  vain  fotx.p«ct  it  liom  the  justice  or 
generosity  of  the  queen  of  England,  i  have  frequently  solicited  foreign 
princes,  and  called  upon  all  my  friends  to  employ  their  whole  interest  tor 
my  relief.  I  have  likewise  endeavoured  10  procure  for  Ihe  English  catho- 
lics some  mitigation  of  the  rigour  with  which  they  aie  now  treated;  and 
if  I  could  hope,  by  my  death,  to  deliver  them  from  oppression,  am  willing 
to  die  for  their  sake.  I  wish,  however,  to  imitate  the  example  of  Esther, 
not  of  Judith,  and  would  rather  make  intercession  for  my  people  than  shed 
the  blood  of  the  meanest  creature  in  order  to  save  them.  I  have  often 
checked  the  intemperate  zeal  of  my  adherents,  when  either  the  severity 
of  their  own  persecutions,  or  indignation  at  the  unheard-of  injuries  which 
I  have  endured,  were  apt  to  precipitate  them  into  violent  counsels  ;  I  have 
even  warned  the  queen  of  danger's  to  which  ihese  harsh  proceedings 
exposed  herself.  And  worn  out,  as  1  now  am,  with  cares  and  sufferings, 
the  prospect  of  a  crown  is  not  so  inviting  that  I  should  ruin  my  soul  in  order 
to  obtain  it.  1  am  no  stranger  to  the  feelings  of  humanity,  nor  unacquainted 
with  the  duties  of  religion,  and  abhor  the  detestable  crime  of  assassination, 
as  equally  repugnant  to  both.  And,  if  ever  1  have  given  consenl  by  my 
words,  or  even  by  my  thoughts,  to  any  attempt  against  the  life  of  the 
queen  of  England,  far  from  declining  the  judgment  of  men,  I  shall  not  even 
pray  for  the  mercy  of  God."* 

j.  wo  different  day?  did  Mary  appear  before  the  judges,  and  in  every 
part  of  her  behaviour  maintained  the  magnanimity  of  a  queen,  tempered 
with  the  gentleness  and  modesty  of  a  woman. 

The  commissioners,  by  Elizabeth's  espr*-?;  command,  adjourned,  with- 
out pronouncing  any  sentence,  to  the  Star-chambti!  in  Westminster 
[Oct.  25],  When  assembled  in  that  place,  Naue  and  Curie  were  brought 
into  court,  and  confirmed  their  former  declaration  upon  oath  ;  and  after 
reviewing  all  their  proceedings,  the  commissioners  unanimously  declared 
Mary  "  to  be  accessary  to  Babington's  conspiracy,  and  to  have  imagined 
divers  matters  tending  to  the  hurt,  death,  and  destruction  of  Elizabeth* 

*  Camd.  520  &c 

Vol.  Ill  —34 


266  THE  HISTORY  [Book   VII 

contrary  lo  the  express  words  of  the  statute  made  for  the  security  of  the 
queen's  life."* 

It  is  no  easy  matter  to  determine  whether  the  injustice  in  appointing  this 
trial,  or  the  irregularity  in  conducting  it,  were  greatest  and  most  flagrant. 
By  what  right  did  Elizabeth  claim  authority  over  an  independent  queen? 
Was  Mary  bound  to  comply  with  the  laws  of  a  foreign  kingdom?  How 
could  the  subjects  of  another  prince  become  her  judges  ?  or,  if  such  an 
insult  on  royalty  were  allowed,  ought  not  the  common  forms  of  justice  to 
have  been  observed  ?  If  the  testimony  of  Babington  and  his  associates 
were  so  explicit,  why  did  not  Elizabeth  spare  them  for  a  few  weeks,  and, 
by  confronting  them  with  Mary,  overwhelm  her  with  the  full  conviction  ot 
her  crimes?  Naue  and  Curie  were  both  alive,  wherefore  did  not  they 
appear  at  Fotheringay  ?  and  for  what  reason  were  they  produced  in  the 
Star-chamber,  where  Mary  was  not  present  to  hear  what  they  deposed  ? 
Was  this  suspicious  evidence  enough  to  condemn  a  queen  ?  Ought  the 
meanest  criminal  to  have  been  found  guilty  upon  such  feeble  and  incon- 
clusive proofs  ? 

It  was  not,  however,  on  the  evidence  produced  at  her  trial,  that  the 
sentence  against  Mary  was  founded.  That  served  as  a  pretence  to  justify, 
but  was  not  the  cause  of  the  violent  steps  taken  by  Elizabeth  and  her 
ministers  towards  her  destruction ;  and  was  employed  to  give  some 
appearance  of  justice  to  what  was  the  offspring  of  jealousy  and  fear.  The 
nation,  blinded  with  resentment  against  Mary,  and  solicitous  to  secure  the 
life  of  its  own  sovereign  from  every  danger,  observed  no  irregularities  in 
the  proceedings,  and  attended  to  no  defects  in  the  proof,  but  grasped  at 
the  suspicions  and  probabilities,  as  if  they  had  been  irrefragable  demon- 
strations. 

The  parliament  met  a  few  days  after  sentence  was  pronounced  against 
Mary.  In  that  illustrious  assembly  more  temper  and  discernment  than  are 
to  be  found  among  the  people  might  have  been  expected.  Both  lords  and 
commons,  however,  were  equally  under  the  dominion  of  popular  prejudices 
and  passions,  and  the  same  excess  of  zeal,  or  of  fear,  which  prevailed  in 
the  nation,  is  apparent  in  all  their  proceedings.  They  entered  with  impa- 
tience upon  an  inquiry  into  the  conspiracy,  and  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened the  queen's  life  as  well  as  the  peace  of  the  kingdom.  All  the  papers 
which  had  been  produced  at  Fotheringay  were  laid  before  them  ;  and, 
after  many  violent  invectives  against  the  queen  of  Scots,  both  houses  unani- 
mously ratified  the  proceedings  of  the  commissioners  by  whom  she  had 
been  tried,  and  declared  the  sentence  against  her  to  be  just  and  well  found- 
ed. Not  satisfied  with  this,  they  presented  a  joint  address  to  the  que^n, 
beseeching  her,  as  she  regarded  her  own  safety,  the  preservation  of  the 
protestant  religion,  the  welfare  and  wishes  of  her  people,  to  publish  the 
sentence  ;  and  without  further  delay  to  inflict  on  a  rival,  no  less  irreclaim- 
able than  dangerous,  the  punishment  which  she  had  merited  by  so  many 
crimes.  This  request,  dictated  by  fears  unworthy  of  that  great  assembly, 
was  enforced  by  reasons  still  more  unworthy.  They  were  drawn  not  from 
justice,  but  from  conveniency.  The  most  rigorous  confinement,  it  was  pre- 
tended, could  not  curb  Mary's  intriguing  spirit ;  her  address  was  found,  by 
long  experience,  to  be  an  overmatch  for  the  vigilance  and  jealousy  of  all 
her  keepers ;  the  several  penal  laws  could  not  restrain  her  adherents,  whor 
while  they  believed  her  person  to  be  sacred,  would  despise  any  danger  to 
which  themselves  alone  were  exposed;  several  foreign  princes  were  ready 
to  second  their  attempts,  and  waited  only  a  proper  opportunity  for  invad- 
ing the  kingdom,  and  asserting  the  Scottish  queen's  title  to  the  crown.  Her 
life,  they  contended,  was,  for  these  reasons,  incompatible  with  Elizabeth's 
safety  ;  and  if  she  were  spared  out  of  a  false  clemency,  the  queen's  person, 

*  Camd.  525 


OF   SCOTLAND  267 

the  religion  and  liberties  of  the  kingdom,  could  not  be  one  moment  secure 
Necessity  required  that  she  should  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  preserve  these  ; 
and  to  prove  this  sacrifice  to  be  no  less  just  than  necessary,  several  exam- 
ples in  history  were  produced,  and  many  texls  of  scripture  quoted  ;  but 
both  the  one  and  the  other  were  misapplied,  and  distorted  from  their  true 
meaning. 

Nothing,  however,  could  be  more  acceptable  to  Elizabeth  than  an  ad- 
dress in  this  strain.  It  extricated  her  out  of  a  situation  extremely  embar- 
rassing ;  and,  without  depriving  her  of  the  power  of  sparing,  it  enabled 
her  to  punish  her  rival  with  less  appearance  of  blame.  If  she  chose  the 
former,  the  whole  honour  would  redound  to  her  own  clemency.  It  she 
determined  on  the  latter,  whatever  was  rigorous  might  now  seem  to  be 
extorted  by  the  solicitations  of  h<  r  people  rather  than  to  flow  from  her 
)wn  inclination.  Her  answer,  however,  was  in  a  style  which  she  otlen 
used,  ambiguous  and  evasive,  under  the  appearance  of  openness  and  can- 
dour ;  full  of  such  professions  of  regard  for  her  people  as  served  to  heighten 
their  loyalty  ;  of  such  complaints  of  Mary's  ingratitude  as  were  calculated 
to  excite  their  indignation  ;  and  of  such  insinuation  that  her  own  life  was 
in  danger  as  could  not  fail  to  keep  alive  their  fears.  In  the  end,  she 
besougnt  them  to  save  her  the  infamy  and  the  pain  of  delivering  up  a 
queen,  her  nearest  kinswoman,  to  punishment ;  and  to  consider  whether  it 
might  not  still  be  possible  to  provide  for  the  public  security,  without 
forcing  her  to  imbrue  her  hands  in  royal  blood. 

The  true  meaning  of  this  reply  was  easily  understood.  The  lords  and 
commons  renewed  their  former  request  with  additional  importunity,  which 
was  far  from  being  either  unexpected  or  offensive.  Elizabeth  did  not 
return  any  answer  more  explicit ;  and  having  obtained  such  a  public  sanc- 
tion of  her  proceedings,  there  was  no  longer  any  reason  for  protracting  this 
scene  of  dissimulation  ;  there  was  even  some  danger  that  her  feigned  diffi- 
culties might  at  last  be  treated  as  real  ones ;  she  therefore  prorogued  the 
parliament,  and  reserved  in  her  own  hands  the  sole  disposal  of  her  rival's 
fate.* 

All  the  princes  in  Europe  observed  the  proceedings  against  Mary  with 
astonishment  and  horror;  and  even  Henry  III.,  notwithstanding  his  known 
aversion  to  the  house  of  Guise,  was  obliged  to  interpose  on  her  behalf,  and 
to  appear  in  defence  of  the  common  rights  of  royalty.  Aubespine,  his 
resident  ambassador,  and  Bellievre,  who  was  sent  with  an  extraordinary 
commission  to  the  same  purpose,  interceded  for  Mary  with  great  appear- 
ance of  warmth.  They  employed  all  the  arguments  which  the  cause 
naturally  suggested  ;  they  pleaded  from  justice,  from  generosity,  and  huma- 
nity :  they  intermingled  reproaches  and  threats  ;  but  to  all  these  Elizabeth 
continued  deaf  and  inexorable  :  and  having  received  some  intimation  of 
Henry's  real  unconcern  about  the  fate  of  the  Scottish  queen,  ami  knov\  ing 
his  antipathy  to  all  the  race  of  Guise,  she  trusted  that  these  loud  remon- 
strances would  be  followed  by  no  violent  resentment.! 

She  paid  no  greater  resrard  10  the  solicitations  of  the  Scottish  king,  which, 
as  they  were  ur^ed  with  greater  sincerity,  merited  more  attention.  Though 
her  commissioners  had  been  extremely  careful  to  sooth  James,  by  publish- 
ing a  declaration  that  their  sentence  against  Mary  did,  in  no  degree,  dero- 
gate from  his  honour,  or  invalidate  any  title  which  he  formerly  possessed  : 
he  beheld  the  indignities  to  which  his  mother  had  been  exposed  with  filial 
concern,  and  with  the  sentiments  which  became  a  king.  The  pride  of  the 
Scottish  nation  was  roused  by  the  insult  offered  to  the  blood  of  their 
monarchs,  and  called  upon  him  to  employ  the  most  vigorous  efforts,  in 
order  to  prevent  or  to  revenge  the  queen's  death. 

At  first,  he  could  hardly  believe  that  Elizabeth  would  venture  upon  ar 

030.    D'Ewea,  375  t  Camd.  SU. 


268  THE    HISTORY  |-        \  II. 

action  so  unprecedented,  which  tended  so  visibly  to  render  the  persons  of 
princes  less  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  which  degraded  the  real 
dignity,  of  which,  at  other  tunes,  sin;  was  so  remarkably  jealous.  But  a- 
soon  as  the  extraordinary  steps  which  she  touk  discovered  her  intention,  ne 
despatched  sir  William  Keiih  to  London;  who,  together  with  Douglas,  hi? 
ambassador  in  ordinary,  remonstrated,  in  the  strongest  terms,  against  (he 
injury  done  to  an  independent  queen,  in  subjecting  her  to  be  tried  like  a 
private  person,  and  bv  laws  to  which  she  owed  no  obedience  ;  and  besought 
Elizabeth  not  to  add  to  this  injury  by  suffering  a  sentence  unjust  in  itself, 
as  well  as  dishonourable  to  the  king  of  Scots,  to  be  put  into  execution* 

Elizabeth  returning  no  answer  to  these  remonstrances  of  his  ambassador, 
.tames  wrote  to  her  with  his  own  hand,  complaining  in  the  bitterest  terms 
of  her  conduct,  not  without  threats  that  both  his  duty  and  his  honour  would 
oblige  him  to  renounce  her  friendship,  and  to  act  as  became  a  son  when 
called  to  revenge  his  mother's  wrongs.t  At  the  same  time  he  assembled 
the  nobles,  who  promised  to  stand  by  him  in  so  good  a  cause.  He  appoint- 
ed ambassadors  to  France,  Spain,  and  Denmark,  in  order  to  implore  the 
aid  of  these  courts  ;  and  took  other  steps  towards  executing  his  threats  with 
vigour.  The  high  strain  of  his  letter  enraged  Elizabeth  to  such  a  degree, 
that  she  was  ready  to  dismiss  his  ambassadors  without  any  reply.  But 
his  preparations  alarmed  and  embarrassed  her  ministers,  and  at  theii 
entreaty  she  returned  a  soft  and  evasive  answer,  promising  to  listen  to  any 
overture  from  the  king,  that  tended  to  his  mother's  safety  ;  and  to  suspend 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  until  the  arrival  of  new  ambassadors  from 
Scotland.}; 

Meanwrhile,  she  commanded  the  sentence  against  Mary  to  be  published 
[Dec.  6],  and  forgot  not  to  inform  the  people  that  this  was  extorted  from 
her  by  the  repeated  entreaty  of  both  houses  of  parliament.  At  the  same 
time  she  despatched  lords  Buckhurst  and  Beale  to  acquaint  Mary  with  the 
sentence,  and  how  importunately  the  nation  demanded  the  execution  of  it; 
and  though  she  had  not  hitherto  yielded  to  these  solicitations,  she  advised 
her  to  prepare  for  an  event  which  might  become  necessary  for  securing  the 
protestant  religion,  as  well  as  quieting  the  minds  of  the  people.  Mary 
received  the  message  not  only  without  symptoms  of  fear,  but  with  ex- 
pressions of  triumph.  "  No  wonder,"  said  she,  "  the  English  should  now 
thirst  for  the  blood  of  a  foreign  prince  ;  they  have  often  offered  violence 
to  their  own  monarchs.  But  after  so  many  sufferings,  death  comes  to  me 
as  a  welcome  deliverer.  I  am  proud  to  think  that  my  life  is  deemed  of 
importance  to  the  catholic  religion,  and  as  a  martyr  for  it  I  am  now  will- 
ing to  die."§ 

After  the  publication  of  the  sentence,  Mary  was  stripped  of  every  re- 
maining mark  of  royalty.  The  canopy  of  state  in  her  apartment  was 
pulled  down ;  Paulet  entered  her  chamber,  and  approached  her  person 
without  any  ceremony  ;  and  even  appeared  covered  in  her  presence  [Dec. 
19],  Shocked  with  these  indignities,  and  offended  at  this  gross  familiarity, 
o  which  she  had  never  been  accustomed,  Mary  once  more  complained  to 
Elizabeth;  and  at  the  same  time,  as  her  last  request,  entreated  that  she 
would  permit  her  servants  to  carry  her  dead  body  into  France,  to  be  laid 
among  her  ancestors  in  hallowed  ground  ;  that  some  of  her  domestics  might 
be  present  at  her  death,  to  bear  witness  of  her  innocence,  and  firm  adher- 
ence to  the  catholic  faith  ;  that  all  her  servants  might  be  suffered  to  leave 
(he  kingdom,  and  to  enjoy  those  small  legacies  which  she  should  bestow 
on  them,  as  testimonies  of  her  affection  ;  and  that,  in  the  meantime,  her 
almoner,  or  some  other  catholic  priest,  might  be  allowed  to  attend  her,  and 
to  assist  her  in  preparing  for  an  eternal  world.     She  besought  her,  in  the 

*  See  Append.  No.  XLIX.    Murdin,  573,  &c.    Birch.  Mem.  i.  52.  t  Bin*  Mem.  I.  59 

t  Spottw.  551.    Cald.  iv.  5.  $  Camd.  528.    Jehb.  291 


OF  SCOTLAND.  261 

name  of  Jesus,  by  the  soul  and  memory  of  Henry  VII.,  their  commor 
progemtor,  by  their  near  consanguinity,  and  the  royal  dignity  with  which 
they  were  both  invested,  to  gratify  her  in  these  particulars,  and  to  indulge 
her  so  far  as  to  signify  her  compliance  by  a  letter  under  her  own  hand. 
Whether  Mary's  letter  was  ""er  delivered  to  Elizabeth  is  uncertain.  No 
answer  was  returned,  and  nc  ■  *gard  paid  to  her  requests.  She  was  Me  red 
a  protestant  bishop  or  dean  to  attend  her.  Them  she  rejected,  and,  xs  ith- 
out  any  clergyman  to  direct  her  devotions,  she  prepared,  in  great  tranquil- 
lity, for  the  approach  of  death,  which  she  now  believed  to  be  at  no  great 
distance.* 

1587.]  James,  without  losing  a  moment,  sent  new  ambassadors  to  Lon- 
don [Jan.  1].  These  were  the  Master  of  Gray,  and  sir  Robert  Melvil. 
In  order  to  remove  Elizabeth's  fears,  they  offered  diat  their  master  would 
become  bound  that  no  conspiracy  should  be  undertaken  against  her  person 
or  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  with  Mary's  consent;  and,  for  the  faithfui 
performance  of  this,  would  deliver  some  of  the  most  considerable  of  the 
Scottish  nobles  as  hostages.  If  this  were  not  thought  sufficient,  they  pro- 
posed that  Mary  should  resign  all  her  rights  and  pretensions  to  her  son, 
from  whom  nothing  injurious  to  the  protestant  religion, or  inconsistent  with 
Elizabeth's  safety,  could  be  feared.  The  former  proposal  Elizabeth  reject- 
ed as  insecure;  the  latter,  as  dangerous.  The  ambassadors  were 'then 
instructed  to  talk  in  a  higher  tone  ;  and  Melvil  executed  the  commission 
with  fidelity,  and  with  zeal.  But  Gray,  with  his  usual  perfidy,  deceived 
his  master,  who  trusted  him  with  a  negotiation  of  so  much  importance,  and 
betrayed  the  queen  whom  he  was  employed  to  save.  He  encouraged  and 
urged  Elizabeth  to  execute  the  sentence  against  her  rival.  He  often  re- 
peated the  old  proverbial  sentence,  "  The  dead  cannot  bite."  And  what 
ever  should  happen,  he  undertook  to  pacify  I  hi  king's  rage,  or  at  least  to 
prevent  any  violent  effects  of  his  resentment. 1 

Elizabeth,  meanwhile,  discovered  all  the  symptom*  ct  dse  most  violent 
agitation  and  disquietude  of  mind.  She  shunned  society,  she  was  often 
found  in  a  melancholy  and  musing  posture,  and  repeating  with  much  em- 
phasis these  sentences,  which  she  borrowed  from  some  of  the  devices  then 
in  vogue  ;  Aut  fer  aut  feri :  we  feriare,  fe.ri.  Much,  no  doubt,  of  this 
apparent  uneasiness  must  be  imputed  to  dissimulation  :  it  -was  impossible, 
however,  that  a  princess,  naturally  so  cnutious  as  Elizabeth,  should  ven- 
ture on  an  action,  which  might  expose  her  memory  to  infamy,  and  her  life 
and  kingdom  to  danger,  without  reflecting  deeply,  and  hesitating  long. 
The  people  waited  her  determination  in  suspense  and  anxiety ;  and,  lest 
thtir  fear  or  their  zeal  should  subside,  rumours  of  danger  were  artfully 
invented  and  propagated  with  the  utmost  industry.  Aubespine,  the-  French 
ambassador,  was  accused  of  having  suborned  an  assassin  to  murder  tin- 
queen.  The  Spanish  fleet  was  said  by  some  to  be  already  arrived  at.  Mil- 
ford-haven.  Others  affirmed  that  the  duke  of  Guise  had  landed  with  ■< 
strong  army  in  Sussex.  Now  it  was  reported  th?t  the  northern  counties 
were  up  in  arms;  next  day,  that  the  Scots  had  entered  England  with  all 
their  forces;  and  a  conspiracy,  it  was  whispered,  was  on  foot  for  seizing 
the  queen  and  burning  the  city.  The  panic  giew  every  day  more  violpr^. 
and  the  people,  astonished  and  enraged,  called  for  the  execution  of  tb- 
sentence  against  Mary,  as  the  only  thing  which  could  restore  tranquillity  to 
the  kingdom.^ 

While  these  sentiments  prevailed  among  her  subjects,  Elizabeth  thought 
she  might  safely  venture  to  strike  the  blow  which  she  had  so  long  medi- 
tated. She  commanded  Davison,  one  of  the  secretaries  of  state,  to  bring 
to  hr.r  the  fatal  warrant  [Feb.  1]  ;   and  her  behaviour  on  that  occasion 

*  Camd.  528.    Jebb.  ii.  295.  t  Spotsw.  352.     Murdin,  568.     SeeApp.  No.  L  i  Canid. 

533,534.  P  ' 


270  THE  HISTORY  | Book  VII. 

plainly  showed,  that  it  is  not  to  humanity  that  we  must  ascnbe  her  forbear- 
ance hitherto  At  the  very  moment  she  was  signing  the  writ  which  gave 
up  a  woman,  a  queen,  and  her  own  nearest  relation,  into  the  hands  of  the 
executioner,  she  was  capable  of  jesting.  "  Go,"  says  she  to  Davison, 
"and  tell  Walsingham  what  I  have  now  done,  though  I  am  afraid  he  will 
die  for  grief  when  he  hears  it."  Her  chief  anxiety  was  how  to  secure  the 
advantages  which  would  arise  from  Mary's  death,  without  appearing  to 
have  given  her  consent  to  a  deed  so  odious.  She  often  hinted  to  Paulet 
and  Drury,  as  well  as  to  some  other  courtiers,  that  now  was  the  time  to 
discover  the  sincerity  of  their  concern  for  her  safety,  and  that  she  expected 
their  zeal  would  extricate  her  out  of  her  present  perplexity.  But  they 
were  wise  enough  to  seem  not  to  understand  her  meaning.  Even  after  the 
warrant  was  signed,  she  commanded  a  letter  to  be  written  to  Paulet  in  less 
ambiguous  terms,  complaining  of  his  remissness  in  sparing  so  long  the  life 
of  her  capital  enemy,  and  begging  him  to  remember  at  last  what  was 
incumbent  on  him  as  an  affectionate  subject,  as  well  as  what  he  was  bound 
to  do  by  the  oath  of  association,  and  to  deliver  his  sovereign  from  continual 
fear  and  danger,  by  shortening  the  days  of  his  prisoner.  Paulet,  though 
rigorous  and  harsh,  and  often  brutal  in  the  discharge  of  what  he  thought 
his  duty,  as  Mary's  keeper,  was  nevertheless  a  man  of  honour  and  integrity 
He  rejected  the  proposal  with  disdain  ;  and  lamenting  that  he  should  ever 
have  been  deemed  capable  of  acting  the  part  of  an  assassin,  he  declared 
that  the  queen  might  dispose  of  his  life  at  her  pleasure,  but  that  he  would 
never  stain  his  own  honour,  nor  leave  an  everlasting  mark  of  infamy  on  his 
posterity,  by  lending  his  hand  to  perpetrate  so  foul  a  crime.  On  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  answer,  Elizabeth  became  extremely  peevish  ;  and  calling 
him  a  dainty  and  precise  fellow,  who  would  promise  much  but  perform 
nothing,  she  proposed  to  employ  one  Wingfield,  who  had  both  courage  and 
inclination  to  strike  the  blow.*  But  Davison  remonstrating  against  this  as 
i  deed  dishonourable  in  itself,  and  of  dangerous  example,  she  again  de- 
clared her  intention  that  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  commissioners 
should  be  executed  according  to  law;  and  as  she  had  already  signed  the 
warrant,  she  begged  that  no  further  application  might  be  made  to  her  on 
that  head.  By  this,  the  privy  counsellors  thought  themselves  sufficiently 
authorized  to  proceed  ;  and  prompted,  as  they  pretended,  by  zeal  for  the 
queen's  safety,  or  instigated,  as  is  more  probable,  by  the  apprehension  of 
the  danger  to  which  they  would  themselves  be  exposed,  if  the  life  of  the 
queen  of  Scots  were  spared,  they  assembled  in  the  council  chamber ;  and 
by  a  letter  under  all  their  hands,  empowered  the  earls  of  Shrewsbury  and 
[£ent,  together  with  the  high  sheriff  of  the  county,  to  see  the  sentence  put 
in  execution.! 

On  Tuesday  the  seventh  of  February,  the  two  earls  arrived  at  Fotherin 
gay,  and  demanded  access  to  the  queen,  read  in  her  presence  the  warrant 
tor  execution,  and  required  her  to  prepare  to  die  next  morning.  Mary 
heard  them  to  the  end  without  emotion,  and  crossing  herself  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  "That  soul,"  said  she, 
"is  not  worthy  the  joys  of  Heaven,  which  repines  because  the  body  must 
endure  the  stroke  of  the  executioner  ;  and  though  I  did  not  expect  that  the 
queen  of  England  would  set  the  first  example  of  violating  the  sacred  per- 
son of  a  sovereign  prince,  I  willingly  submit  to  that  which  Providence  has 
decreed  to  be  my  lot ;"  and  laying  her  hand  on  a  bible,  which  happened 
to  be  near  her,  she  solemnly  protested  that  she  was  innocent  of  that  con- 
spiracy which  Babington  had  carried  on  against  Elizabeth's  life. \  She  then 
mentioned  the  requests  contained  in  her  letter  to  Elizabeth,  but  obtained 
no  satisfactory  answer.  She  entreated  with  particular  earnestness,  that 
now  in  her  last  moments  her  almoner  might  be  suffered  to  attend  her,  and 

*  Biog.  Britan.  article  Davison.        t  Canid.  534.    Strype,  iii.  361.  364.  \  Jebb,  U.  301. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  J7I 

that  sne  might  enjoy  the  consolation  of  those  pious  institutions  prescribed 
by  her  religion.  Even  this  favour,  which  is  usually  granted  to  the  vile&t 
criminal,  was  absolutely  denied. 

Her  attendants,  during  this  conversation,  were  bathed  in  tears,  and, 
though  overawed  by  the  presence  of  the  two  earls,  with  difficulty  sup- 
pressed their  anguish  ;  but  no  sooner  did  Kent  and  Shrewsbury  withdraw, 
than  they  ran  to  their  mistress,  ami  burst  out  into  the  most  passionate  ex- 

S sessions  of  tenderness  and  sorrow.  Mary,  however,  not  only  retained  per- 
fect composure  of  mind  herself,  but  endeavoured  to  moderate  their  exces- 
sive grief;  and  falling  on  her  knees  wiih  all  her  domestics  round  her,  she 
thanked  heaven  that  her  sufferings  were  now  so  near  an  end,  and  prayed 
that  she  might  be  enabled  to  endure  what  still  remained  with  decency  and 
with  fortitude.  The  greater  part  of  the  evening  she  employed  in  settling 
her  wordly  affairs.  She  wrote  her  testament  with  her  own  hand.  Her 
money,  her  jewels,  and  her  clothes,  she  distributed  among  her  servants, 
according  to  their  rank,  or  merit.  She  wrote  a  short  letter  to  the  king  of 
France,  and  another  to  the  duke  of  Guise,  full  of  tender  but  magnanimous 
sentiments,  and  recommended  her  soul  to  their  prayers,  and  her  afflicted 
servants  to  their  protection.  At  supper  she  ate  temperately,  as  usual,  and 
conversed  not  only  with  ease,  but  with  cheerfulness;  she  drank  to  every 
one  of  her  servants,  and  asked  their  forgiveness,  if  ever  she  had  failed  in 
any  part  of  her  duty  towards  them.  At  her  wonted  time  she  went  to  bed, 
and  slept  calmly  a  few  hours.  Early  in  the  morning  she  retired  into  her 
closet,  and  employed  a  considerable  time  in  devotion.  At  eight  o'clock 
the  high  sheriff  and  his  officers  entered  her  chamber,  and  found  her  still 
kneeling  at  tV »:  altar.  che  immediately  started  up,  and  with  a  majestic 
mien,  and  a  countenance  undismayed  and  even  cheerful,  advanced  towards 
the  place  of  execution.  leaning  on  two  o(  Paulet's  attendants.  She  was 
dressed  in  a  mourning  habit,  but  with  an  elegance  and  splendour  which 
she  had  long  laid  asfde,  except  on  a  tew  festival  days.  An  Agnus  Dei 
hung  by  a  pomander  chain  at  her  neck  :  her  beads  at  her  girdle  ;  and  in 
her  hand  she  carried  a  crucifix  of  ivory.  At  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  the 
two  earls,  attended  by  several  gentlemen  from  the  neighbouring  counties, 
received  her  ;  and  there  Si*1  Andrew  Melvii,  the  master  of  her  household, 
who  had  been  secluded  for  smne  weeks  from  her  presence,  was  permitted 
to  take  his  last  farewell.  At  the  Mght  of  a  mistress  whom  he  tenderly 
loved,  in  such  a  situation,  he  mplted  into  tears  :  and  as  he  was  bewailing 
her  condition,  and  complaining  of  his  own  hard  fate,  in  being  appointed  to 
carry  the  account  of  such  a  mournful  pvpnt  into  Scotland,  Mary  replied, 
"Weep  not,  good  Melvii,  there  is  at  present  ^reat  cause  for  rejoicing. 
Thou  shalt  this  day  see  Mary  >tpwart  delivered  from  all  her  cares,  and 
such  3n  end  put  to  her  tedious  sufferings  as  she  has  long  expected.  Bear 
witness  that  1  die  constant  in  my  religion  ;  firm  in  my  fidelity  towards 
Scotland  ;  and  unchanged  in  rny  affection  to  France.  Commend  me  to 
my  sen.  Tell  him  I  have  done  nothing  injurious  to  his  kingdom,  to  his 
honour,  or  to  his  rights;  and  Goa  forgive  all  those  who  have  thirsted, 
without  cause,  for  my  blood!" 

With  Much  difficulty,  and  after  many  entreaties,  she.  prevailed  on  the 
two  eai.s  to  ailow  Melvii,  together  with  three  of  her  men  servants,  and 
two  of  her  maids,  to  attend  her  to  the  scaffold.  It  was  erected  in  the 
same  hall  where  she  had  been  tried,  raised  a  little  above  the  floor,  and 
covered,  as  weil  as  a  chair,  the  cushion,  and  block,  with  black  cloth. 
Mary  mounted  the  steps  with  alacrity,  beheld  all  this  apparatus  of  death 
with  an  unaltered  countenance,  and  signing  herself  with  the  cross,  she  sat 
down  in  the  chair.  Beale  read  the  warrant  for  execution  with  a  loud  voice, 
to  which  she  listened  with  a  careless  air,  and  like  one  occupied  with  other 
thoughts.  Then  the  dean  of  Peterborough  began  a  devout  discourse 
suitable  to  her  oresent  condition,  and  offered  up  prayers  to  heaven  in  her 


272  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

behalf;  but  she  declared  that  she  could  not  in  conscience  hearken  to  the 
one,  nor  join  with  the  other  ;  and  kneeling  down,  repeated  a  Latin  prayer 
When  the  dean  had  finished  his  devotions,  she,  with  an  audible  voice,  and 
in  the  English  tongue,  recommended  unto  God  the  alflicted  state  cf  the 
church,  and  pray  d  for  prosperity  to  her  son,  and  for  a  long  life  and 
peaceable  reign  to  Elizabeth.  She  declared  that  she  hoped  for  mercy 
only  through  the  death  of  Christ,  at  the  foot  of  whose  image  she  now  will- 
ingly shed  her  blood  ;  and  lifting  up  and  kissing  the  crucifix,  she  thus 
addressed  it :  "  As  thy  arms,  O  Jesus,  were  extended  on  the  cross ;  so 
with  the  outstretched  arms  of  thy  mercy  receive  me,  and  forgive  my  sins." 

She  then  prepared  for  ihe  block,  by  taking  off  her  veil  and  upper  gar 
merits  ;  and  one  of  the  executioners  rudely  endeavouring  to  assist,  she 
gently  checked  him,  and  said  with  a  smile,  that  she  had  not  been  accus 
tamed  to  undress  before  so  many  spectators,  nor  to  be  served  by  such 
valets  With  calm  hut  undaunted  fortitude  she  laid  her  neck  on  the 
block  ,  and  while  one  executioner  held  her  hands,  the  other,  at  the  second 
stroke  cut  off  her  head,  which  falling  out  of  its  attire,  discovered  her  hail 
already  grown  quite  gray  with  cares  and  sorrows.  The  executioner  held 
it  up  still  streaming  with  blood,  and  the  dean  crying  out,  "  So  perish  all 
queen  Elizabeth's  enemies!"  the  earl  of  Kent  alone  answered  Amen. 
The  rest  of  the  spectators  continued  silent,  and  drowned  in  tears;  being 
incapable,  at  that  moment,  of  any  other  sentiments  but  those  of  pity  or 
admiration.* 

Such  was  the  tragical  death  of  Mary,  queen  of  Scots,  after  a  life  of  forty 
four  years  and  two  months,  almost  nineteen  years  of  which  she  passed  in 
captivity.  The  political  parties  which  were  formed  in  the  kingdom  during 
her  reign  have  subsisted  under  various  denominations  ever  since  that  time. 
The  rancour  with  which  they  were  at  first  animated  hath  descended  to 
succeeding  ages,  and  their  prejudices,  as  well  as  their  rage,  have  been 
perpetuated,  and  even  augmented.  Among  historians,  who  were  under 
the  dominion  of  all  these  passions,  and  who  have  either  ascribed  to  her 
every  virtuous  and  amiable  quality,  or  have  imputed  to  her  all  the  vices 
of  which  the  human  heart  is  susceptible,  we  search  in  vain  for  Mary's  real 
character.  She  neither  merited  the  exaggerated  praises  of  the  one,  nor 
the  undistinguished  censure  of  the  other. 

To  all  the  charms  of  beauty,  and  the  utmost  elegance  of  external  form, 
she  added  those  accomplishments  which  render  their  impression  irre- 
sistible. Polite,  affable,  insinuating,  sprightly,  and  capable  of  speaking  and 
of  writing  with  equal  ease  and  dignity.  Sudden,  however,  and  violent  in 
all  her  attachments;  because  her  heart  was  warm  and  unsuspicious.  Im- 
patient of  contradiction  ;  because  she  had  been  accustomed  from  her 
infancy  to  be  treated  as  a  queen.  No  stranger,  on  some  occasions,  to 
dissimulation ;  which,  in  that  perfidious  court  where  she  received  her 
education,  was  reckoned  among  the  necessary  arts  of  government.  Not 
insensible  of  flattery,  or  unconscious  of  that  pleasure  with  which  almost 
every  woman  beholds  the  influence  of  her  own  beauty.  Formed  with 
the  qualities  which  we  love,  not  with  the  talents  that  we  admire,  she 
was  an  agreeable  woman  rather  than  an  illustrious  queen.  The  vivacity 
of  her  spirit,  not  sufficiently  tempered  with  sound  judgment,  and  the 
warmth  of  her  heart,  which  was  not  at  all  times  under  the  restraint  of 
discretion,  betrayed  her  both  into  errors  and  into  crimes.  To  say  that  she 
was  always  unfortunate  will  not  account  for  that  long  and  almost  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  calamities  which  befell  her ;  we  must  likewise  add 
that  she  was  often  imprudent.  Her  passion  for  Darnly  was  rash,  youthful, 
and  excessive ;  and  though  the  sudden  transition  to  the  opposite  extreme 
was  the  natural  effect  of  her   ill  requited  love,  and  of  his  ingratitude 

*  Camd.  534.    Spotaw.  355.    Jebb,  ii.  300     Strype,  iii.  333.    See  Appendix,  No.  U 


OF    SCOTLAND.  873 

insolence,  and  brutality  ;  yet  neither  these,  nor  Bothwell's  ;rtful  address 
and  important  services,  can  justify  her  attachment  to  that  nobleman.  Even 
the  manners  of  the  age,  licentious  as  they  were,  are  no  apology  for  this 
unhappy  passion  ;  nor  can  they  induce  us  to  look  on  that  tragical  and 
infamous  scene  which  followed  upon  it,  with  less  abhorrence.  Humanity 
will  draw  a  veil  over  this  part  of  her  character  which  it  cannot  approve, 
and  may,  perhaps,  prompt  some  to  impute  some  of  her  actions  to  her 
situation,  more  than  to  her  dispositions  ;  and  to  lament  the  unhappiness  of 
the  former,  rather  than  excuse  the  perverseness  of  the  latter.  Mary's  suf- 
ferings exceed,  both  in  degree  and  in  duration,  those  tragical  distresses 
which  fancy  has  feigned  to  excite  sorrow  and  commiseration;  and  v\hile 
we  survey  them,  we  are  apt  altogether  to  forget  her  frailties,  we  think  of 
her  faults  with  less  indignation,  and  approve  of  our  tears  as  if  they  were 

bed  for  a  person  who  had  attained  much  nearer  to  pure  virtue. 

With  regard  to  the  queen's  person,  a  circumstance  not  to  be  omitted  in 
writing  the  history  of  a  female  reign,  all  contemporary  authors  agree  in 
ascribing  to  Mary  the  utmost  beauty  of  countenance,  and  elegance  of  shape, 
of  which  the  human  form  is  capable.  Her  hair  was  black,  though,  accord- 
ing to  the  fashion  of  that  age,  she  frequently  wore  borrowed  iocks,  and 
of  different  colours.  Her  eyes  were  a  dark  gray  ;  her  complexion  was 
exquisitely  fine;  and  her  hands  and  arms  remarkably  delicate,  both  as  to 
shape  and  colour.  Her  stature  was  of  a  height  that  rose  to  the  majestic. 
She  danced,  she  walked,  and  rode  with  equal  grace.  Her  taste  for  music 
was  just,  and  she  both  sung  and  played  upon  the  lute  with  uncommon  skill. 

Towards  the  end  of  her  life,  long  confinement,  and  the  coldness  of  the 
houses  in  which  she  had  been  imprisoned,  brought  on  a  rheumatism,  which 
often  deprived  her  of  the  use  of  her  limbs.  No  man,  says  Brantome,  ever 
beheld  her  person  without  admiration  and  love,  or  will  read  her  history 
without  sorrow. 

None  of  her  women  were  suffered  to  come  near  her  dead  body,  which 
was  carried  into  a  room  adjoining  to  the  place  of  execution,  where  it  lay 
for  some  days,  covered  with  a  coarse  cloth  torn  from  a  billiard  table.  The 
block,  the  scaffold,  the  aprons  of  the  executioners,  and  every  thing  stained 
with  her  blood,  were  reduced  to  ashes.  Not  long  after,  lilizabeth  appointed 
her  body  to  be  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  Peterborough  with  royal  mag- 
nificence.    But  this  vulgar  artifice  was  employed  in  vain;  the   pageantry 

f  a  pompous  funeral  did  not  efface  the  memory  of  those  injuries  which 
laid  Mary  in  her  grave.  James,  soon  after  his  accession  to  the  English 
throne,  ordered  her  body  to  be  removed  to  Westminster  Abbey,  and  to  be 
deposited  among  the  monarchs  of  England. 

Elizabeth  affected  to  receive  the  accounts  of  Mary's  deai.u  with  the  most 
violent  emotions  of  surprise  and  concern.  Sighs,  tears,  lamentations,  and 
mourning,  were  all  employed  to  display  the  reality  and  greatness  of  her 
sorrow.  Evident  marks  of  dissimulation  and  artifice  may  be  traced  through 
every  period  of  Elizabeth's  proceedings  against  the  life  of  the  Scottish 
queen.  The  commission  for  bringing  Mary  to  a  public  trial  was  seemingly 
extorlei  from  her  by  the  entreaties  of  her  privy  counsellors.  She  delayed 
publishing  the  sentence  against  her  till  she  was  twice  solicited  by  both 
houses  of  parliament.  Nor  did  she  sign  the  warrant  for  execution  without 
the  utmost  apparent  reluctance.  One  scene  more  of  the  boldest  and  most 
solemn  deceit  remained  to  be  exhibited.  She  undertook  to  make  the 
world  believe  that  Mary  had  been  put  to  death  without  her  knowledge, 
and  against  her  will.  Davison,  who  neither  suspected  her  intention  nor 
his  own  danger,  was  her  instrument  in  carrying  on  this  artifice,  and  fell  a 
victim  to  it. 

It  was  his  duty,  as  secretary  of  state,  to  lay  before  her  the  warrant  for 
execution,  in  order  to  be  signed  ;  and  by  her  command  he  carried  it  to  the 
great  seal.     She   pretended,  however,  that  she   had  charged  him  not  to 
Vol.  HI  —35 


274  THE   HISTOKV  | Boor  VI 1. 

communicate  what  she  had  done  to  any  person,  nor  to  suffer  the  warrant 
to  go  out  of  his  hands  without  her  express  permission  ;  that,  in  contemp* 
of  this  order,  he  had  not  only  revealed  the  matter  to  several  of  her  minis 
ters,  but  had,  in  concert  with  them,  assembled  her  privy  counsellors,  by 
whom,  without  her  consent  or  knowledge,  the  warrant  was  issued,  and 
the  earls  of  Shrewsbury  and  Kent  empowered  to  put  it  in  execution 
Though  Davison  denied  all  this,  and  with  circumstances  which  bear  the 
strongest  marks  of  truth  and  credibility  ;  though  it  can  scarcely  be  con- 
ceived that  her  privy  council,  composed  of  the  persons  in  whom  she  most 
confided,  of  her  ministers  and  favourites,  would  assemble  within  the  walls 
of  her  palace,  and  venture  to  transact  a  matter  of  so  much  importance 
without  her  privity,  and  contrary  to  her  inclination  ;  yet  so  far  did  she 
carry  her  dissimulation  that,  with  all  the  signs  of  displeasure  and  of  rage, 
she  banished  most  of  her  counsellers  out  of  her  presence  ;  and  treated 
Burleigh,  in  particular,  so  harshly,  and  with  such  marks  of  disgust,  that  he 
gave  himself  up  for  lost,  and  in  the  deepest  affliction  wrote  to  the  queen, 
begging  leave  to  resign  all  his  places,  that  he  might  retire  to  his  own 
estate.  Davison  she  instantly  deprived  of  his  office,  and  committed  him  a 
close  prisoner  to  the  tower  [March].  He  was  soon  after  brought  to  a 
solemn  trial  in  the  star  chamber,  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  often  thousand 
pounds,  and  to  be  imprisoned  during  the  queen's  pleasure.  He  languished 
several  years  in  confinement,  and  never  recovered  any  degree  of  favour 
or  of  power.  As  her  jealousy  and  fear  had  bereaved  the  queen  of  Scots 
of  life,  in  order  to  palliate  this  part  of  her  conduct,  Elizabeth  made  no 
scruple  of  sacrificing  the  reputation  and  happiness  of  one  of  the  most  vh 
tuous  and  able  men  in  her  kingdom.* 

This  solemn  farce,  for  it  deserves  no  better  name,  furnished  Elizabeth, 
however,  with  an  apology  to  the  king  of  Scots.  As  the  prospect  of  his 
mother's  danger  had  excited  the  king's  filial  care  and  concern,  the  account 
of  her  death  filled  him  with  grief  and  resentment.  His  subjects  felt  the 
dishonour  done  to  him  and  to  the  nation.  In  order  to  sooth  both,  Eliza- 
beth instantly  despatched  Robert  Cary,  one  of  lord  Hunsdon's  sons,  with  a 
letter  expressing  her  extreme  affliction  on  account  of  that  miserable  accident, 
which,  as  she  pretended,  had  happened  far  contrary  to  her  appointment  or 
intention.  James  would  not  permit  her  messenger  to  enter  Scotland,  and 
with  some  difficulty  received  a  memorial  which  he  sent  from  Berwick.  It 
contained  the  tale  concerning  Davison,  dressed  up  with  all  the  circum- 
stances which  tended  to  exculpate  Elizabeth,  and  to  throw  the  whole 
blame  on  his  rashness  or  treachery.  Such  a  defence  gave  little  satisfaction, 
and  was  considered  as  mockery  added  to  insult  ;  and  many  of  the  nobles, 
as  well  as  the  king,  breathed  nothing  but  revenge.  Elizabeth  was  ex- 
tremely solicitous  to  pacify  them,  and  she  wanted  neither  able  instruments 
nor  plausible  reasons,  in  order  to  accomplish  this.  Leicester  wrote  to  the 
king,  and  VValsingham  to  secretary  Maitland.  They  represented  the  cer- 
tain destruction  to  which  James  would  expose  himself,  if,  with  the  forces 
of  Scotland  alone,  he  should  venture  to  attack  a  kingdom  so  far  superior 
in  power ;  that  the  history  of  past  ages,  as  well  as  his  mother's  sad  expe- 
rience, might  convince  him,  that  nothing  could  be  more  dangerous  or  de- 
ceitful than  dependence  on  foreign  aid ;  that  the  king  of  France  would 
never  wish  to  see  the  British  kingdoms  united  under  one  monarch,  nor 
contribute  to  invest  a  prince  so  nearly  allied  to  the  house  of  Guise  with 
such  formidable  power  ;  that  Philip  might  be  a  more  active  ally,  but  would 
certainly  prove  a  more  dangerous  one  ;  and  under  pretence  of  assisting 
him  would  assert  his  own  right  to  the  English  crown,  which  he  already 
began  openly  to  claim  ;  that  the  same  statute,  on  which  the  sentence  ol 
death  against  his  mother  had  been  founded,  would  justify  the  excluding 

•  Camden,  536.    Strype,  lii.  370.    See  \ppendix,  No.  LII.     Cabala,  328,  tf. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  276 

him  from  the  succession  to  the  crown  ;  thai  the  English,  naturally  averse 
from  the  dominion  of  strangers,  would  not  fail,  if  exasperated  by  his  hos- 
tilities, to  apply  it  in  that  manner;  that  Elizabeth  was  disposed  to  repaii 
the  wrongs  which  the  mother  had  suffered,  by  her  tenderness  and  a  flection 
towards  the  son  ;  and  that  by  engaging  in  a  fruitless  war,  he  would  de 
prive  himself  of  a  noble  inheritance,  which,  by  cultivating  her  friendship, 
he  must  infallibly  obtain.  These  representations,  added  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  his  own  weakness,  to  the  smallness  of  his  revenues,  to  the  muti- 
nous spirit  of  some  of  the  nobles,  to  the  dubious  fidelity  of  others,  and  to 
the  influence  of  that  faction  which  was  entirely  at  Elizabeth's  devotioi  > 
convinced  James  that  a  war  with  England,  however  just,  would  in  the 
present  juncture  be  altogether  unpolitical.  All  these  considerations  indu<  <  ■> 
him  to  stifle  his  resentment;  to  appear  satisfied  with  the  punishment  in- 
flicted on  Davison  ;  and  to  preserve  all  the  semblances  of  friendship  wiln 
the  English  court.*  In  this  manner  did  the  cloud  which  threatened  such 
a  storm  pass  away.  Mary's  death,  like  that  of  a  common  criminal,  re- 
mained unavenged  by  any  prince  ;  and,  whatever  infamy  Elizabeth  might 
incur,  she  was  exposed  to  no  new  danger  on  that  account. 

Mary's  death,  however,  proved  fatal  to  the  master  of  Gray,  and  lost 
him  the  king's  favour,  which  he  had  for  some  time  possessed.  He  was 
become  as  odious  to  the  nation  as  favourites  who  acquire  power  without 
merit,  and  exercise  it  without  discretion,  usually  are.     The  treacherous 

J  art  which  he  had  acted  during  his  late  embassy  was  no  secret,  and  filled 
ames,  who  at  length  came  to  the  knowledge  of  it,  with  astonishment. 
The  courtiers  observed  the  symptoms  of  disgust  arising  in  the  king's  mind, 
his  enemies  seized  the  opportunity,  and  sir  William  Stewart,  in  revenge  of 
he  perfidy  with  which  Gray  had  betrayed  his  brother  captain  James 
May  10],  publicly  accused  him  before  a  convention  of  nobles,  not  only  of 
laving  contributed,  by  his  advice  and  suggestions,  to  take  away  the  lite  ot 
the  queen,  but  of  holding  correspondence  with  popish  princes,  in  order 
to  subvert  the  religion  established  in  the  kingdom.  Gray,  unsupported  by 
the  king,  deserted  by  all,  and  conscious  of  his  own  guilt,  made  a  feeble 
defence.  He  was  condemned  to  perpetual  banishment,  a  punishment  very 
unequal  to  his  crimes.  But  the  king  was  unwilling  to  abandon  one  whom 
he  had  once  favoured  so  highly  to  the  rigour  of  justice  ;  and  lord  Hamil- 
ton, his  near  relation,  and  the  other  nobles  who  had  lately  returned  from 
exile,  in  gratitude  for  the  zeal  with  which  he  had  served  them,  interceded 
warmly  in  his  behalf. 

Having  thus  accomplished  the  destruction  of  one  of  his  enemies,  captain 
James  Stewart  thought  the  juncture  favourable  for  prosecuting  his  revenge 
on  them  all.  He  singled  out  secretary  Maitland,  the  most  eminent  both 
for  abilities  and  enmity  to  him  ;  and  offered  to  prove  that  he  was  no  It  >^ 
accessary  than  Gray  to  the  queen's  death,  and  had  even  formed  a  design 
of  delivering  up  the  king  himself  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  But  time 
and  absence  had,  in  a  great  measure,  extinguished  the  king's  affection  foi 
a  minion  who  so  little  deserved  it.  All  the  courtiers  combined  against  him 
as  a  common  enemy  ;  and,  instead  of  gaining  his  point,  he  had  the  morti- 
fication to  see  the  office  of  chancellor  conferred  upon  Maitland,  who,  to- 
gether with  that  dignity,  enjoyed  all  the  power  and  influence  of  a  prime 
minister. 

In  the  assembly  of  the  church,  which  met  this  year,  the  same  hatred  to 
the  order  of  bishops,  and  the  same  jealousy  and  fear  of  their  encroach- 
ments, appeared.  But  as  the  king  was  now  of  full  age,  and  a  parliament 
was  summoned  on  that  occasion,  the  clergy  remained  satisfied  with  ap- 
pointing some  of  their  number  to  represent  their  grievances  to  that  court 
from  wmch  great  things  were  expected. 

*  Spotsw.  362.    Cald.  iv.  13,  14.    8lrypo,3T7 


276  THEHISTORY  [Book  Vli 

Previous  to  this  meeting  of  parliament,  James  attempted  a  work  worthy 
of  a  king.  The  deadly  feuds  which  subsisted  between  many  of  the  great 
families,  and  which  were  transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another, 
weakened  the  strength  of  the  kingdom ;  contributed,  more  than  any  other 
circumstance,  to  preserve  a  fierce  and  barbarous  spirit  among  the  nobles ; 
and  proved  the  occasion  of  many  disasters  to  themselves  and  to  their 
country.  After  many  preparatory  negotiations,  he  invited  the  contending 
parties  to  a  royal  entertainment  in  the  palace  of  Holyroodhouse  ;  and, 
partly  by  his  authority,  partly  by  his  entreaties,  obtained  their  promise  to 
bury  their  dissensions  in  perpetual  oblivion.  From  thence  he  conducted 
them,  in  solemn  procession,  through  the  streets  of  Edinburgh,  marching  by 
pairs,  each  hand  in  hand  with  his  enemy.  A  collation  of  wine  and  sweet 
meats  was  prepared  at  the  public  cross,  and  there  they  drank  to  each  other, 
with  all  the  signs  of  reciprocal  forgiveness,  and  of  future  friendship.  The 
people,  who  were  present  at  a  spectacle  so  unusual,  conceived  the  most 
sanguine  hopes  of  seeing  concord  and  tranquillity  established  in  every  part 
of  the  kingdom,  and  testified  their  satisfaction  by  repeated  acclamations.* 
Unhappily,  the  effects  of  this  reconciliation  were  not  correspondent  either 
to  the  pious  endeavours  of  the  king,  or  to  the  fond  wishes  ol  the  people. 

The  first  care  of  the  parliament  was  the  security  of  the  protestant  reli- 
gion. All  the  laws  passed  in  its  favour,  since  the  reformation,  were  ratified ; 
and  a  new  and  severe  one  was  enacted  against  seminary  priests  and  Jesuits, 
whose  restless  industry  in  making  proselytes,  brought  many  of  them  into 
Scotland  about  this  time.  Two  acts  of  this  parliament  deserve  more 
particular  notice,  on  account  of  the  consequences  with  which  they  were 
followed. 

The  one  respected  the  lands  of  the  church.  As  the  public  revenues 
were  not  sufficient  for  defraying  the  king's  ordinary  charges ;  as  the 
administration  of  the  government  became  more  complicated  and  more 
expensive ;  as  James  was  naturally  profuse,  and  a  stranger  to  economy,  it 
was  necessary  on  all  these  accounts  to  provide  some  fund  proportioned  to 
his  exigencies.  But  no  considerable  sum  could  be  levied  on  the  commons, 
who  did  not  enjoy  the  benefit  of  an  extensive  commerce.  The  nobles 
were  unaccustomed  to  bear  the  burden  of  heavy  taxes.  The  revenues  of 
the  church  were  the  only  source  whence  a  proper  supply  could  be  drawn. 
Notwithstanding  all  the  depredations  of  the  laity  since  the  reformation, 
and  the  various  devices  which  they  had  employed  to  seize  the  church 
lands,  some  considerable  portion  of  them  remained  still  unalienated, 
and  were  held  either  by  the  bishops  who  possessed  the  benefices,  or 
were  granted  to  laymen  during  pleasure.  All  these  lands  were  in  this 
parliament  annexed,  by  one  general!  law  to  the  crown,  and  the  king  was 
empowered  to  apply  the  rents  of  them  to  his  own  use.  The  tithes  alone 
were  reserved  for  the  maintenance  of  the  persons  who  served  the  cure, 
and  the  principal  mansion-house,  with  a  few  acres  of  land  by  way  of  glebe, 
allotted  for  their  residence.  By  this  great  accession  of  property,  it  is 
natural  to  conclude  that  the  king  must  have  acquired  a  vast  increase  ol 
power,  and  the  influence  of  the  nobles  have  suffered  a  proportional  diminu- 
tion. The  very  reverse  of  this  seems,  however,  to  have  been  the  case. 
Almost  all  grants  of  church-lands,  prior  to  this  act,  were  thereby  confirmed, 
and  titles,  which  were  formerly  reckoned  precarious,  derived  thence  the 
sanction  of  parliamentary  authority.  James  was  likewise  authorized, 
during  a  limited  time,  to  make  new  alienations ;  and  such  was  the  facility 
of  his  temper,  ever  ready  to  yield  to  the  solicitations  of  his  servants,  and 
to  gratify  their  most  extravagant  demands,  that  not  only  during  the  time 
limited,  but  throughout  his  whole  reign,  he  was  continually  employed  in 
bestowing,  and  his  parliament  in  ratifying,  grants  of  this  kind  to  his  nobles- 

*  Spotew.  164.     Cald.  iv.  13.  f  Pari.  11.    Jac.  VI.  c.  99 


OF   SCOTLAND.  277 

hence  little  advantage  accrued  to  the  crown  from  that  which  might  have 
been  so  valuable  an  addition  to  its  revenues.  The  bishops,  however,  were 
great  sufferers  by  the  law.  But  at  this  juncture  neither  the  king  nor  his 
ministers  were  solicitous  about  the  interests  of  an  order  of  men,  odious 
to  the  people,  and  persecuted  by  the  clergy.  Their  enemies  promoted 
the  law  with  the  utmost  zeal.  The  prospect  of  sharing  in  their  spoils 
induced  all  parties  to  consent  to  it ;  and  after  a  step  so  fatal  to  the  wealth 
and  power  of  the  dignified  clergy,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  to  introduce 
that  change  in  the  government  of  the  church  which  soon  after  took  place.* 

The  change  which  the  other  statute  produced  in  the  civil  constitution 
was  no  less  remarkable.  Under  the  feudal  system,  every  freeholder,  or 
immediate  vassal  of  the  crown,  had  a  right  to  be  present  in  parliament. 
These  freeholders  were  originally  few  in  number,  but  possessed  of  great  and 
extensive  property.  By  degrees  these  vast  possessions  were  divided  by 
the  proprietors  themselves,  or  parcelled  out  by  the  prince,  or  split  by  other 
accidents.  The  number  of  freeholders  became  greater,  and  their  condition 
more  unequal  ;  besides  the  ancient  barons,  who  preserved  their  estates 
and  their  power  unimpaired,  there  arose  another  order  whose  rights  were 
the  same,  though  their  wealth  and  influence  were  far  inferior.  But,  in 
rude  ages,  when  the  art  of  government  was  extremely  imperfect,  when 
parliaments  were  seldom  assembled,  and  deliberated,  on  matters  little 
interesting  to  a  martial  people,  few  of  the  lesser  barons  took  their  seats,  and 
the  whole  parliamentary  jurisdiction  was  exercised  by  the  greater  barons, 
in  conjunction  with  the  ecclesiastical  order.  James  I.,  fond  of  imitating 
the  forms  of  the  English  constitution,  to  which  he  had  been  long  accus- 
tomed, and  desirous  of  providing  a  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  the  great 
nobles,  procured  an  act  in  the  year  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty 
seven,  dispensing  with  the  personal  attendance  of  the  lesser  barons,  and  em- 
powering those  in  each  county  to  choose  two  commissioners  to  represent  them 
in  parliament.  This  law,  like  many  other  regulations  of  that  wise  prince,  pro- 
duced little  effect.  All  the  king's  vassals  continued,  as  formerly,  possessed  of 
a  right  to  be  present  in  parliament  -,  but,  unless  in  some  extraordinary  conjunc- 
tures, the  greater  barons  alone  attended.  But  by  means  of  the  reformation 
the  constitution  had  undergone  a  great  change.  The  aristocratical  power 
of  the  nobles  had  been  much  increased,  and  the  influence  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical order,  which  the  crown  usually  employed  to  check  their  usurpation 
and  to  balance  their  authority,  had  diminished  in  proportion.  Many  of 
the  abbeys  and  priories  had  been  erected  into  temporal  peerages  ;  and 
the  protestant  bishops,  an  indigent  race  of  men  and  odious  to  the  nation, 
were  far  from  possessing  the  weight  and  credit  which  their  predecessors 
derived  from  their  own  exorbitant  wealth  and  the  superstitious  reverence 
of  the  people.  In  this  situation  the  king  had  recourse  to  the  expedient 
employed  by  James  I.,  and  obtained  a  law  reviving  the  statute  of  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  ;  and  from  that  time  the  commons 
of  Scotland  have  sent  their  representatives  to  parliament.  An  act  which 
tended  so  visibly  to  abridge  their  authority  did  not  pass  without  opposition 
from  many  of  the  nobles.  But  as  the  king  had  a  right  to  summon  the 
lesser  barons  to  attend  in  person,  others  were  apprehensive  of  seeing  tht- 
house  filled  with  a  multitude  of  his  dependents,  and  consented  the  more 
willingly  to  a  law  which  laid  them  under  the  restriction  of  appearing  only 
by  their  representatives. 

The  year  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty -eight  began  with  a 
universal  expectation  throughout  all  Europe  that  it  was  to  be  distinguished 
by  wonderful  cents  and  revolutions.  Several  astrologers,  according  to 
the  accounts  of  contemporary  historians,  had  predicted  this  ;  and  the 
situation  of  affairs  in  the  two  principal  kingdoms  of  Europe  was  such  that 
a  sagacious  observer,  without  any  supernatural  intelligence,  might  have 
hazarded  the  prediction  and  have  foreseen  the  approach  of  some  grand 


278  THE   HISTORY  [Book  Vll 

crisis.  In  France  it  was  evident  from  the  astonishing  progress  of  the 
league  conducted  by  a  leader  whose  ambition  was  restrained  by  no  scruples, 
and  whose  genius  had  hitherto  surmounted  all  difficulties  ,  as  well  as  from 
the  timid,  variable,  and  impolitic  councils  of  Henry  III.,  that  either  that 
monarch  must  submit  to  abandon  the  throne  of  which  he  was  unworthy, 
or  by  some  sudden  and  daring  blow  cut  off  his  formidable  rival.  Accord- 
ingly in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  the  duke  of  Guise  drove  his  master 
out  of  his  capital  city,  and  forced  him  to  conclude  a  peace  which  left  him 
only  the  shadow  of  royalty  ;  and  before  the  year  expired  he  himself  fell 
a  victim  to  the  resentment  and  fear  of  Henry  and  to  his  own  security  In 
Spain  the  operations  were  such  as  promised  something  still  more  uncommon. 
During  three  years  Philip  had  employed  all  the  power  of  his  European 
dominions,  and  exhausted  the  treasures  of  the  Indies,  in  vast  preparations 
for  war.  A  fleet,  the  greatest  that  had  ever  appeared  in  the  ocean,  was 
ready  to  sail  from  Lisbon,  and  a  numerous  land  army  was  assembled  to 
embark  on  board  of  it.  Its  destination  was  still  unknown,  though  many 
circumstances  made  it  probable  that  the  blow  was  aimed,  in  the  first  place, 
against  England.  Elizabeth  had  long  given  secret  aid  to  the  revolted  pro- 
vinces in  the  Low-Countries,  and  now  openly  afforded  them  her  protection. 
A  numerous  body  of  her  troops  was  in  their  service  ;  the  earl  of  Leicester 
commanded  their  armies  ;  she  had  great  sway  in  the  civil  government  of 
the  republic ;  and  some  of  its  most  considerable  towns  were  in  her  pos- 
session. Her  fleets  had  insulted  the  coasts  of  Spain,  intercepted  the 
galleons  from  the  West  Indies,  and  threatened  the  colonies  there.  Roused 
by  so  many  injuries,  allured  by  views  of  ambition,  and  animated  by  a 
superstitious  zeal  for  propagating  the  Romish  religion,  Philip  resolved  not 
only  to  invade  but  to  conquer  England,  to  which  his  descent  from  the  house 
of  Lancaster  and  the  donation  of  pope  Sixtus  V.  gave  him  in  his  own 
opinion  a  double  title. 

Elizabeth  saw  the  danger  approach,  and  prepared  to  encounter  it.  The 
measures  for  the  defence  of  her  kingdom  were  concerted  and  carried  on 
with  the  wisdom  and  vigour  which  distinguished  her  reign.  Her  chief 
care  was  to  secure  the  friendship  of  the  king  of  Scots.  She  had  treated 
the  queen  his  mother  with  a  rigour  unknown  among  princes  ;  she  had  often 
used  himself  harshly,  and  with  contempt ;  and  though  he  had  hitherto 
prudently  suppressed  his  resentment  of  these  injuries,  she  did  not  believe 
it  to  be  altogether  extinguished,  and  was  afraid  that  in  her  present  situation 
it  might  burst  out  with  fatal  violence.  Philip,  sensible  how  much  an 
alliance  with  Scotland  would  facilitate  his  enterprise,  courted  James  with 
the  utmost  assiduity.  He  excited  him  to  revenge  his  mother's  wrong  :  he 
flattered  him  with  the  hopes  of  sharing  his  conquests  ;  and  offered  him  in 
marriage  his  daughter  the  infanta  Isabella.  At  the  same  time,  Scotland 
swarmed  with  priests,  his  emissaries,  who  seduced  some  of  the  nobles  to 
popery,  and  corrupted  others  with  bribes  and  promises.  Huntly,  ErroJ, 
Crawford,  were  the  heads  of  a  faction  which  openly  espoused  the  interest 
of  Spain.  Lord  Maxwell  arriving  from  that  court,  began  to  assemble  his 
followers,  and  to  take  arms  that  he  might  be  ready  to  join  the  Spaniards. 
In  order  to  counterbalance  all  these,  Elizabeth  made  the  warmest  profes- 
sions of  friendship  to  the  king ;  and  Ashby,  her  ambassador,  entertained 
him  with  magnificent  hopes  and  promises.  He  assured  him  that  his  right 
of  succession  to  the  crown  should  be  publicly  acknowledged  in  England 
that  he  should  be  created  a  duke  in  that  kingdom  ;  and  he  should  be 
admitted  to  some  share  in  the  government ;  and  receive  a  considerable 
pension  annually.  James,  it  is  probable,  was  too  well  acquainted  with 
Elizabeth's  arts  to  rely  entirely  on  these  promises.  But  he  understood  his 
own  interest  in  the  present  juncture,  and  pursued  it  with  much  steadiness. 
He  rejected  an  alliance  with  Spain  as  dangerous.  He  refused  to  admit 
jito  his  presence  an  ambassador  from  the  pope.    He  seized  colonel  Semple, 


OF   SCOTLAND.  279 

an  agent  of  the  prince  of  Parma.  He  drove  many  of  the  seminary  priests 
out  of  the  kingdom.  He  marched  suddenly  to  Dumfries,  dispersed  Max- 
well's followers,  and  took  him  prisoner.  In  a  convention  of  the  nohles  he 
declared  his  resolution  to  adhere  inviolably  to  the  league  with  England  ; 
and,  without  listening  to  the  suggestions  ot  revenge,  determined  to  act  in 
concert  with  Elizabeth  against  the  common  enemy  of  the  protestant  faith. 
He  put  the  kingdom  in  a  posture  of  defence,  and  levied  troops  to  obstruct 
the  landing  of  the  Spaniards.  He  offered  to  send  an  army  to  Elizabeth's 
assistance,  and  told  her  ambassador  that  he  expected  no  other  favour  from 
the  king  of  Spam  but  that  which  Polyphemus  had  promised  to  I  lysses, 
that  when  he  had  devoured  all  his  companions,  he  would  make  him  his 
last  morsel.* 

Thf  zeal  of  the  people  on  this  occasion  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  the 
King ;  and  the  extraordinary  danger  with  which  they  were  threatened 
suggested  to  them  an  extraordinary  expedient  for  their  security.  A  bond 
was  framed  for  the  maintenance  of  true  religion,  as  well  as  the  defence  of 
the  king's  person  and  government,  in  opposition  to  all  enemies  foreign  and 
domestic.  This  contained  a  confession  of  the  protestant  faith,  a  particular 
renunciation  of  the  errors  of  popery,  and  the  most  solemn  promises,  in  the 
name  and  through  the  strength  of  God,  of  adhering  to  each  other  in  sup- 
porting the  former  and  contending  against  the  latter  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power.t  The  king,  the  nobles,  the  clergy,  and  the  people  subscribed 
with  equal  alacrity.  Strange  or  uncommon  as  such  a  combination  may 
now  appear,  many  circumstances  contributed  at  that  time  to  recommend 
it,  and  to  render  the  idea  familiar  to  the  Scots.  When  roused  by  any 
extraordinary  event,  or  alarmed  by  any  public  danger,  the  people  of  Israel 
were  accustomed  to  bind  themselves  by  a  solemn  covenant  to  adhere  to 
that  religion  which  the  Almighty  had  established  among  them ;  this  the 
Scots  considered  as  a  sacred  precedent  which  it  became  them  to  imitate. 
In  that  age  no  considerable  enterprise  was  undertaken  in  Scotland  without 
a  bond  of  mutual  defence,  which  all  concerned  reckoned  necessary  for 
their  security.  The  form  of  this  religious  confederacy  is  plainly  borrowed 
from  those  political  ones  of  which  so  many  instances  have  occurred;  the 
articles,  stipulations,  and  peculiar  modes  of  expression  are  exactly  the 
same  in  both.  Almost  all  the  considerable  popish  princes  were  then 
joined  in  a  league  for  extirpating  the  reformed  religion,  and  nothing  could 
be  more  natural,  or  seemed  more  efficacious,  than  to  enter  mto  a  counter 
association  in  order  to  oppose  the  progress  of  that  formidable  conspiracy. 
To  these  causes  did  the  covenant,  which  is  so  famous  in  history,  owe  its 
origin.  It  was  renewed  at  different  times  during  the  reign  of  James. J  It 
was  revived  with  great  solemnity,  though  with  considerable  alterations,  in 
the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-eight.  It  was  adopted  by 
the  English  in  the  year  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-three,  and 
enforced  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authority  of  both  kingdoms.  The 
political  purposes  to  which  it  was  then  made  subservient,  and  the  violent 
and  unconstitutional  measures  which  it  was  then  employed  to  promote,  it 
is  not  our  province  to  explain.  But  at  the  juncture  in  which  it  was  first 
introduced,  we  may  pronounce  it  to  have  been  a  prudent  and  laudable 
device  for  the  defence  of  the  religion  and  liberties  of  the  nation;  nor  were 
th*3  terms  in  which  it  was  conceived  other  than  might  have  been  expected 
from  men  alarmed  with  the  impending  danger  of  popery,  and  threatened 
with  an  invasion  by  the  most  bigoted  and  most  powerful  prince  in  Europe. 

Philip's  eagerness  to  conquer  England  did  not  inspire  him  either  with 
tie  vigour  or  despatch  necessary  to  insure  the  success  of  so  mighty  an 

^rprise.     His  neet,  which  ought  to  have  sailed  in  April,  did  not  enter 

mid.  541.    John*.  130     Spota.  369.  t  Dunlop'a  Collect  of  Confess,  vol.  II.  168 

■  iv.  139. 


280  THE    HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

the  English  channel  till  the  middle  of  July.  It  hovered  many  days  on  ths 
coast  in  expectation  of  being  joined  by  the  prince  of  Parma,  who  was 
blocked  up  in  the  ports  of  Flanders  by  a  Dutch  squadron.  Continual  dis 
asters  pursued  the  Spaniards  during  that  time;  successive  storms  and 
battles,  which  were  well  known,  conspired  with  their  own  ill  conduct  to 
disappoint  their  enterprise.  And  by  the  blessing  cf  Providence,  which 
watched  with  remarkable  care  over  the  protestant  religion  and  the  liberties 
of  Britain,  the  English  valour  scattered  and  destroyed  the  Armada  on 
which  Philip  had  arrogantly  bestowed  the  name  of  Invincible.  Aftei 
being  driven  out  of  the  English  seas,  their  shattered  ships  were  forced  to 
steer  their  course  toward  Spain  round  Scotland  and  Ireland.  Many  of 
them  suffered  shipwreck  on  these  dangerous  and  unknown  coasts.  Though 
James  kept  his  subjects  underarms  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  to  prevent  their  landing  in  an  hostile  manner,  he  received  with  great 
humanity  seven  hundred  who  were  forced  ashore  by  a  tempest,  and  after 
supplying  them  with  necessaries,  permitted  them  to  return  into  their  own 
country. 

On  the  retreat  of  the  Spaniards  Elizabeth  sent  an  ambassador  to  con- 
gratulate with  James,  and  to  compliment  him  on  the  firmness  and  generosity 
he  had  discovered  during  a  conjuncture  so  dangerous.  But  none  ot  Ashby  s 
promises  were  any  longer  remembered;  that  minister  was  even  accused 
of  having  exceeded  his  powers  by  his  too  liberal  offers;  and  conscious  of 
his  own  falsehood,  or  ashamed  of  being  disowned  by  his  court,  he  with 
drew  secretly  out  of  Scotland.* 

1589.1  Philip,  convinced  by  fatal  experience  of  his  own  rashness  in 
attempting  the  conquest  of  England  by  a  naval  armament,  equipped  at  so 
great  a  distance,  and  subjected  in  all  its  operations  to  the  delays  and 
dangers  and  uncertainties  arising  from  seas  and  wind,  resolved  to  make 
his  attack  in  another  form,  and  to  adopt  the  plan  which  the  princes  of 
Lorrain  had  long  meditated,  of  invading  England  through  Scotland.  A 
body  of  his  troops  he  imagined  might  he  easily  wafted  over  from  the  Low- 
Countries  to  that  kingdom  ;  and  if  they  could  once  obtain  tooting  or  procure 
assistance  there,  the  frontier  of  England  was  open  and  defenceless,  and  the 
northern  counties  full  of  Roman  catholics,  who  would  receive  them  with 
open  arms.  Meanwhile  a  descent  might  be  threatened  on  the  southern 
coast,  which  would  divide  the  English  army,  distract  their  councils,  and 
throw  the  whole  kingdom  into  terrible  convulsions.  In  order  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  execution  of  this  design,  he  remitted  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  to  Bruce,  a  seminary  priest  in  Scotland,  and  employed  him. 
together  with  Hay,  Creighton,  and  Tyrie,  Scottish  Jesuits,  to  gain  over  as 
many  persons  of  distinction  as  possible  to  his  interest.  Zeal  for  popery, 
and  the  artful  insinuations  of  these  emissaries,  induced  several  noblemen  to 
favour  a  measure  which  tended  so  manifestly  to  the  destruction  of  their 
country.  Hunlly,  though  the  king  had  lately  given  him  in  marriage  the 
daughter  of  his  favourite  the  duke  of  Lennox,  continued  warmly  attached 
to  the  Romish  church.  Crawford  and  Errol  were  animated  with  the  zeal 
of  new  converts.  They  all  engaged  in  a  correspondence  with  the  prince 
of  Parma,  and,  in  their  letters  to  him,  offered  their  services  to  the  king  ot 
Spain,  and  undertook,  with  the  aid  of  six  thousand  men,  to  render  him 
master  of  Scotland,  and  to  bring  so  many  of  their  vassals  into  the  field, 
that  he  should  be  able  to  enter  England  with'a  numerous  army.  Francis 
Stewart,  grandson  of  James  V.,+  whom  the  king  had  created  earl  of  Both- 
well,  though  influenced  by  no  motive  of  religion,  for  he  still  adhered  to  the 
protestant  faith,  was  prompted  merely  by  caprice,  and  the  restlessness  o 
his  nature,  to  join  in  this  treasonable  correspondence. 

*  JuhnK.  134.    Camd.  548.    Murdin,  635.  788. 

t  He  wiw  th«  son  of  Jotin  Prior  of  Coldingham,  one  of  James's  natural  children 


OF   SCOTLAND.  2S1 

All  these  letters  were  intercepted  in  England  [Feb.  17].  Elizabeth, 
alarmed  at  the  danger  which  threatened  her  own  kingdom,  sent  them 
immediately  to  the  Icing,  and,  reproaching  him  with  his  former  lenity 
towards  the  popish  party,  called  upon  him  to  check  this  formidable  con- 
spiracy by  a  proper  severity.  But  James,  though  firmly  attached  to  the 
protestant  religion,  though  pr  'bundly  versed  in  the  theological  contro- 
versies between  the  reformers  and  the  church  of  Rome,  though  he  had 
employed  himself,  at  that  earlj  period  of  life,  in  writing  a  commentary  on 
the  Revelations,  in  which  he  laboured  to  prove  the  pope  to  be  Antichrist, 
had  nevertheless  adopted  already  those  maxims  concerning  the  treatmen 
of  the  Roman  catholics,  to  which  he  adhered  through  the  rest  of  his  life 
The  Roman  catholics  were  at  that  time  a  powerful  and  active  party  in 
England ;  they  were  far  from  being  an  inconsiderable  faction  in  his  own 
kingdom.  The  pope  and  the  king  of  Spain  were  ready  to  take  part  in  all 
their  machinations,  and  to  second  every  effort  of  their  bigotry.  The 
opposition  of  such  a  body  to  his  succession  to  the  crown  of  England, 
added  to  the  averseness  of  the  English  from  the  government  of  strangers, 
might  create  him  many  difficulties.  In  order  to  avoid  these,  he  thougnt  it 
necessary  to  sooth  rather  than  to  irritate  the  Roman  catholics,  and  to 
reconcile  them  to  his  succession,  by  the  hopes  of  gentler  treatment,  and 
some  mitigation  of  the  rigour  of  those  laws  which  were  now  in  force 
against  them.  This  attempt  to  gain  one  party  by  promises  of  indulgence 
and  acts  of  clemency,  while  he  adhered  with  all  the  obstinacy  of  a  dis- 
putant to  the  doctrines  and  tenets  of  the  other,  has  given  an  air  of  mystery, 
and  even  of  contradiction,  to  this  part  of  the  king's  character.  The  papists, 
with  the  credulity  of  a  sect  struggling  to  obtain  power,  believed  his  heart 
to  be  wholly  theirs ;  and  the  protestants,  with  the  jealousy  inseparable  from 
those  who  are  already  in  possession  of  power,  viewed  every  act  of  lenity 
as  a  mark  of  indifference,  or  a  symptom  of  apostacy.  In  order  to  please 
both,  James  often  aimed  at  an  excessive  refinement,  mingled  with  dissimu- 
lation, in  which  he  imagined  the  perfection  of  government  and  of  kingcraft 
to  consist. 

His  behaviour  on  this  occasion  was  agreeable  to  these  general  maxims. 
Notwithstanding  the  solicitations  of  the  queen  of  England,  enforced  by  the 
zealous  remonstrances  of  his  own  clergy,  a  short  imprisonment  was  the 
only  punishment  he  inflicted  upon  Huntly  and  his  associates.  But  he  soon 
had  reason  to  repent  an  act  of  clemency  so  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  ot 
government.  The  first  use  which  the  conspirators  made  of  their  liberty 
was,  to  assemble  their  followers:  and,  under  pretence  of  removing  chancel- 
for  Maitland,  an  able  minister,  but  warmly  devoted  to  the  English  interest, 
from  the  king's  council  and  presence,  they  attempted  to  seize  James  him- 
self. This  attempt  being  defeated,  partly  by  Maitland's  vigilance  and 
partly  by  their  own  ill  conduct,  they  were  forced  to  retire  to  the  North, 
where  they  openly  erected  the  standard  of  rebellion.  But  as  the  king's 
government  was  not  generally  unpopular,  or  his  ministers  odious,  their  own 
vassals  joined  them  slowly,  and  discovered  no  zeal  in  the  cause.  The 
king,  in  person,  advancing  against  them  with  such  forces  as  he  could  sud- 
denly levy,  they  durst  not  rely  so  much  on  the  fidelity  of  the  troops,  which, 
though  superior  in  number,  followed  them  with  reluctance,  as  to  hazard  a 
battle  ;  but  suffering  them  to  disperse,  they  surrendered  to  the  king,  and 
threw  themselves  on  his  mercy,  Huntly,  Errol,  Crawford,  and  Bothwell, 
were  all  brought  to  a  public  trial.  Repeated  acts  of  treason  were  easily 
proved  against  them.  The  king,  however,  did  not  permit  any  sentence  to 
be  pronounced ;  and  after  keeping  them  a  few  months  in  confinement,  he 
took  occasion,  amidst  the  public  festivity  and  rejoicings  at  the  approach  ot 
bis  marriage,  to  set  them  at  liberty.* 

*  Sp«'sw.  373     Cald.  iv.  103—130. 

Vol  III— 36 


282  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VII. 

As  Jame9  was  the  only  descendant  of  the  ancient  monarchs  of  Scotland 
in  the  direct  line ;  as  all  hopes  of  uniting  the  crowns  of  the  two  kingdoms 
would  have  expired  with  him  ;  as  the  earl  of  Arran,  the  presumptive  heir 
to  the  throne,  was  lunatic  ;  the  king's  marriage  was,  on  all  these  accounts, 
an  event  which  the  nation  wished  for  with  the  utmost  ardour.  He  himself 
was  no  less  desirous  of  accomplishing  it ;  and  had  made  overtures  tor  that 
purpose  to  the  eldest  daughter  of  Frederick  II.,  king  o/'  Denmark.  But 
Elizabeth,  jealous  of  every  thing  that  would  render  the  accession  of  the 
house  of  Stewart  more  acceptable  to  the  English,  endeavoured  to  perplex 
James  in  the  same  manner  she  had  done  Mary,  and  employed  as  many 
artifices  to  defeat  or  to  retard  his  marriage.  His  ministers,  gained  by  bribes 
and  promises,  seconded  her  intention:  and  though  several  different  ambas- 
sadors were  sent  from  Scotland  to  Denmark,  they  produced  powers  so 
limited,  or  insisted  on  conditions  so  extravagant,  that  Frederick  could  not 
believe  the  king  to  be  in  earnest ;  and,  suspecting  that  there  was  some 
design  to  deceive  or  amuse  him,  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  the  duke 
of  Brunswick.  Not  discouraged  by  this  disappointment,  which  he  imputed 
entirely  to  the  conduct  of  his  own  ministers,  James  made  addresses  to  the 
princess  Anne,  Frederick's  second  daughter.  Though  Elizabeth  endea- 
voured to  divert  him  from  this  by  recommending  Catharine,  the  king  01 
Navarre's  sister,  as  a  more  advantageous  match  ;  though  she  prevailed  on 
the  privy  council  of  Scotland  to  declare  against  the  alliance  with  Denmark, 
he  persisted  in  his  choice  ;  and  despairing  of  overcoming  the  obstinacy  or 
his  own  ministers  in  any  other  manner,  he  secretly  encouraged  the  citizens 
of  Edinburgh  to  take  arms.  They  threatened  to  tear  in  pieces  the  chan- 
cellor, whom  they  accused  as  the  person  whose  artifices  had  hitherto  dis- 
appointed the  wishes  of  the  king  and  the  expectations  of  his  people.  In 
consequence  of  this,  the  earl  Marischal  was  sent  into  Denmark  at  the  head 
of  a  splendid  embassy.  He  received  ample  powers  and  instructions,  drawn 
with  the  king's  own  hand.  The  marriage  articles  were  quickly  agreed 
upon,  and  the  young  queen  set  sail  towards  Scotland.  James  made  great  pre- 
parations for  her  reception,  and  waited  her  landing  with  all  the  impatience 
of  a  lover  ;  when  the  unwelcome  account  arrived,  that  a  violent  tempest  had 
arisen,  which  drove  back  her  fleet  to  Norway,  in  a  condition  so  shattered 
that  there  was  little  hope  of  its  putting  again  to  fea  before  the  spring. 
This  unexpected  disappointment  he  felt  with  the  'atmost  sensibility.  He 
instantly  fitted  out  some  ships,  and  without  communicating  his  intention  to 
any  of  his  council,  sailed  in  person,  attended  by  the  chancellor,  several 
noblemen,  and  a  train  of  three  hundred  persons,  in  quest  of  his  bride 
[Oct.  22].  He  arrived  safely  in  a  small  harbour  near  Upslo,  where  the 
queen  then  resided.  There  the  marriage  was  solemnized  [Nov.  24]  ;  and 
as  it  would  have  been  rash  to  trust  those  boisterous  seas  in  the  winter  sea- 
son, James  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  court  of  Denmark,  and,  repairing 
to  Copenhagen,  passed  several  months  there,  amidst  continual  feasting  and 
amusements,  in  which  both  the  queen  and  himself  had  great  delight.* 

No  event  in  the  king's  life  appears  to  be  a  wider  deviation  from  his 
general  character  than  this  sudden  sally.  His  son  Charles  I.  was  capable 
of  that  excessive  admiration  of  the  other  sex,  which  arises  from  great  sen- 
sibility of  heart,  brightened  by  elegance  of  taste  ;  and  the  romantic  air  of 
his  journey  to  Spain  suited  such  a  disposition.  But  James  was  not  sus- 
ceptible of  any  refined  gallantry,  and  always  expressed  that  contempt  for 
the  female  character  which  a  pedantic  erudition,  unacquainted  with  polite- 
ness, is  apt  to  inspire.  He  was  exasperated,  however,  and  rendered  impa- 
tient by  the  many  obstacles  which  had  been  laid  in  his  way.  He  was 
anxious  to  secure  the  political  advantages  which  he  expected  from  mar 
nage  ;  and  fearing  that  a  delay  might  afford  Elizabeth  and  his  own  ministers 

*  MelvU.  352.    Spou.  337.    Murdin,  637. 


OF  SCOTLAND  S83 

an  opportunity  of  thwarting  him  by  new  intrigues,  he  suddenly  look  the 
resolution  of  preventing  them,  by  a  voyage  from  which  he  expected  to 
return  in  a  few  weeks.  The  nation  seemed  to  applaud  his  conduct,  and  to 
be  pleased  with  this  appearance  of  amorous  ardour  in  a  young  prince 
Notwithstanding  his  absence  so  long  beyond  the  time  he  expected,  the 
nobles,  the  clergy,  and  the  people,  vied  with  one  another  in  loyalty  and 
obedience  ;  and  no  period  of  the  king's  reign  was  more  remarkable  for 
tranquillity,  or  more  free  from  any  eruption  ofthose  factions  which  so  often 
disturbed  the  kingdom. 


BOOK   VIII. 


1590.]  On  the  first  of  May  the  king  and  queen  arrived  at  Leith,  and 
were  received  by  their  subjects  with  every  possible  expression  of  joy. 
The  solemnity  of  the  queen  s  coronation  was  conducted  with  great  mag- 
nificence :  but  so  low  had  the  order  of  bishops  fallen  in  the  opinion  of  the 
public,  that  none  of  them  were  present  on  that  occasion  ;  and  Mr.  Robert 
Bruce,  a  presbyterian  minister  of  great  reputation,  set  the  crown  on  her 
head,  administered  the  sacred  unction,  and  performed  the  other  customary 
ceremonies. 

The  zeal  and  success  with  which  many  of  the  clergy  had  contributed 
towards  preserving  peace  and  order  in  the  kingdom,  during  his  absence, 
reconciled  James,  in  a  great  degree,  to  their  persons,  and  even  to  the  pres- 
byterian form  of  government.  In  presence  of  an  assembly  which  met  this 
year  [Aug.  4],  he  made  high  encomiums  on  the  discipline  as  well  as 
the  doctrine  of  the  church,  promised  to  adhere  inviolably  to  both,  and  per- 
mitted the  assembly  to  frame  such  acts  as  gradually  abolished  all  the 
remains  of  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  paved  the  way  for  a  full  and  legal 
establishment  of  the  presbyterian  model.* 

1591.]  An  event  happened  soon  after,  which  afforded  the  clergy  no 
small  triumph.  Archbishop  Adamson,  their  ancient  opponent,  having  fallen 
under  the  king's  displeasure,  having  been  deprived  of  the  revenues  of  his 
see  in  consequence  of  the  act  of  annexation,  and  being  oppressed  with  age, 
with  poverty,  and  diseases,  made  the  meanest  submission  to  the  clergy, 
and  delivered  to  the  assembly  a  formal  recantation  of  all  his  opinions  con- 
cerning church  government,  which  had  been  matter  of  offence  to  the  pres- 
byterians.  Such  a  confession,  from  the  most  learned  person  of  the  epis- 
copal order,  was  considered  as  a  testimony  which  the  force  of  truth  had 
extorted  from  an  adversary  ,f 

Meanwhile,  the  king's  excessive  clemency  towards  offenders  multiplied 
crimes  of  all  kinds,  and  encouraged  such  acts  of  violence  as  brought  his 
government  under  contempt,  and  proved  fatal  to  many  of  his  subjects 
The  history  of  several  years,  about  this  time,  is  filled  with  accounts  of  the 
deadly  quarrels  between  the  great  families,  and  of  murders  and  assassina- 
tions perpetrated  in  the  most  audacious  manner,  and  with  circumstances  of 
the  utmost  barbarity.  All  the  defects  in  the  feudal  aristocracy  were  now 
felt  more  sensibly,  perhaps,  than  at  any  other  period  in  the  history  of  Scot- 
land, and  universal  license  and  anarchy  prevailed  to  a  degree  scarce  con- 
sistent with  the  preservation  of  society ;  while  the  king,  too  gentle  to  punish 
or  too  feeble  to  act  with  vigour,  suffered  all  these  enormities  to  pass  with 
impunity. 

But  though  James  connived  at  real  crimes,  witchcraft,  which  is  con> 

*  Cald.  iv.  204.  i  Spotsw.  385.    Cald  iv.  214. 


284  THEHISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

monly  an  imaginary  one,  engrossed  his  attention,  and  those  suspected  of  it 
telt  the  whole  weight  of  his  authority.  Many  persons,  neither  extremely 
old  nor  wretchedly  poor,  which  were  usually  held  to  be  certain  indications 
of  this  crime,  but  masters  of  families,  and  matrons  of  a  decent  rank,  and  in 
the  middle  age  of  life,  were  seized  and  tortured.  Though  their  confessions 
contained  the  most  absurd  and  incredible  circumstances,  the  king's  preju- 
dices, those  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  people,  conspired  in  believing  their 
extravagances  without  hesitation,  and  in  punishing  their  persons  without 
mercy.  Some  of  these  unhappy  sufferers  accused  Bothwell  of  having  con- 
sulted them,  in  order  to  know  the  time  of  the  king's  death,  and  of  having 
employed  their  arts  to  raise  the  storms  which  had  endangered  the  queen's 
life,  and  had  detained  James  so  long  in  Denmark.  Upon  this  evidence  that 
nobleman  was  committed  to  prison.  Mis  turbulent  and  haughty  spirit 
could  neither  submit  to  the  restraint,  nor  brook  such  an  indignity.  Having 
gained  his  keepers,  he  made  his  escape  ;  and  imputing  the  accusation  to 
the  artifices  of  his  enemy  the  chancellor,  he  assembled  his  followers,  under 
pretence  of  driving  him  from  the  king's  councils.  Being  favoured  by  some 
of  the  king's  attendants,  he  was  admitted  by  a  secret  passage,  under  cloud 
of  night,  into  the  court  of  the  palace  of  Holyroodhouse.  He  advanced 
directly  towards  the  royal  apartment ;  but  happily,  before  he  entered,  the 
alarm  was  taken,  and  the  doors  shut.  While  he  attempted  to  burst  open 
some  of  them  [Dec.  27],  and  set  fire  to  others,  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh 
had  time  to  run  to  their  arms,  and  he  escaped  with  the  utmost  difficulty; 
owing  his  safety  to  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  the  precipitancy  with 
which  he  fled.* 

1592.]  He  retired  towards  the  north  ;  and  the  king  having  unadvisedly 
given  a  commission  to  the  earl  of  Huntly  to  pursue  him  and  his  followers 
tvith  fire  and  sword,  he,  under  colour  of  executing  that  commission,  gratified 
his  private  revenge,  and  surrounded  the  house  of  the  earl  of  Murray,  burned 
it  to  the  ground,  and  slew  Murray  himself  [Feb.  8].  The  murder  of  a 
young  nobleman  of  such  promising  virtues,  and  the  heir  of  the  regent 
Murray,  the  darling  of  the  people,  excited  universal  indignation.  The 
citizens  of  Edinburgh  rose  in  a  tumultuous  manner  ;  and,  though  they  were 
restrained,  by  the  care  of  the  magistrates,  from  any  act  of  violence,  they 
threw  aside  all  respect  for  the  king  and  his  ministers,  and  openly  insulted 
and  threatened  both.  While  this  mutinous  spirit  continued,  James  thought 
tt  prudent  to  withdraw  from  the  city,  and  fix  his  residence  for  some  time 
at  Glasgow.  There  Huntly  surrendered  himself  to  justice  ;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  atrociousness  of  his  crime,  and  the  clamours  of  the  people, 
the  power  of  the  chancellor,  with  whom  he  was  now  closely  confederated, 
and  the  king's  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  duke  of  Lennox,  whose 
daughter  he  had  married,  not  only  protected  him  from  the  sentence  wnich 
such  an  odious  action  merited,  but  exempted  him  even  from  the  formality 
of  a  public  trial. t 

A  step  of  much  importance  was  taken  soon  after  with  regard  to  the 
government  of  the  church.  The  clergy  had  long  complained  of  the 
encroachments  made  upon  their  privileges  and  jurisdiction  by  the  acts  of 
the  parliament  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-four;  and  though 
these  laws  had  now  lost  much  of  their  force,  they  resolved  to  petition  the 
parliament,  which  was  approaching,  to  repeal  them  in  form.  This  junc- 
ture for  pushing  such  a  measure  was  well  chosen.  The  king  had  lost 
much  of  the  public  favour  by  his  lenity  towards  the  popish  faction,  and  still 
more  by  his  remissness  in  pursuing  the  murderers  of  the  earl  of  Murray. 
The  chancellor  had  not  only  a  powerful  party  of  the  courtiers  combined 
against  him,  but  was  become  odious  to  the  people,  who  imputed  to  him 
every  false  step  in  the  king's  conduct.     Bothwell  still  lurked  in  the  king 

*  Melv.  388.    .Spot*  330.  f  Ibid.  387. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  285 

doui ;  and,  being,  secretly  supported  by  all  the  enemies  of  Maitland's 
administration,  was  ready  every  moment  to  renew  his  audacious  enter 
prises.  James,  for  all  these  reasons,  was  extremely  willing  to  indulge  the 
clergy  in  their  request,  and  not  only  consented  to  a  law,  whereby  the  acts 
of  one  thousand  live  hundred  and  eighty-four  were  rescinded  or  explained, 
but  he  carried  his  complaisance  still  further,  and  permitted  the  parliament 
to  establish  the  presbyterian  government,  in  its  general  assemblies,  provin- 
cial synods,  presbyteries,  and  kirk  sessions,  with  all  the  different  branches 
of  their  discipline  and  jurisdiction,  in  the  most  ample  manner.  All  the  zeal 
and  authority  of  the  clergy,  even  under  the  administration  of  regents,  from 
whom  they  might  have  expected  the  most  partial  favour,  could  not  obtain 
the  sanction  of  Taw,  in  confirmation  of  their  mode  of  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment. No  prince  was  ever  less  disposed  than  James  to  approve  a  system, 
the  republican  genius  of  which  inspired  a  passion  for  liberty  extremely 
repugnant  to  his  exalted  notions  ot  royal  prerogative.  Nor  could  any 
aversion  be  more  inveterate  thin  his  to  the  austere  and  uncomplying  cha- 
racter of  the  presbyterian  clergy  in  that  age  ;  who,  more  eminent  for  zeal 
than  for  policy,  often  contradicted  his  opinions,  and  censured  his  conduct, 
with  a  freedom  equally  offensive  to  his  dogmatism  as  a  theologian,  and  to 
his  pride  as  a  king.  His  situation,  however,  obliged  him  frequently  to  con- 
ceal or  to  dissemble  his  sentiments  ;  and,  as  he  often  disgusted  his  subjects 
by  indulging  the  popish  faction  more  than  they  approved,  he  endeavoured 
to  atone  for  this  by  concessions  to  the  presbyterian  clergy,  more  liberal 
than  he  himself  would  otherwise  have  chosen  to  grant.* 

In  this  parliament,  Bothwell  and  all  his  adherents  were  attainted.  But 
he  soon  made  a  new  attempt  to  seize  the  king  at  Falkland ;  and  James, 
betrayed  by  some  of  his  courtiers,  and  feebly  defended  by  others,  who 
wished  well  to  Bothwell  as  the  chancellor's  avowed  enemy,  owed  his 
safety  to  the  fidelity  and  vigilance  of  sir  Robert  Melvil,  and  to  the  irreso- 
lution of  Bothwell's  associates.! 

Scarcely  was  this  danger  over,  when  the  nation  was  alarmed  with  the 
discovery  of  a  new  and  more  formidable  conspiracy.  George  Ker,  the 
lord  Newbattle's  brother,  being  seized  as  he  was  ready  to  set  sail  for 
Spain,  many  suspicious  papers  were  found  in  his  custody,  and  among  these 
several  blanks  signed  by  the  earls  of  Angus,  Huntly,  and  Errol.  By  this 
extraordinary  precaution  they  hoped  to  escape  any  danger  of  discovery. 
But  Ker's  resolution  shrinking  when  torture  was  threatened,  he  confessed 
that  he  was  employed  by  these  noblemen  to  carry  on  a  negotiation  with 
the  king  of  Spain  ;  that  the  blanks  subscribed  with  their  names  were  to  be 
rilled  up  by  Crichton  and  Tyrie  ;  that  they  were  instructed  to  offer  the 
faithful  servL-e  of  the  three  earls  to  that  monarch  ;  and  to  solicit  him  to 
land  a  body  of  his  troops,  either  in  Galloway  or  at  the  mouth  of  Clyde, 
with  which  they  undertook,  in  the  first  place,  to  establish  the  Roman 
catholic  religion  in  Scotland,  and  then  to  invade  England  with  the  whole 
forces  of  the  kingdom.  David  Graham  of  Fintry,  and  Barclay  of  Lady- 
land,  whom  he  accused  of  being  privy  to  the  conspiracy,  were  taken  into 
custody,  and  confirmed  all  the  circumstances  of  his  confessions. | 

1593.]  The  nation  having  been  kept  for  some  time  in  continual  terroi 
and  agitation  by  so  many  successive  conspiracies,  the  discovery  of  this  new 
danger  completed  the  panic.  All  ranks  of  men,  as  if  the  enemy  had 
already  been  at  their  gates,  thought  themselves  called  upon  to  stand  forth 
in  defence  of  their  country.  The  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  without  waiting 
tor  any  warrant  from  the  king,  who  happened  at  that  time  to  be  absent 
from  the  capital,  and  without  having  received  any  legal  commission 
assembled  a  considerable  number  of  peers  and  barons,  in  order  to  provide 
an  instant  security  against  the  impending  danger.     They  seized  the  ear' 

•  Cald.  iv.  248.  252.    Spotew.  388.  t  Melv.  402.  J  Rymer,  xvL  J<H> 


286  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VTII 

of  Angus,  and  committed  him  to  the  castle  ;  they  examined  Ker ;  and  pre- 
pared a  remonstrance  to  be  laid  before  the  king,  concerning  the  state  of  the 
nation,  and  the  necessity  of  prosecuting  the  conspirators  with  becoming 
vigour.  James,  though  jealous  of  every  encroachment  on  his  prerogative, 
and  offended  with  his  subjects,  who,  instead  of  petitioning,  seemed  to  pre- 
scribe to  him,  found  it  necessary,  during  the  violence  of  the  ferment,  not 
only  to  adopt  their  plan,  but  even  to  declare  that  no  consideration  should 
ever  induce  him  to  pardon  such  as  had  been  guilty  of  so  odious  a  treason. 
He  summoned  the  earls  of  Huntly  and  Errol  to  surrender  themselves  to 
justice.  Graham  of  Fintry,  whom  his  peers  pronounced  to  be  guilty  of 
treason,  he  commanded  to  be  publicly  beheaded  [Jan.  2]  ;  and  marching 
into  the  north  at  the  head  of  an  army,  the  two  earls,  together  with  Angus, 
who  had  escaped  out  of  prison,  retired  to  the  mountains.  He  placed  gar- 
risons in  the  castles  which  belonged  to  them  ;  compelled  their  vassals,  and 
the  barons  in  the  adjacent  counties,  to  subscribe  a  bond  containing  profes- 
sions of  their  loyalty  towards  him,  and  of  their  firm  adherence  to  the  pro- 
testant  faith;  and  the  better  to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  that  part  of  the 
kingdom,  constituted  the  earls  of  Athol  and  Marischal  his  lieutenants 
there.* 

Having  finished  this  expedition,  James  returned  to  Edinburgh  [March  1 8], 
where  he  found  lord  Borrough,  an  extraordinary  ambassador  from  the  court 
of  England.  Elizabeth,  alarmed  at  the  discovery  of  a  conspiracy  which 
she  considered  as  no  less  formidable  to  her  own  kingdom  than  to  Scotland, 
reproached  James  with  his  former  remissness,  and  urged  him,  as  he 
regarded  the  preservation  of  the  pfotestant  religion,  or  the  dignity  of  his 
own  crown,  to  punish  this  repeated  treason  with  rigour;  and  if  he  could 
not  apprehend  the  persons,  at  least  to  confiscate  the  estates  of  such  auda- 
cious rebels.  She  weakened,  however,  the  force  of  these  requests,  by 
interceding  at  the  same  time  in  behalf  of  Bothwell,  whom,  according  to 
her  usual  policy,  in  nourishing  a  factious  spirit  among  the  Scottish  nobles, 
she  had  taken  under  her  protection.  James  absolutely  refused  to  listen  to 
any  intercession  in  favour  of  one  who  had  so  often,  and  with  so  much 
outrage,  insulted  both  his  government  and  his  person.  With  regard  to  the 
popish  conspirators,  he  declared  his  resolution  to  prosecute  them  with 
vigour;  but  that  he  might  be  the  better  able  to  do  so,  he  demanded  a 
small  sum  of  money  from  Elizabeth,  which  she,  distrustfully  perhaps  of 
the  manner  in  which  he  might  apply  it,  showed  no  inclination  to  grant. 
The  zeal,  however,  and  importunity  of  his  own  subjects  obliged  him  to 
call  a  parliament,  in  order  to  pass  an  act  of  attainder  against  the  three 
earls.  Bi,f  before  it  met,  Ker  made  his  escape  out  of  prison,  and,  on  pre- 
tence that  legal  evidence  of  their  guilt  could  not  be  produced,  nothing  was 
concluded  against  them.  The  king  himself  was  universally  suspected  of 
having  contrived  this  artifice,  on  purpose  to  elude  the  requests  of  the 
queen  of  England,  and  to  disappoint  the  wishes  of  his  own  people  ;  and 
therefore,  in  order  to  sooth  the  clergy,  who  exclaimed  loudly  against  his 
conduct,  he  gave  way  to  the  passing  of  an  act,  which  ordained  such  as 
obstinately  contemned  the  censures  of  the  church  to  be  declared  outlaws.* 

While  the  terror  excited  by  the  popish  conspiracy  possessed  the  nation, 
the  court  had  been  divided  by  two  rival  factions,  which  contended  for  the 
chief  direction  of  affairs.  At  the  head  of  one  was  the  chancellor,  in  whom 
the  king  reposed  entire  confidence.  For  that  very  reason,  perhaps,  he  had 
fallen  early  under  the  queen's  displeasure.  The  duke  of  Lennox,  the  earl 
of  Athol,  lord  Ochiltree,  and  all  the  name  of  Stewart,  espoused  her  quar- 
rel, and  widened  the  breach.  James,  fond  no  less  of  domestic  tranquillity 
than  of  public  peace,  advised  his  favourite  to  retire,  for  some  time,  in 
uopes  that  the  queen's  resentment  would  subside.     But  as  he  stood  in 

•  Spottw.  301.     CUd.  iv.  291 .        t  Cald.  iv.  343.    b,,otsw.  393.    Pari.  13.  Jac  VI.  *  15*. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  187 

need,  in  the  present  juncture,  of  the  assistance  of  nn  able  minister,  he  had 
recalled  him  to  court.  In  order  to  prevent  him  from  recovering  his  former 
power,  the  Stewarts  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  no  less  illegal  than  des 
perate.  Having  combined  with  Bothwell,  who  was  of  the  same  name, 
they  brought  him  back  secretly  into  Scotland  [July  24]  ;  and,  seizing  the 
gates  of  the  palace,  introduced  him  into  the  royal  apartment  with  a 
numerous  train  of  armed  followers.  James,  though  deserted  by  all  his 
courtiers,  and  incapable  of  resistance,  discovered  more  indignation  than 
fear,  and,  reproaching  them  for  their  treachery,  called  on  the  earl  to  finish 
his  treasons  by  piercing  his  sovereign  to  the  heart.  But  Bothwell  fell  on 
his  knees,  and  implored  pardon.  The  king  was  not  in  a  condition  to 
refuse  his  demands.  A  few  days  after  he  signed  a  capitulation  with  this 
successful  traitor,  to  whom  he  was  really  a  prisoner,  whereby  he  bound 
himself  to  grant  him  a  remission  for  all  past  offences,  and  to  procure  the 
ratification  of  it  in  parliament :  and  in  the  mean  time  to  dismiss  the  chan- 
cellor, the  master  of  Glamis,  lord  Home,  and  sir  George  Home,  from  his 
councils  and  presence.  Bothwell,  on  his  part,  consented  to  remove  from 
court,  though  he  left  there  as  many  of  his  associates  as  he  thought  sufficient 
to  prevent  the  return  of  the  adverse  faction. 

But  it  was  now  no  easy  matter  to  keep  the  king  under  the  same  kind 
of  bondage  to  which  he  had  been  often  subject  during  his  minority.  He 
discovered  so  much  impatience  to  shake  off  his  fetters  that  those  who  had 
imposed  durst  not  continue  the  restraint.  They  permitted  him  to  call  a 
convention  of  the  nobles  at  Stirling,  and  to  repair  thither  himself  [Sept.  7] 
All  Bothwell's  enemies,  and  all  who  were  desirous  of  gaining  the  king  s 
favour  by  appearing  to  be  so,  obeyed  the  summons.  They  pronounced  the 
insult  offered  to  the  king's  person  and  authority  to  be  high  treason,  and 
declared  him  absolved  from  any  obligation  to  observe  conditions  extorted 
by  force,  and  which  violated  so  essentially  his  royal  prerogative.  James, 
however,  still  proffered  him  a  pardon,  provided  he  would  sue  for  it  as  an 
act  of  mercy,  and  promise  to  retire  out  of  the  kingdom.  These  conditions 
Bothwell  rejected  with  disdain,  and,  betaking  himself  once  more  to  arms, 
attempted  to  surprise  the  king ;  but  finding  him  on  his  guard,  fled  to  the 
borders.* 

The  king's  ardour  against  Bothwell,  compared  with  his  slow  and  evasive 
proceedings  against  the  popish  lords,  occasioned  a  general  disgust  among 
his  subjects :  and  was  imputed  either  to  an  excessive  attachment  to  the 
persons  of  those  conspirators,  or  to  a  secret  partiality  towards  their  opinions  • 
both  which  gave  rise  to  no  unreasonable  fears  [Sept.  25],  The  clergy,  as 
the  immediate  guardians  of  the  protestant  religion,  thought  themselves 
bound,  in  such  a  juncture,  to  take  extraordinary  steps  for  its  preservation. 
The  provincial  synod  of  Fife  happening  to  meet  at  that  time,  a  motion  was 
made  to  excommunicate  all  concerned  in  the  late  conspiracy,  as  obstinate 
and  irreclaimable  papists;  and  though  none  of  the  conspirators  resided 
within  the  bounds  of  the  synod,  or  were  subject  to  its  jurisdiction,  such 
was  the  zeal  of  the  members,  that,  overlooking  this  irregularity,  they  pro- 
nounced against  them  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  to  which  the  act 
of  last  parliament  added  new  terrors.  Lest  this  should  be  imputed  to  a 
few  men,  and  accounted  the  act  of  a  small  part  of  the  church,  deputies 
were  appointed  to  attend  the  adjacent  synods,  and  to  desire  their  appro- 
bation and  concurrence. 

An  event  happened  a  few  weeks  after,  which  increased  the  people's 
suspicions  of  the  king.  As  he  was  marching  on  an  expedition  against  the 
borderers  [Oct.  17],  the  three  popish  earls,  coming  suddenly  into  his  pre- 
sence, offered  to  submit  themselves  to  a  legal  trial ;  and  James,  without 
committing  them  to  custody,  appointed  a  day  for  that  purpose      They 

*  Cald.  iv.  326.    Spotsw.  395. 


288  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VIII 

repared  to  appear  with  a  formidable  train  of  their  friends  and  vassals 

ut  in  the  meantime  the  clergy,  together  with  many  peers  and  barons 
assembled  at  Edinburgh,  remonstrated  against  the  king's  extreme  indulgence" 
with  great  boldness,  and  demanded  of  him,  according  to  the  regular  course 
of  justice,  to  commit  to  sure  custody  persons  charged  with  the  highest 
acts  of  treason,  who  could  not  be  brought  to  a  legal  trial  until  they  were 
absolved  from  the  censures  of  the  church  ;  and  to  call  a  convention  of 
estates,  to  deliberate  concerning  the  method  of  proceeding  against  them. 
At  the  same  time  they  offered  to  accomparry  him  in  arms  tc  the  place  of 
iTial,  lest  such  audacious  and  powerful  criminals  should  overawe  justice, 
and  dictate  to  the  judges,  to  whom  they  pretended  to  submit.  James, 
though  extremely  offended,  both  with  the  irregularity  of  their  proceedings, 
and  the  presumption  of  their  demands,  found  it  expedient  to  put  off  the 
day  of  trial,  and  to  call  a  convention  of  estates,  in  order  to  quiet  the  fears 
and  jealousies  of  the  people.  By  being  humoured  in  this  point,  their  sus- 
picions began  gradually  to  abate,  and  the  chancellor  managed  the  conven- 
tion so  artfully  that  he  himself,  together  with  a  few  other  members,  were 
empowered  to  pronounce  a  final  sentence  upon  the  conspirators  [Nov.  26]. 
After  much  deliberation  they  ordained,  that  the  three  earls  and  their  asso- 
ciates should  be  exempted  from  all  further  inquiry  or  prosecution,  on 
account  of  their  correspondence  with  Spain  ;  that,  before  the  first  day  of 
February,  they  should  either  submit  to  the  church,  and  publicly  renounce 
the  errors  of  popery,  or  remove  out  of  the  kingdom  ;  that,  before  the  first 
of  January,  they  should  declare  which  of  these  alternatives  they  would 
embrace  ;  that  they  should  find  surety  for  their  peaceable  demeanour  for 
the  future  ;  and  that  if  they  failed  to  signify  their  choice  in  due  time,  they 
should  lose  the  benefit  of  this  act  of  abolition,  and  remain  exposed  to  all 
the  pains  of  law.* 

1594.]  By  this  lenity  towards  the  conspirators,  James  incurred  much 
reproach,  and  gained  no  advantage.  Devoted  to  the  popish  superstition, 
submissive  to  ail  the  dictates  of  their  priests,  and  buoyed  up  with  hopes 
and  promises  of  foreign  aid,  the  three  earls  refused  to  accept  of  the  con- 
ditions, and  continued  their  treasonable  correspondence  with  the  court  of 
Spain.  A  convention  of  estates  [Jan.  18]  pronounced  them  to  have  for- 
feited the  benefit  of  the  articles  which  were  offered;  and  the  king  re- 
quired them,  by  proclamation,  to  surrender  themselves  to  justice.  The 
presence  of  the  English  ambassador  contributed,  perhaps,  to  the  vigour  of 
these  proceedings.  Elizabeth,  ever  attentive  to  James  s  motions,  and  im- 
puting his  reluctance  to  punish  the  popish  lords  to  a  secret  approbation  of 
their  designs,  had  sent  lord  Zouche  to  represent,  once  more,  the  danger  to 
which  he  exposed  himself  by  this  false  moderation  ;  and  to  require  him  to 
exercise  that  rigour  which  their  crimes,  as  well  as  the  posture  of  affairs, 
rendered  necessary.  Though  the  steps  now  taken  by  the  king  silenced 
all  complaints  on  that  head,  yet  Zouche,  forgetful  of  his  character  as  an 
ambassador,  entered  into  private  negotiations  with  such  of  the  Scottish 
nobles  as  disapproved  of  the  king's  measures,  and  held  almost  an  open 
correspondence  with  Bothwell,  who,  according  to  the  usual  artifice  of 
malecontents,  pretended  much  solicitude  for  reforming  the  disorders  of  the 
commonwealth ;  and  covered  his  own  ambition  with  the  specious  veil  of 
zeal  against  those  counsellors  who  restrained  the  king  from  pursuing  the 
avowed  enemies  of  the  protestant  faith.  Zouche  encouraged  him,  in  the 
name  of  his  mistress,  to  take  arms  against  his  sovereign. 

Meanwhile,  the  king  and  the  clergy  were  filled  with  mutual  distrust  of 
each  otoer.  They  were  jealous,  perhaps,  to  excess,  that  James's  affections 
leaned  too  much  towards  the  popish  faction.  He  suspected  them,  without 
good  reason,  of  prompting  Bothwell  to  rebellion,  and  even  of  supplying 

•  Cald.  iv.  330.     Spottw.  397 


OF   SCOTLAND.  28<> 

Him  with  money  for  that  purpose.  Little  instigation,  indeed,  was  wanting; 
to  rouse  sucli  a  turbulent  spirit  as  Bothwell  s  to  any  daring  enterprise. 
He  appeared  suddenly  within  a  mile  of  Edinburgh,  at  the  head  ot  lour 
hundred  horse.  The  pretences  by  which  he  endeavoured  to  justify  this 
insurrection, were  extremely  popular;  zeal  for  religion,  enmity  to  popery, 
concern  for  the  king's  honour,  and  lor  the  liberties  of  (he  nation.  Jame- 
was  totally  unprovided  for  bis  own  defence  ;  he  had  no  infantry,  and  wa- 
accompanied  only  with  a  few  horsemen  of  lord  Home's  train.  In  this  ex- 
tremity, he  implored  the  aid  of  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  in  order 
to  encourage  them  to  act  with  zeal,  he  promised  to  proceed  against  the 
popish  lords  with  the  utmost  rigour  and  law.  Animated  by  their  ministers, 
the  citizens  ran  cheerfully  to  their  arms,  and  advanced,  with  the  king  at 
(heir  head,  against  Bothwell  :  but  he,  notwithstanding  his  success  in  putting 
to  flight  lord  Home,  who  had  rashly  charged  him  with  a  far  inferior  num- 
ber of  cavalry,  retired  to  Dalkeith  without  daring  to  attack  the  king.  His 
followers  abandoned  him  soon  after,  and,  discouraged  by  so  many  sue 
cessive  disappointments,  could  never  afterwards  be  brought  to  venture 
into  the  held.  He  betook  himself  to  his  usual  lurking  places  in  the  north 
of  England ;  but  Elizabeth,  in  compliance  with  the  king's  remonstrances, 
obliged  him  to  quit  his  retreat.* 

No  sooner  was  the  king  delivered  from  one  danger,  than  he  was  called 
to  attend  to  another.  The  popish  lords,  in  consequence  of  their  negotia- 
tions with  Spain  [April  3j  received,  in  the  spring,  a  supply  of  money  from 
Philip.  What  bold  designs  this  might  inspire  it  was  no  easy  matter  to 
conjecture.  From  men  under  the  dominion  of  bigotry,  and  whom  in- 
dulgence could  not  reclaim,  the  most  desperate  actions  were  to  be  dreaded. 
The  assembly  of  the  church  immediately  took  the  alarm  ;  remonstrated 
against  them  with  more  bitterness  than  ever ;  and  unanimouslv  ratified  the 
sentence  of  excommunication  pronounced  by  the  synod  of  Fife.  James 
himself,  provoked  by  their  obstinacy  and  ingratitude,  and  afraid  that  his 
long  forbearance  would  not  only  be  generally  displeasing  to  his  own  sub- 
jects, but  give  rise  to  unfavourable  suspicions  among  the  English,  exerted 
himself  with  unusual  vigour.  He  called  a  parliament  [June  8] ;  laid 
before  it  all  the  circumstances  and  aggravations  of  the  conspiracy ;  and 
though  there  were  but  kw  members  present,  and  several  of  these  con- 
nected with  the  conspirators  by  blood  or  friendship,  he  prevailed  on  them, 
by  his  influence  and  importunity  to  pronounce  the  most  rigorous  sentence 
which  the  law  can  inflict.  They  were  declared  to  be  guilty  of  high 
treason,  and  their  estates  and  honours  forfeited.  At  the  same  time,  statutes 
more  severe  than  ever  were  enacted  against  the  professors  of  the  popish 
religion. 

How  to  put  this  sentence  in  execution  was  a  matter  of  great  difficulty 
Three  powerful  barons,  cantoned  in  a  part  of  the  country  of  difficult  access, 
surrounded  with  numerous  vassals,  and  supported  by  aid  from  a  foreign 
prince,  were  more  than  an  overmatch  for  a  Scottish  monarch.  No  entreaty 
could  prevail  on  Elizabeth  to  advance  the  money  necessary  for  defraying 
the  expenses  of  an  expedition  against  them.  To  attack  them  in  person, 
with  his  own  forces  alone,  might  have  exposed  James  both  to  disgrace  and 
to  danger.  He  had  recourse  to  the  only  expedient  which  remained  in  such 
a  situation,  for  aiding  the  impotence  of  sovereign  authority ;  he  delegated 
his  authority  to  the  earl  of  Argyll  and  lord  Forbes,  the  leaders  of  two 
clans  at  enmity  with  the  conspirators ;  and  gave  them  a  commission  to 
invade  their  lands,  and  to  seize  the  castles  which  belonged  to  them. 
Bothwell,  notwithstanding  all  his  high  pretensions  of  zeal  for  the  protestaut 
religion,  having  now  entered  into  a  close  confederacy  with  them,  the  danger 
became  every  day  more  urgent.    Argyll,  solicited  by  the  king,  and  roused 

*  SpoUw.  403     Clald.  >v.  359. 

Vol.  III.— 37 


S90  THE   HISTORY  [Book  Vlll. 

by  the  clergy,  took  the  field  at  the  head  of  seven  thousand  men.  Huntly 
and  Errol  met  him  at  Glenlivat,  with  an  army  far  inferior  in  number,  but 
composed  chiefly  of  gentlemen  of  the  low  countries,  mounted  on  horse- 
back, and  who  brought  along  with  them  a  train  of  fieldpieces.  They  en- 
countered each  other  [Oct.  3]  with  all  the  fury  which  hereditary  enmity 
and  ancient  rivalship  add  to  undisciplined  courage.  [1595.]  But  the 
Highlanders,  disconcerted  by  the  first  discharge  of  the  cannon,  to  which 
they  were  little  accustomed,  and  unable  to  resist  the  impression  of  cavalry, 
were  soon  put  to  flight ;  and  Argyll,  a  gallant  young  man  of  eighteen,  was 
carried  by  his  friends  out  of  the  field,  weeping  with  indignation  at  theii 
disgrace,  and  calling  on  them  to  stand,  and  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  their 
name.* 

On  the  first  intelligence  of  this  defeat,  James,  though  obliged  to  pawn 
his  jewels  in  order  to  raise  money,!  assembled  a  small  body  of  troops,  and 
marched  towards  the  north.  He  was  joined  by  the  Irvines,  Keiths,  Leslys, 
Forbeses,  and  other  clans  at  enmity  with  Huntly  and  Errol,  who  having 
lost  several  of  their  principal  followers  at  Glenlivat,  and  others  refusing  to 
bear  arms  against  the  king  in  person,  were  obliged  to  retire  to  the  moun- 
tains. James  wasted  their  lands  ;  put  garrisons  in  some  of  their  castles  ; 
burned  others ;  and  left  the  duke  of  Lennox  as  his  lieutenant  in  that  part 
of  the  kingdom,  with  a  body  of  men  sufficient  to  restrain  them  from  gather- 
ing to  any  head  there,  or  from  infesting  the  low  country.  Reduced  at  last 
to  extreme  distress  by  the  rigour  of  the  season,  and  the  desertion  of  their 
followers,  they  obtained  the  king's  permission  to  go  beyond  seas,  and  gave 
security  that  they  should  neither  return  without  his  license,  nor  engage  in 
any  new  intrigues  against  the  protestant  religion,  or  the  peace  of  the 
kingdom.! 

By  their  exile,  tranquillity  was  re-established  in  the  north  of  Scotland ; 
and  the  firmness  and  vigour  which  James  had  displayed,  in  his  last  pro- 
ceedings against  them,  regained  him,  in  a  great  degree,  the  confidence  oi 
his  protestant  subjects.  But  he  sunk  in  the  same  proportion,  and  for  the 
same  reason,  in  the  esteem  of  the  Roman  catholics.  They  had  asserltd 
his  mother's  right  to  the  crown  of  England  with  so  much  warmth,  that  they 
could  not,  with  any  decency,  reject  his  ;  and  the  indulgence  with  which  he 
affected  to  treat  the  professors  of  the  popish  religion,  inspired  them  with 
such  hopes,  that  they  viewed  his  accession  to  the  throne  as  no  undesirable 
event.  But  the  rigour  with  which  the  king  had  lately  pursued  the  conspi 
rators,  and  the  severe  statutes  against  popery  to  which  he  had  given  his 
consent,  convinced  them  now  that  these  hopes  were  visionary  ;  and  they 
began  to  look  about  in  quest  of  some  new  successor,  whose  rights  they 
might  oppose  to  his.  The  papists  who  resided  in  England  turned  then 
eyes  towards  the  earl  of  Essex,  whose  generous  mind,  though  firmly  esta 
Wished  in  the  protestant  faith,  abhorred  the  severities  inflicted  in  that  age 
on  account  of  religious  opinions.  Those  of  the  same  sect  who  were  in 
exile,  formed  a  bolder  scheme,  and  one  more  suitable  to  their  situation. 
They  advanced  the  claim  of  the  infanta  of  Spain  ;  and  Parsons  the  Jesuit 
published  a  book,  in  which,  by  false  quotations  from  history,  by  fabulous 
genealogies,  and  absurd  arguments,  intermingled  with  bitter  invectives 
against  the  king  of  Scots,  he  endeavoured  to  prove  the  infanta's  title  to  the 
English  crown  to  be  preferable  to  his.  Philip,  though  involved  already  in 
a  war  both  with  France  and  England,  and  scarce  able  to  defend  the 
remains  of  the  Burgundian  provinces  against  the  Dutch  commonwealth, 
eagerly  grasped  at  this  airy  project.  The  dread  of  a  Spanish  prelendei 
to  the  crown,  and  the  opposition  which  the  papists  began  to  form  against 
the  king's  succession,  contributed  not  a  little  to  remove  the  prejudices  of 
the  protestants,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  that  event 

*  Cald.  Iv.  403.  t  Birch.  Mein  i  186.  :  Spotow.  404.    Cald.  373,  fee. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  89! 

Bothwell,  whose  name  has  been  so  often  mentioned  as  the  disturber  of 
the  king's  tranquillity,  and  of  the  peace  of  the  kingdom,  was  now  in  a 
wretched  condition.  Abandoned  by  the  queen  of  England  on  account  ot 
his  confederacy  with  the  popish  lords ;  excommunicated  by  the  church  for 
the  same  reason;  and  deserted,  in  his  distress,  by  his  own  followers;  he 
was  obliged  to  fly  for  safety  to  France,  and  thence  to  Spain  and  Italy, 
where,  after  renouncing  the  protestant  faith,  he  led  many  years  an  obscure 
and  indigent  life,  remarkable  only  for  a  low  and  infamous  debauchery. 
The  king,  though  extremely  ready  to  sacrifice  the  strongest  resentment  to 
the  slightest  acknowledgments,  could  never  be  softened  by  his  submission, 
nor  be  induced  to  listen  to  any  intercession  in  his  behalf.* 

This  year  the  king  lost  chancellor  Maitland,  an  able  minister,  on  whom 
he  had  long  devolved  the  whole  weight  of  public  affairs.  As  James  loved 
him  while  alive,  he  wrote,  in  honour  of  his  memory,  a  copy  of  verses, 
which,  when  compared  with  the  compositions  of  that  age,  are  far  from 
being  inelegant.! 

Soon  after  his  death  a  considerable  change  was  made  in  the  administra- 
tion. At  that  time,  the  annual  charges  of  government  far  exceeded  the 
king's  revenues.  The  queen  was  fond  of  expensive  amusements.  James 
himself  was  a  stranger  to  economy.  It  became  necessary,  for  all  these 
reasons,  to  levy  the  public  revenues  with  greater  order  and  rigour,  and  to 
husband  them  with  more  care.  This  important  trust  was  committed  to 
eight  gentlemen  of  the  law,J  who,  from  their  number,  were  called  Octa- 
vians.  The  powers  vested  in  them  were  ample,  and  almost  unlimited. 
The  king  bound  himself  neither  to  add  to  their  number,  nor  to  supply  any 
vacancy  that  might  happen  without  their  consent :  and,  knowing  the  facility 
of  his  own  temper,  agreed  that  no  alienation  of  his  revenue,  no  grant  of  a 
pension,  or  order  on  the  treasury,  should  be  held  valid,  unless  it  was  ratified 
by  the  subscription  of  five  of  the  commissioners  :  all  their  acts  and  deci- 
sions were  declared  to  be  of  equal  force  with  the  sentence  of  judges  in 
civil  courts  ;  and  in  consequence  of  them,  and  without  any  other  warrant, 
any  person  might  be  arrested,  or  their  goods  seized.  Such  extensive  juris- 
iiction,  together  with  the  absolute  disposal  of  the  public  money,  drew  the 
whole  executive  part  of  government  into  their  hands.  United  among  them- 
selves, they  gradually  undermined  the  rest  of  the  king's  ministers,  and 
seized  on  every  lucrative  or  honourable  office.  The  ancient  servants  of 
the  crown  repined  at  being  obliged  to  quit  their  stations  to  new  men.  [1596.] 
The  favourites  and  young  courtiers  murmured  at  seeing  the  king's  libe- 
rality stinted  by  their  prescriptions.  And  the  clergy  exclaimed  against 
some  of  them  as  known  apostates  to  popery,  and  suspected  others  ol 
secretly  favouring  it.  They  retained  their  power,  however,  notwith- 
standing this  general  combination  against  them  ;  and  they  owed  it  entirely 
to  the  order  and  economy  which  they  introduced  into  the  administration  of 
the  finances,  by  which  the  necessary  expenses  of  government  were  more 
easily  defrayed  than  in  any  other  period  of  the  king's  reign. § 

The  rumour  of  vast  preparations  which  Philip  was  said  to  be  carrying  on 
at  this  time,  filled  both  England  and  Scotland  with  the  dread  of  a  new  inva- 
sion. James  took  proper  measures  for  the  defence  of  his  kingdom.  But 
these  did  not  satisfy  the  zeal  of  the  clergy,  whose  suspicions  of  the  king's 
sincerity  began  to  revive  ;  and  as  he  had  permitted  the  wives  of  the  banish- 
ed peers  to  levy  the  rents  of  their  estates,  and  to  live  in  their  houses,  they 
charged  him  with  rendering  the  act  of  forfeiture  ineffectual,  by  supporting 
the  avowed  enemies  of  the  protestant  faith.  The  assembly  of  the  church 
[March  24]  took  under  consideration  the  state  of  the  kingdom,  and  having 

*  Winw.  Mem.  i.    Spotsw.  410.  t  Spotsw.  411. 

}  Alexander  Seaton,  president  of  the  session,  Walter  Stewart,  comraendator  of  Blantyre,  row 
,Tiivy  seal,  David  Uarnegy,  John  Lindsay,  James  Elphinstone, Thomas  Hamilton,  John  Skene,  cler> 
wtgiater,  and  Peter  Young,  eleemoaynar. 

t  Spotsw.  413  435. 


292  THE  HISTORY  [BookVIH. 

appointed  a  day  of  public  fasting,  they  solemnly  renewed  the  covenant  by 
ivhich  the  nation  was  bound  to  adhere  to  the  protestant  faith,  and  to  defend 
H  against  all  aggressors.  A  committee,  consisting  of  the  most  eminent  cler- 
gymen, and  of  many  barons  and  gentlemen  of  distinction,  waited  on  the 
king,  and  laid  before  him  a  plan  for  the  security  of  the  kingdom,  and  the 
preservation  of  religion.  They  urged  him  to  appropriate  the  estates  of  the 
banished  lords  as  a  fund  for  the  maintenance  of  soldiers  ;  to  take  the  strict- 
est precautions  for  preventing  the  return  of  such  turbulent  subjects  into  the 
country  5  and  to  pursue  all  who  were  suspected  of  being  their  adherent* 
with  the  utmost  rigour. 

Nothing  could  he  more  repugnant  to  the  king's  schemes,  or  more  disa- 
greeable to  his  inclination,  than  these  propositions.  Averse,  through  his 
whole  life,  to  any  course  where  he  expected  opposition  or  danger  ;  and  fond 
of  attaining  his  ends  with  the  character  of  moderation,  and  by  the  arts  of 
policy,  he  observed  with  concern  ihe  prejudices  against  him  which  we,re 
growing  among  *he  Roman  Catholics,  and  resolved  to  make  some  atonement 
lor  that  part  of  his  conduct  which  had  drawn  upon  him  their  indignation. 
Elizabeth  was  now  well  advanced  in  years ;  her  life  had  lately  been  in 
danger ;  if  any  popish  competitor  should  arise  to  dispute  his  right  of  succes- 
sion, a  faction  so  powerful  as  that  of  the  banished  lords  might  be  extremely 
formidable  ;  and  any  division  among  his  own  subjects  might  prove  fatal  at 
a  juncture  which  would  require  their  united  and  most  vigorous  efforts. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  the  additional  severities  which  the  assembly  proposed, 
James  had  thoughts  of  mitigating  the  punishment  which  they  already  suf- 
fered. And  as  they  were  surrounded  during  their  residence  in  foreign 
parls,  by  Philip's  emissaries ;  as  resentment  might  dispose  them  to  listen 
more  favourably  than  ever  to  their  suggestions  ;  as  despair  might  drive  them 
to  still  more  atrocious  actions  ;  he  resolved  to  recall  them,  under  certain 
conditions,  into  their  native  country.  Encouraged  by  these  sentiments  of 
the  king  in  their  favour,  of  which  they  did  not  want  intelligence,  and  wearied 
already  of  the  dependent  and  anxious  life  of  exiles,  they  ventured  to  return 
secretly  into  Scotland.  Soon  after,  they  presented  a  petition  to  the  king, 
begging  his  permission  to  reside  at  their  own  houses,  and  offering  to  give 
security  for  their  peaceable  and  dutiful  behaviour.  James  called  a  con- 
vention of  estates  to  deliberate  on  a  matter  of  such  importance,  and  by  their 
advice  he  granted  the  petition. 

The  members  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  last  general  assembly,  as 
soon  as  they  were  informed  of  this,  met  at  Edinburgh,  and  with  all  the 
precipitancy7  of  fear  and  of  zeal,  took  such  resolutions  as  they  thought 
necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  kingdom.  They  wrote  circular  letters  to 
all  the  presbyteries  in  Scotland;  they  warned  them  of  the  approaching 
danger ;  they  exhorted  them  to  stir  up  their  people  to  the  defence  of  their 
just  rights  ;  they  commanded  them  to  publish  in  all  their  pulpits  the  act 
excommunicating  the  popish  lords  ;  and  enjoined  them  to  lay  all  those 
who  were  suspected  of  favouring  popery  under  the  same  censure  by  a 
nummary  sentence,  and  without  observing  the  usual  formalities  of  trial. 
As  the  danger  seemed  too  pressing  to  wait  for  the  stated  meetings  of  the 
judicatories  of  the  church,  they  made  choice  of  the  most  eminent  cleigy 
men  in  different  corners  of  the  kingdom,  appointed  them  to  reside  con 
stantly  at  Edinburgh,  and  to  meet  every  day  with  the  ministers  of  that  city, 
uiider  the  name  of  the  Standing  Council  of  the  Church,  and  vested  in  this 
body  the  supreme  authority,  by  enjoining  it,  in  imitation  of  the  ancien 
Koman  form,  to  take  care  that  the  church  should  receive  no  detriment. 

These  proceedings,  no  less  unconstitutional  than  unprecedented,  v\ci. 
■nanifest  encroachments  on  the  royal  prerogative,  and  bold  steps  toward.' 
open  rebellion.  The  king's  conduct,  however,  justified  in  some  degree 
such  excesses.  His  lenity  towards  the  papists,  so  repugnant  to  the  princi- 
ples of  that  age;  bis  pardoning  the  conspirators,  notwithstanding  repeated 


OF  SCOTLAND.  293 

promises  to  the  contrary ;  the  respect  he  paid  to  lady  Huntly,  who  was 
attached  to  the  Romish  religion  no  less  than  her  husband  ;  his  committing 
the  care  of  his  daughter,  the  princess  Elizabeth,  to  lady  Livingston,  who 
was  infected  with  the  same  superstition;  the  contempt  with  which  he 
talked  on  all  occasions,  both  of  the  character  of  ministers,  and  of  then 
function,  were  circumstances  which  might  have  rilled  minds,  not  prone  by 
nature  to  jealousy,  with  some  suspicions ;  and  might  have  precipitated 
into  rash  counsels  those  who  were  far  removed  from  intemperate  zeal. 
Hut,  however  powerful  the  motives  might  be  which  influenced  the  clergy, 
or  however  laudable  the  end  they  had  in  view,  they  conducted  their  mea- 
sures with  no  address,  and  even  with  little  prudence.  James  discovered 
a  strong  inclination  to  avoid  a  rupture  with  the  church,  and,  jealous  as  he 
was  of  his  prerogative,  would  willingly  have  made  many  concessions  fur 
the  sake  of  peace.  By  his  command,  some  of  the  privy  counsellors  had 
an  interview  with  the  more  moderate  among  the  clergy,  and  inquired  whe- 
ther Huntly  and  his  associates  might  not,  upon  making  proper  acknowledg- 
ments, be  again  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  church,  and  be  exempted 
from  any  further  punishments  on  account  of  their  past  apostacy  and  trea- 
sons. They  replied,  that  though  the  gate  of  mercy  stood  always  open  for 
those  who  repented  and  returned,  yet  as  these  noblemen  had  been  guilty  of 
idolatry,  a  crime  deserving  death  both  by  the  law  of  God  and  of  man,  the 
civil  magistrate  could  not  legally  grant  them  a  pardon  ;  and  even  though 
the  church  should  absolve  them,  it  was  his  duty  to  inflict  punishment  upon 
them.  This  inflexibility  in  those  who  were  reckoned  the  most  compliant 
of  the  order  filled  the  king  with  indignation,  which  the  imprudence  and 
obstinacy  of  a  private  clergyman  heightened  into  rage. 

Mr.  David  Black,  minister  of  St.  Andrew's,  discoursing  in  one  of  his 
sermons,  according  to  custom,  concerning  the  state  of  the  nation,  affirmed 
that  the  king  had  permitted  the  popish  lords  to  return  into  Scotland,  and 
by  that  action  had  discovered  the  treachery  of  his  own  heart ;  that  all 
Kings  were  the  devil's  children  ;  that  Satan  had  now  the  guidance  of  the 
court;  that  the  queen  of  England  was  an  atheist;  that  the  judges  were 
miscreants  and  bribers  ;  the  nobility  godless  and  degenerate  ;  the  privy 
counsellors  cormorants  and  men  of  no  religion  ;  and  in  his  prayer  for  the 
queen  he  used  these  words,  We  must  pray  for  her  for  fashion  sake,  but  we 
have  no  cause,  she  will  never  do  us  good.  James  commanded  him  to  be 
summoned  before  the  privy  council  [Nov.  10],  to  answer  for  such  seditious 
expressions  ;  and  the  clergy,  instead  of  abandoning  him  to  the  punishment 
which  such  a  petulant  and  criminal  attack  upon  his  superiors  deserved, 
were  so  imprudent  as  to  espouse  his  cause,  as  if  it  had  been  the  common 
one  of  the  whole  order.  The  controversy  concerning  the  immunities  of 
the  pulpit,  and  the  rights  of  the  clergy  to  testify  against  vices  of  every 
kind,  which  had  been  agitated  in  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty- 
four,  was  now  revived.  It  was  pretended  that,  with  regard  to  their  sacred 
function,  ministers  were  subject  to  the  church  alone  ;  that  it  belonged  only 
to  their  ecclesiastical  superiors  to  judge  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  doc- 
trines delivered  in  the  pulpit ;  that  if,  upon  any  pretence  whatever,  the 
king  usurped  this  jurisdiction,  the  church  would,  from  that  moment,  sink 
under  servitude  to  the  civil  magistrate  ;  that,  instead  of  reproving  vice 
with  that  honest  boldness  which  had  often  been  of  advantage  to  individuals, 
and  salutary  to  the  kingdom,  the  clergy  would  learn  to  flatter  the  passions 
of  the  prince,  and  to  connive  at  the  vices  of  others  ;  that  the  king's  eager- 
ness to  punish  the  indiscretion  of  a  protestant  minister,  while  he  was  so 
ready  to  pardon  the  crimes  of  popish  conspirators,  called  on  them  to  stand 
upon  their  guard,  and  that  now  was  the  time  to  contend  for  their  privileges, 
and  to  prevent  any  encroachment  on  those  rights,  of  which  the  church  had 
been  m  possession  ever  since  the  reformation.  Influenced  by  these  consi 
kraiions,  the  council  of  the  church  enjoined  Black  to  decline  the  jurisdic* 


294  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

tion  ot  the  privy  council.  Proud  of  such  an  opportunity  to  display  bis 
zeal,  he  presented  a  paper  to  that  purpose,  and  with  the  utmost  firmness 
refused  to  plead,  or  to  answer  the  questions  which  were  put  to  him.  In 
order  to  add  greater  weight  to  these  proceedings,  the  council  of  the  church 
transmitted  the  declinature  to  all  the  presbyteries  throughout  the  kingdom, 
and  enjoined  every  minister  to  subscribe  it  in  testimony  of  his  approbation. 

James  defended  his  rights  with  no  less  vigour  than  they  were  attackea. 
Sensible  of  the  contempt  under  which  his  authority  must  fall,  if  the  clergy 
should  be  permitted  publicly,  and  with  impunity,  to  calumniate  his  minis- 
ters, and  even  to  censure  himself;  and  knowing,  by  former  examples,  what 
unequal  reparation  for  such  offences,  he  might  expect  from  the  judicatories 
of  the  church,  he  urged  on  the  inquiry  into  Black's  conduct,  and  issued  a 
proclamation,  commanding  the  members  of  the  council  of  the  church  lo 
leave  Edinburgh,  and  to  return  to  their  own  parishes.  Black,  instead  ot 
submitting,  renewed  his  declinature ;  and  the  members  of  the  council,  in 
defiance  of  the  proclamation,  declared  that  as  they  met  by  the  authority 
of  the  church,  obedience  to  it  was  a  duty  still  more  sacred  than  that  which 
they  owed  to  the  king  himself.  The  privy  council,  notwithstanding  Black's 
refusing  to  plead,  proceeded  in  the  trial ;  and,  after  a  solemn  inquiry,  pro- 
nounced him  guilty  of  the  crimes  of  which  he  had  been  accused ;  but 
referred  it  to  the  king  to  appoint  what  punishment  he  should  suffer. 

Meanwhile,  many  endeavours  were  used  to  bring  matters  to  accommo 
dation.  Almost  every  day  produced  some  new  scheme  of  reconcilement ; 
but,  through  the  king's  fickleness,  the  obstinacy  of  the  clergy,  or  the  intrigues 
of  the  courtiers,  they  ail  proved  ineffectual.  Both  parties  appealed  to  the 
people,  and  by  reciprocal  and  exaggerated  accusations  endeavoured  to 
render  each  other  odious.  Insolence,  sedition,  treason,  were  the  crimes 
with  which  James  charged  the  clergy ;  while  they  made  the  pulpits 
resound  with  complaints  of  his  excessive  lenity  towards  papists,  and  of  the 
no  less  excessive  rigour  with  which  he  oppressed  the  established  church. 
Exasperated  by  their  bold  invectives,  he,  at  last,  sentenced  Black  to  retire 
beyond  the  river  Spey,  and  to  reside  there  during  his  pleasure  ;  and  once 
more  commanding  the  members  of  the  standing  council  to  depart  from 
Edinburgh,  he  required  all  the  ministers  in  the  kingdom  to  subscribe  a 
bond,  obliging  themselves  to  submit,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  subjects, 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  courts  in  matters  of  a  civil  nature. 

This  decisive  measure  excited  all  the  violent  passions  which  possess 
disappointed  factions ;  and  deeds  no  less  violent  immediately  followed 
These  must  be  imputed  in  part  to  the  artifices  of  some  courtiers  who 
expected  to  reap  advantage  from  the  calamities  of  their  country,  or  who 
hoped  to  lessen  the  authority  of  the  Octavians,  by  engaging  them  in  hos- 
tilities with  the  church.  On  one  hand,  they  informed  the  king  that  the 
citizens  of  Edinburgh  were  under  arms  every  night,  and  had  planted  a 
strong  guard  round  the  houses  of  their  ministers.  James,  in  order  to  put 
a  stop  to  this  imaginary  insult  on  his  government,  issued  a  proclamation, 
commanding  twenty-four  of  the  principal  citizens  to  leave  the  town  within 
six  hours.  On  the  other  hand,  they  wrote  to  the  ministers,  advising  them 
to  look  to  their  own  safety,  as  Huntly  had  been  secretly  admitted  to  an 
interview  with  the  king,  and  had  been  the  author  of  the  severe  proclama 
tion  against  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh.*  They  doubted  no  more  of  the 
truth  of  this  intelligence,  than  the  king  had  done  of  that  which  he  received, 
and  fell  as  blindly  into  the  snare.  The  letter  came  to  their  hands  just  as 
one  ot  their  number  was  going  to  mount  the  pulpit.     They  resolved  that 

*  Though  matters  were  industriously  aggravated  by  persons  who  wished  both  parties  to  pursue 
violent  measures,  neither  of  these  reports  was  altogether  destitute  of  foundation.  As  their  minis- 
ters were  supposed  to  be  in  danger,  some  of  the  more  zealous  citizens  had  determined  to  defend 
•hem  by  force  of  arms.  Birch.  Mem.  ii.  250.  Muntly  had  been  privately  in  Edinburgh,  where  he 
bad  aii  interview  if  not  with  the  king,  at  least  with  some  of  his  ministers.    Birch.  Ibid.  230 


OF   SCOTLAND.  29£ 

he  should  acquaint  the  people  of  their  danger  [Dec.  17]  ;  and  he  painted 
<t  with  all  the  strong  colours  which  men  naturally  emplcy  in  describing 
any  dreadful  and  instant  calamity.  When  the  sermon  was  over,  he  desired 
the  nobles  and  gentlemen  to  assemble  in  the  Little  Church.  The  whole 
multitude,  terrified  at  what  they  had  heard,  crowded  thither;  they  promised 
and  vowed  to  stand  by  the  clergy;  they  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  king, 
craving  the  redress  of  those  grievances  of  which  the  church  complained, 
and  beseeching  him  to  deliver  them  from  all  future  apprehensions  of  dan- 
ger, by  removing  such  of  his  counsellors  as  were  known  to  be  enemies  of 
the  protestant  religion.  Two  peers,  two  gentlemen,  two  burgesses,  and 
two  ministers,  were  appointed  to  present  it.  The  king  happened  to  be 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  Toibooth,  where  the  court  of  session  was  sitting. 
The  manner  in  which  the  petition  was  delivered,  as  well  as  its  contents, 
offended  him.  He  gave  a  haughty  reply  ;  the  petitioners  insisted  with 
warmth ;  and  a  promiscuous  multitude  pressing  into  the  room,  James 
retired  abruptly  into  another  apartment,  and  commanded  the  gales  to  be 
shut  behind  him.  The  deputies  returned  to  the  multitude,  who  were  still 
assembled,  and  to  whom  a  minister  had  been  reading,  in  their  absence,  the 
story  of  Haman.  When  they  reported  that  the  king  had  refused  to  listen 
to  their  petitions,  the  church  was  rilled  in  a  moment  with  noise,  threaten- 
mgs,  execrations,  and  all  the  outrage  and  confusion  of  a  popular  tumult. 
Some  called  for  their  arms,  some  to  bring  out  the  wicked  Haman  ;  others 
cried  the  'The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon  ;'  and  rushing  out  with 
the  most  furious  impetuosity,  surrounded  the  Toibooth,  threatening  the  king 
himself,  and  demanding  some  of  his  counsellors  whom  they  named,  that 
they  might  tear  them  in  pieces.  The  magistrates  of  the  city,  partly  by 
authority,  partly  by  force,  endeavoured  to  quell  the  tumult ;  the  king 
attempted  to  sooth  the  malecontents,  by  promising  to  receive  their  peti- 
tions, when  presented  in  a  regular  manner  ;  the  ministers,  sensible  of  their 
own  rashness  in  kindling  such  a  flame,  seconded  both  ;  and  the  rage  of  the 
populace  subsiding  as  suddenly  as  it  had  arisen,  they  all  dispersed,  and 
the  king  returned  to  the  palace  ;  happy  in  having  escaped  from  an  insurrec- 
tion, which,  through  the  instantaneous  and  unconcerted  effect  of  popular  fury 
had  exposed  his  life  to  imminent  danger,  and  was  considered  by  him  as  an 
unpardonable  affront  to  his  authority.* 

As  soon  as  he  retired,  the  leaders  of  the  malecontents  assembled,  in  order 
to  prepare  their  petition.  The  punishment  of  the  popish  lords ;  the 
removal  of  those  counsellors  who  were  suspected  of  favouring  their  persons 
or  opinions  ;  the  repeal  of  all  the  late  acts  of  council,  subversive  of  the 
authority  of  the  church;  together  with  an  act  approving  the  proceedings 
of  the  standing  council,  were  the  chief  of  their  demands.  But  the  king's 
indignation  was  still  so  high,  that  the  deputies,  chosen  for  this  purpose, 
durst  not  venture  that  night  to  present  requests  which  could  not  fail  of 
kindling  his  rage  anew.  Before  next  morning,  James,  with  all  his  attend- 
ants, withdrew  to  Linlithgow  :  the  session,  and  other  courts  of  justice,  were 
required  to  leave  a  city  where  it  was  no  longer  consistent  either  with  their 
safety  or  their  dignity  to  remain  ;  and  the  noblemen  and  barons  were 
commanded  to  return  to  their  own  houses,  and  not  to  reassemble  without 
the  king's  permission.  The  vigour  with  which  the  king  acted  struck  a 
damp  upon  the  spirits  of  his  adversaries.  The  citizens,  sensible  how  much 
they  would  suffer  by  his  absence,  and  the  removal  of  the  courts  of  justice, 
repented  already  01  their  conduct.  The  ministers  alone  resolved  to  main- 
tain the  contest.  They  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  nobles  from  dispersing ; 
they  inflamed  the  people  by  violent  invectives  against  the  king  ;  they 
laboured  to  procure  subscriptions  to  an  association  for  their  mutual  defence 
and,  conscious  what  lustre  and  power  the  junction  of  some  of  the  greatei 

*  Sjwlaw.  417,  tc     CaU  w  S4  &c.     Dirch.  Mem.  ii.  235 


«V6  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII 

nobles  would  add  to  their  cause,  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh  wrote  to  lord 
Hamilton,  that  the  people,  moved  by  the  word  of  God,  and  provoked  by 
the  injuries  offered  to  the  church,  had  taken  arms  ;  that  many  of  the  nobles 
had  determined  to  protect  the  protestant  religion,  which  owed  its  establish- 
ment to  the  piety  and  valour  of  their  ancestors  ;  that  they  wanted  only  a 
leader  to  unite  them,  and  to  inspire  them  with  vigour;  that  his  zeal  for  the 
good  cause,  no  less  than  his  noble  birth,  entitled  him  to  that  honour  :  they 
conjured  him,  therefore,  not  to  disappoint  their  hopes  and  wishes,  nor  to 
refuse  the  suffering  church  that  aid  which  she  so  much  needed.  Lord 
Hamilton,  instead  of  complying  with  their  desire,  carried  the  letter  directly 
to  the  king,  whom  this  new  insult  irritated  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  com- 
manded the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  instantly  to  seize  their  ministers,  as 
manifest  incendiaries  and  encouragers  of  rebellion.  The  magistrates,  in 
order  to  regain  the  king's  favour,  were  preparing  to  obey;  and  the  minis- 
ters, who  saw  no  other  hope  of  safety,  fled  towards  England.* 

This  unsuccessful  insurrection,  instead  of  overturning,  established  the 
king's  authority.  Those  concerned  in  it  were  confounded  and  dispersed 
[Jan.  3].  The  rest  of  James's  subjects,  in  order  to  avoid  suspicion,  or  to 
gain  his  favour,  contended  who  should  be  most  forward  to  execute  his 
vengeance.  A  convention  of  estates  being  called,  pronounced  the  late 
insurrection  to  be  high  treason ;  ordained  every  minister  to  subscribe  a 
declaration  of  his  submission  to  the  king's  jurisdiction,  in  all  matters  civil  and 
criminal  ;  impowered  magistrates  to  commit  instantly  to  prison  any 
minister,  who  in  his  sermons  should  utter  any  indecent  reflections  on  the 
king's  conduct ;  prohibited  any  ecclesiastical  judicatory  to  meet  without 
the  king's  license  ;  commanded  that  no  person  should  be  elected  a  magis 
trate  of  Edinburgh,  for  the  future,  without  the  king's  approbation  ;  and 
that,  in  the  mean  time,  the  present  magistrates  should  either  discover  and 
inflict  condign  punishment  on  the  authors  of  the  late  tumult,  or  the  city 
itself  should  be  subjected  to  all  the  penalties  of  that  treasonable  action.! 

Armed  with  the  authority  of  these  decrees,  James  resolved  to  crush 
entirely  the  mutinous  spirit  of  his  subjects.  As  the  clergy  had  hitheito 
derived  their  chief  credit  and  strength  from  the  favour  and  zeal  of  the 
citizens  of  Edinburgh,  his  first  care  was  to  humble  them.  Though  the 
magistrates  submitted  to  him  in  the  most  abject  terms  ;  though  they  vindi- 
cated themselves  and  their  fellow  citizens  from  the  most  distant  intention 
of  violating  his  royal  person  or  authority;  though,  after  the  strictest  scru- 
tiny, no  circumstances  that  could  fix  on  them  the  suspicion  of  premeditated 
rebellion  had  been  discovered  ;  though  many  of  the  nobles,  and  such  of 
the  clergy  as  still  retained  any  degree  of  favour,  interceded  in  their  behalf; 
neither  acknowledgments  nor  intercessions  were  of  the  least  avail. J  The 
king  continued  inexorable  [Feb.  28];  the  city  was  declared  to  have  for- 
feited its  privileges  as  a  corporation,  and  to  be  liable  to  all  the  penalties  of 
treason.  The  capital  of  the  kingdom,  deprived  of  magistrates,  deserted  by 
its  ministers,  abandoned  by  the  courts  of  justice,  and  proscribed  by  the 
king,  remained  in  desolation  and  despair.  The  courtiers  even  threatened 
to  rase  the  city  to  the  foundation,  and  to  erect  a  pillar  where  it  stood,  as  an 
everlasting  monument  of  the  king's  vengeance,  and  of  the  guilt  of  its  inha- 
bitants. At  last,  in  compliance  with  Elizabeth,  who  interposed  in  their 
'.avour,  and  moved  by  the  continual  solicitations  of  the  nobles,  James 
V. =olved  the  citizens  from  the  penalties  of  law,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
<inppe.d  them  of  their  most  important  privileges  [March  21] ;  they  were 
•  -nho-  allowed  to  elect  their  own  magistrates  nor  their  own  ministers; 
.nany  new  burdens  were  imposed  on  them  ;  and  a  considerable  sum  o 
.TKKiey  was  exacted  bv  way  of  peace-offering. § 

Jam*'   ^j,  r.^an  while,  equally  absiduous,  and  no  less  succey.-ful  in  cir 

*  Spotsw.  451.     ('aid.  v.  126.        t  C&ld  V  147.        }  Ibid.  v.  149.        $  Spotaw.  434.  444. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  197 

cumscribing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  church.  Experience  had  discovered, 
that  to  attempt  this  by  acts  of  parliament,  and  sentence?  of  privy  council, 
was  both  ineffectual  and  odious.  He  had  recourse  now  to  an  expedient 
more  artful,  and  better  calculated  for  obtaining  his  end.  The  ec<  iesias- 
tical  judicatories  were  composed  of  many  members;  the  majority  of  the 
clergy  were  extremely  indigent,  and  unprovided  of  legal  stipends  ;  the 
ministers  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  notwithstanding  the  parity 
established  by  the  presbyterian  government,  had  assumed  a  leading  in  the 
church  which  filled  their  brethren  with  envy  ;  every  numerous  body  ol 
men  is  susceptible  of  sudden  and  strong  impressions,  and  liable  to  be  influ- 
enced, corrupted,  or  overawed.  Induced  by  these  considerations,  James 
thought  it  possible  to  gain  the  clergy,  whom  he  had  in  vain  attempted  to 
subdue.  Proper  agents  were  set  to  work  all  over  the  kingdom  ;  promises, 
flattery,  and  threats  were  employed  :  the  usurpations  of  the  brethren  near 
the  capital  were  aggravated  ;  the  jealousy  of  their  power,  which  was 
growing  ir.  the  distant  provinces,  was  augmented :  and  two  different  general 
assemblies  were  1  eld,  in  both  which,  notwithstanding  the  zeal  and  boldness 
wherewith  a  tew  leading  clergymen  defended  the  privileges  of  the  church, 
a  majority  deciarec  in  tavour  of  those  measures  which  were  agreeable  to 
the  king'  Many  practices,  which  had  continued  since  the  reformation, 
wpr*  condemned  ;  many  points  nf  discipline,  which  had  hitherto  been 
reckoned  sac-i-d  <:>id  uncontroverted,  were  given  up  ;  the  license  with 
which  inimsitt'S  diirxmrsed  of  political  matters  was  restrained  ;  the  free- 
dom with  which  they  inveighed  against  particular  persons  was  censured ; 
sentences  of  summary  excotnrnunicauor  were  declared  unlawful ;  the  con- 
voking a  general  assembly,  without  the  King's  permission,  was  prohibited  ; 
and  the  right  of  nominating  ministers  to  the  principal  towns  was  vested  in 
tbe  crown.  Thus,  Hie  clergy  themselves  surrendered  privileges  which  it 
would  have  been  dangerous  to  invade.,  and  voluntarily  submitted  to  a  yoke 
more  intolerable  than  any  James  would  have  ventured  to  impose  by  force  ; 
while  such  as  continued  to  oppose  his  measures,  instead  of  their  former 
popular  topic  of  the  king's  violent  encroachments  or.  a  jurisdiction  which 
did  not  belong  to  him,  were  obliged  to  turn  their  outcries  against  the  cor- 
ruption.'? of  their  own  ordar* 

By  the  authority  of  these  geneial  assemblies,  the  popisb  eans  were 
allowed  to  make  a  public  recantation  cJ' their  errors,  we>e  absolvtti  from 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  ;  and  received  into  the  bosom  of  tbe 
church.  But,  not  many  years  after,  they  relapsed  into  their  former  error*., 
were  again  reconciled  to  the  church  of  Rome,  and  by  their  apo?? icy  justi- 
fied, in  some  degree,  the  fears  and  scruples  of  the  clergy  wi'L  regard  .o 
their  absolution. 

The  ministers  of  Edinburgh  owed  to  the  intercession  oi  these  assemblies 
the  liberty  of  returning  to  their  charges  in  the  city.  But  this  liberty  was 
clogged  in  such  a  manner  as  greatly  abridged  their  power.  The  city  was 
divided  into  distinct  parishes ;  the  number  of  ministers  doubled  ;  persons 
on  whose  fidelity  the  king  could  rely  were  fixed  in  the  new  parishes ;  and 
these  circumstances,  added  to  the  authority  of  the  late  decrees  of  the  church, 
contributed  to  confirm  that  absolute  dominion  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  which 
James  possessed  during  the  remainder  of  his  reign. 

The  king  was  so  intent  on  new  modelling  the  church,  that  the  other  trans- 
actions of  this  period  scarce  deserve  to  be  remembered.  The  Octavians, 
envied  by  the  other  courtiers,  and  splitting  into  factions  among  themselves, 
resigned  their  commission ;  and  the  administration  of  the  revenue  return- 
ing into  its  former  channel,  both  the  king  and  the  nation  were  deprived  of 
!he  benefit  of  their  regular  and  frugal  economy. 

Dec.  19.]  Towards  the  end  of  the  year  a  parliament  was  held  in  ordei 

*  Spotsw.  433.     Cald.  v.  180.  233. 

Vol.  111. — 38 


298  THE  HISTORY  [Book  Mil. 

to  restore  Huntly  and  his  associates  to  their  estates  and  honours,  by  repeal- 
ing the  act  of  forfeiture  passed  against  them.  The  authority  of  this  supreme 
court  was  likewise  employed  to  introduce  a  further  innovation  into  the 
church  ;  but,  conformable  to  the  system  which  the  king  had  now  adopted, 
the  motion  for  this  purpose  took  its  rise  from  the  clergy  themselves.  As 
•he  act  of  general  annexation,  and  that  establishing  the  presbyterian  govern- 
ment, had  reduced  the  few  bishops,  who  still  survived,  to  poverty  and 
contempt ;  as  those  who  possessed  the  abbeys  and  priories  were  mere 
laymen,  and  many  of  them  temporal  peers,  few  or  none  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal order  remained  to  vote  in  parliament ;  and  by  means  of  that,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  crown  was  considerably  diminished  there,  and  a  proper  balance 
to  the  power  and  number  of  the  nobles  was  wanting.  But  the  prejudices 
which  the  nation  had  conceived  against  the  name  and  character  of  bishops 
were  so  violent,  that  James  was  obliged,  with  the  utmost  care,  to  avoid 
the  appearance  of  a  design  to  revive  that  order.  [1598.]  He  prevailed, 
therefore,  on  the  commission  appointed  by  the  last  general  assembly  to 
complain  to  the  parliament,  that  the  church  was  the  only  body  in  the  king- 
dom destitute  of  its  representatives  in  that  supreme  court,  where  it  so 
nearly  concerned  every  order  to  have  some,  who  were  bound  to  defend  its 
rights ;  and  to  crave  that  a  competent  number  of  the  clergy  should  be 
admitted,  according  to  ancient  custom,  to  a  seat  there.  In  compliance 
with  this  request  an  act  was  passed,  by  which  those  ministers,  on  whom  the 
king  should  confer  the  vacant  bishoprics  and  abbeys,  were  entitled  to  a 
vote  in  parliament ;  and,  that  the  clergy  might  conceive  no  jealousy  of  any 
encroachment  upon  their  privileges,  it  was  remitted  to  the  general  assem- 
bly, to  determine  what  spiritual  jurisdiction  or  authority  in  the  government 
of  the  church  these  persons  should  possess.* 

The  king,  however,  found  it  no  easy  matter  to  obtain  the  concurrence 
of  the  ecclesiastical  judicatories,  in  which  the  act  of  parliament  met  with 
a  fierce  opposition.  Though  the  clergy  perceived  how  much  lustre  this 
new  privilege  would  reflect  upon  their  order  ;  though  they  were  not  insen- 
sible of  the  great  accession  of  personal  power  and  dignity,  which  many 
of  them  would  acquire,  by  being  admitted  into  the  supreme  council  of  the 
nation,  their  abhorrence  of  episcopacy  was  extreme  ;  and  to  that  they 
sacrificed  eveiy  consideration  of  interest  or  ambition.  All  the  king's  pro- 
fessions of  regard  for  the  present  constitution  of  the  church  did  not  convince 
them  of  his  sincerity  :  all  the  devices  that  could  be  invented  for  restraining 
and  circumscribing  the  jurisdiction  of  such  as  were  to  be  raised  to  this  new 
honour,  did  not  diminish  their  jealousy  and  fear.  Their  own  experience 
had  taught  them  with  what  insinuating  progress  the  hierarchy  advances, 
and  though  admitted  at  first  with  moderate  authority,  and  under  specious 
pretences,  how  rapidly  it  extends  its  dominion.  "  Varnish  over  this  scheme," 
said  one  of  the  leading  clergymen,  "  with  what  colours  you  please  ;  deck 
the  intruder  with  the  utmost  art  ;  under  all  this  disguise  I  see  the  horns  of 
his  mitre."  The  same  sentiments  prevailed  among  many  of  his  brethren, 
and  induced  them  to  reject  power  and.  honours,  with  as  much  zeal  as  ever 
those  of  their  order  courted  them.  Many,  however,  were  allured  by  the 
hopes  of  preferment  ;  the  king  himself  and  his  ministers  employee!  the 
same  arts  which  they  had  tried  so  successfully  last  year;  and  after  long 
debates,  and  much  opposition,  the  general  assembly  declared  that  it  was 
lawful  for  ministers  to  accept  of  a  seat  ;n  parliament  [March  7]  ;  that  it 
would  be  highly  beneficial  to  the  church  to  have  its  representatives  in  that 
supreme  court ;  and  that  fifty-one  persons,  a  number  nearly  equal  to  that 
of  the  ecclesiastics  who  were  anciently  called  to  parliament,  should  be 
chosen  from  among  the  clergy  for  that   purpose.     The  manner  of  theii 

•  Spottw  450.    Pari.  15th  J3C.  VI.  c   835- 


OF  SCOTLAND  2W 

election,  together  with  the  powers  to  be  vested  in  them,  were  left  unde 
cided  for  the  present,  and  furnished  matter  of  future  deliberation  * 

1599.1  As  the  prospect  of  succeeding  to  the  crown  of  England  drew 
nearer,  James  multiplied  precautions  in  order  to  render  it  certain.  As  he 
was  allied  to  many  of  the  princes  of  Germany  by  his  marriage,  he  sea 
ambassadors  extraordinary  to  their  several  courts,  in  order  to  explain  the 
justness  of  his  title  to  the  English  throne,  and  to  desire  their  assistance,  if 
any  competitor  should  arise  to  dispute  his  undoubted  rights.  These  princes 
readily  acknowledged  the  equity  of  his  claim  ;  but  the  aid  which  they 
could  afford  him  was  distant  and  feeble.  At  the  same  time,  Edward 
Bruce,  abbot  of  Kinloss,  his  ambassador  at  the  English  court,  solicited 
Elizabeth,  with  the  utmost  warmth,  to  recognise  his  title  by  some  public 
deed,  and  to  deliver  her  own  subjects  from  the  calamities  which  art 
occasioned  by  an  uncertain  or  disputed  succession.  But  age  had  strength- 
ened all  the  passions  which  had  hitherto  induced  Elizabeth  to  keep  this 
great  question  obscure  and  undecided  ;  and  a  general  and  evasive  answer 
was  all  that  James  could  obtain.  As  no  impression  could  be  made  on  the 
queen,  the  ambassador  was  commanded  to  sound  the  disposition  of  her 
subjects ;  and  to  try  what  progress  he  could  make  in  gaining  them. 
Bruce  possessed  all  the  talents  of  secrecy,  judgment,  and  address,  requisite 
for  conducting  a  negotiation  no  less  delicate  than  important.  A  minister 
of  this  character  was  entitled  to  the  confidence  of  the  English.  Many 
of  the  highest  rank  unbosomed  themselves  to  him  without  reserve,  and 
gave  him  repeated  assurances  of  their  resolution  to  assert  his  master's  right 
in  opposition  to  every  pretender.!  As  several  pamphlets  were  dispersed 
at  this  time  in  England,  containing  objections  to  his  title,  James  employed 
some  learned  men  in  his  kingdom  to  answer  these  .cavillers,  and  to  explain 
the  advantages  which  would  result  to  both  kingdoms  by  the  union  of  the 
crowns.  These  books  were  eagerly  read,  and  contributed  not  a  little  to 
reconcile  the  English  to  that  event.  A  book  published  this  year  by  the 
king  himself  produced  an  effect  still  more  favourable.  It  was  entitled 
Basilicon  Doron,  and  contained  precepts  concerning  the  art  of  government, 
addressed  to  prince  Henry  his  son.  Notwithstanding  the  great  alterations 
and  refinements  in  national  taste  since  that  time,  we  must  allow  this  to  be 
no  contemptible  performance,  and  not  to  be  inferior  to  the  works  of  most 
contemporary  writers,  either  in  purity  of  style  or  justness  of  composition. 
Even  the  vain  parade  of  erudition  with  which  it  abounds,  and  which  now 
disgusts  us,  raised  the  admiration  of  that  age  ;  and  as  it  was  filled  with 
those  general  rules  which  speculative  authors  deliver  for  rendering  a  nation 
happy,  and  of  which  James  could  discourse  with  great  plausibility,  though 
often  incapable  of  putting  them  in  practice,  the  English  conceived  a  high 
opinion  ot  his  abilities,  and  expected  an  increase  of  national  honour  and 
prosperity  under  a  prince  so  profoundly  skilled  in  politics,  and  who  gave 
such  a  specimen  both  of  his  wisdom  and  of  his  love  to  his  people. J 

The  queen  of  England's  sentiments  concerning  James  were  very  differ- 
ent from  those  of  her  subjects.  His  excessive  indulgence  towards  the 
popish  lords  ;  the  facility  with  which  he  pardoned  their  repeated  treasons ; 
his  restoring  Beatoun,  the  popish  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  who  had  fled 
out  of  Scotland  at  the  time  of  the  reformation,  to  the  possession  of  the  tem- 
poralities of  that  benefice  ;  the  appointing  him  his  ambassador  at  the  court 
of  France;  the  applause  he  bestowed,  in  the  Basilicon  Doron, on  those  who 
adhered  to  the  queen  his  mother  ;  Elizabeth  considered  as  so  many  indica- 
tions of  a  mind  alienated  from  the  protectant  religion ;  and  suspected  that  he 
would  soon  revolt  from  the  profession  of  it.  These  suspicions  seemed  to 
be  fully  confirmed  by  a  discovery  which  came  from  the  master  of  Gray, 
who  resided  at  that  time  in  Italy,  and  who,  rather  than  suffer  his  intriguing 

*  Spots.  45«     Cald.  v.  978.  t  Johnst.  5242.  t  Camd.    Spouw.  457 


300  THE   HISTORY  [Hook  VI 

Sirit  to  be  idle,  demeaned  himself  so  far  as  to  act  as  a  spy  for  the 
iglish  court.  He  conveyed  to  Elizabeth  the  copy  of  a  letter,  written  by 
James  to  pope  Clement  VIII.,  in  which  the  king,  after  many  expressions 
01  regard  for  that  pontiff,  and  of  gratitude  lor  his  favours,  declared  his 
firm  resolution  to  treat  the  Roman  catholics  with  indulgence  :  and,  in  order 
to  render  the  intercourse  between  the  court  of  Rome  and  Scotland  more 
frequent  and  familiar,  he  solicited  the  pope  to  promote  Drummond,  bishop 
of  Vaison,  a  Scotsman,  to  the  dignity  of  a  cardinal.*  Elizabeth,  who  had 
received  by  another  channel!  some  imperfect  intelligence  of  this  corres- 
pondence, was  filled  with  just  surprise,  and  immediately  despatched  Bowes 
into  Scotland,  to  inquire  more  fully  into  the  truth  of  the  matter,  and  to 
reproach  James  for  an  action  so  unbecoming  a  protestant  prince.  He  was 
astonished  at  the  accusation,  and  with  a  confidence  which  nothing  but  the 
consciousness  of  innocence  could  inspire,  affirmed  the  whole  to  be  a  mere 
calumny,  and  the  letter  itself  to  be  forged  by  his  enemies,  on  purpose  to 
bring  his  sincerity  in  religion  to  be  suspected.  Elphingston,  the  secretary 
of  state,  denied  the  matter  with  equal  solemnity.  It  came,  however,  to 
be  known  by  a  very  singular  accident,  which  happened  some  years  after, 
that  the  information  which  Elizabeth  had  received  was  well  founded, 
though  at  the  same  time  the  king's  declarations  of  his  own  innocence  were 
perfectly  consistent  with  truth.  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  in  a  reply  which  he 
published  to  a  controversial  treatise,  of  which  the  king  was  the  author, 
accused  him  of  having  abandoned  the  favourable  sentiments  which  he  had 
once  entertained  of  the  Roman  catholic  religion,  and  as  a  proof  of  this,  quoted 
his  letter  to  Clement  VIII.  It  was  impossible  any  longer  to  believe  thw 
to  be  a  fiction  ;  and  it  was  a  matter  too  delicate  to  be  passed  over  without 
strict  inquiry.  James  immediately  examined  Elphingston,  and  his  con 
fession  unravelled  the  whole  mystery.  He  acknowledged  that  he  had 
shuffled  in  this  letter  among  other  papers,  which  he  laid  before  the  king 
to  be  signed,  who,  suspecting  no  such  deceit,  subscribed  it  together  with 
the  rest,  and  without  knowing  what  it  contained  ;  that  he  had  no  other 
motive,  however,  to  this  action,  but  zeal  for  his  majesty's  service  ;  and 
by  flattering  the  Roman  catholics  with  hopes  of  indulgence  under  the 
king's  government,  he  imagined  that  he  was  paving  the  way  for  his  more 
easy  accession  to  the  English  throne.  The  privy  council  of  England 
entertained  very  different  sentiments  of  the  secretary's  conduct.  In  their 
opinion  not  only  the  king's  reputation  had  been  exposed  to  reproach,  but 
his  life  to  danger,  by  this  rash  imposture  ;  they  even  imputed  the  gun- 
powder treason  to  the  rage  and  disappointment  of  the  papists,  upon  finding 
that  the  hopes  which  this  letter  inspired  were  frustrated.  The  secretary 
was  sent  a  prisoner  into  Scotland  to  be  tried  for  high  treason.  His  peers 
found  him  guilty,  but  by  the  queen's  intercession,  he  obtained  a  pardon..{ 

According  to  the  account  of  other  historians,  James  himself  was  no 
stranger  to  this  correspondence  v;':th  the  pope;  and,  if  we  believe  them, 
Elphingston  being  intimidated  by  the  threats  of  the  English  council,  and 
deceived  by  the  artifices  of  the  earl  of  Dunbar,  concealed  some  circum- 
stances in  his  narrative  of  this  transaction,  and  falsified  others ;  and,  at  the 
expense  of  his  own  fame,  and  with  the  danger  of  his  life,  endeavoured  to 
draw  a  veil  over  this  part  of  his  master's  conduct.^ 

But  whether  we  impute  the  writing  of  this  letter  to  the  secretary's 
officious  zeal,  or  to  the  king's  command,  it  is  certain  that  about  this  time 
Tames  was  at  the  utmost  pains  to  gain  the  friendship  of  the  Roman  catholic 
rinces,  as  a  necessary  precaution  towards  facilitating  his  accession  to  the 
English  throne.  Lord  Home,  who  was  himself  a  papist,  was  intrusted 
with  a  secret  commission  to  the  pope  ;||  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow  was  ar 


E 


*  Cald.  333.  t  Winw.  Mem.  vol.  i.  37.  52.  ♦  State  Trial?,  vol.  i.  429.    SpcUw   tSo. 

507     Jobntv  *4g.  <)  Cald.  vol.  v.  32vJ  vi.  147.  ||  Wiuw.  Mem.  (o:.  it.  i7. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  301 

active  instrument  with  those  of  his  own  religion.*  The  pope  expressed 
such  favourable  sentiments  both  of  the  king  and  of  his  rights  to  the  crown 
of  England,  that  James  thought  himself  bound,  some  years  after,  to 
acknowledge  the  obligation  in  a  public  manner.!  Sir  James  Lindsay  made 
great  progress  ingainingthe  English  papists  to  acknowledge  His  Majesty's 
title.  Of  all  these  intrigues  Elizabeth  received  obscure  hints  from  different 
quarters.  The  more  imperfectly  she  knew,  the  more  violently  she  sus 
pected  the  king's  designs;  and  the  natural  jealousy  of  her  temper 
increasing  with  age,  she  observed  his  conduct  with  greater  solicitude 
than  ever. 

1600.]  The  questions  with  regard  to  the  election  and  power  of  the 
representatives  of  the  church,  were  finally  decided  this  year  by  the  General 
Assembly,  which  met  at  Montrose  [March  28].  That  place  was  chosen 
as  most  convenient  for  the  ministers  of  the  north,  among  whom  the  king's 
influence  chiefly  lay.  Although  great  numbers  resorted  from  the  northern 
provinces,  and  the  king  employed  his  whole  interest,  and  the  authority  of 
his  own  presence,  to  gain  a  majority,  the  following  regulations  were  with 
difficulty  agreed  on.  That  the  general  assembly  shall  recommend  six 
persons  to  every  vacant  benefice  which  gave  a  title  to  a  seat  in  parliament, 
out  of  whom  the  king  shall  nominate  one ;  that  the  person  so  elected,  after 
obtaining  his  seat  in  parliament,  shall  neither  propose  nor  consent  to  any 
thing  there  that  may  affect  the  interest  of  the  church,  without  special 
instructions  to  that  purpose ;  that  he  shall  be  answerable  for  his  conduct 
to  every  general  assembly;  and  submit  to  its  censure,  without  appeal, 
upon  pain  of  infamy  and  excommunication ;  that  he  shall  discharge  the 
duties  of  a  pastor  in  a  particular  congregation;  that  he  shall  not  usurp  any 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  superior  to  that  of  his  other  brethren  ;  that  if  the 
church  inflict  on  him  the  censure  of  deprivation,  he  shall  thereby  forfeit 
his  seat  in  parliament:  that  he  shall  annually  resign  his  commission  to  the 
General  Assembly,  which  may  be  restored  to  him,  or  not,  as  the  assembly, 
with  the  king's  approbation,  shall  judge  most  expedient  for  the  good  of 
the  church.J  Nothing  could  be  more  repugnant  to  the  idea  of  episcopal 
government,  than  these  regulations.  It  was  not  in  consequence  of  rights 
derived  from  their  office,  but  of  powers  conferred  by  a  commission,  that- 
the  ecclesiastical  persons  were  to  be  admitted  to  a  seat  in  parliament;  they 
were  the  representatives,  not  the  superiors  of  the  clergy.  Destitute  of 
all  spiritual  authority,  even  their  civil  jurisdiction  was  temporary.  James, 
however,  flattered  himself  that  they  would  soon  be  able  to  shake  off  these 
fetters,  and  gradually  acquire  all  the  privileges  which  belonged  to  the 
episcopal  order.  The  clergy  dreaded  the  same  thing;  and  of  course  he 
contended  for  the  nomination  of  these  commissioners,  and  they  opposed 
it,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  powers  then  vested  in  them,  as  of  those 
to  whi«;h  it  was  believed  they  would  soon  attain. § 

During  this  summer  the  kingdom  enjoyed  an  unusual  tranquillity.  The 
clergy  after  many  struggles  were  brought  under  great  subjection ;  the 
popish  earls  were  restored  to  their  estates  and  honours  by  the  authority  of 
parliament,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  church;  the  rest  of  the  nobles 
were  at  peace  among  themselves,  and  obedient  to  the  royal  authority; 
when,  in  the  midst  of  this  security,  the  king's  life  was  exposed  to  tne 
utmost  danger  by  a  conspiracy  altogether  unexpected  and  almost  inex- 
plicable. The  authors  of  it  were  John  Ruthven,  earl  of  Gowrie,  and  his 
brother  Alexander,  the  sons  of  that  earl  who  was  beheaded  in  the  year 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-four.  Nature  had  adorned  both 
these  young  men,  especially  the  elder  brother,  with  many  accomplish- 
ments, to  which  education  had  added  its  most  elegant  improvements. 

*  Cald.  voj.  tI.  147.  t  Ibid.  voL  v.  004.  J  Spottw.  453  457.    Cald.  vol.  t  368 

4  Snois  454. 


302  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

More  learned  than  is  usual  among  persons  of  their  rank ;  more  religious 
than  is  common  at  their  age  of  life;  generous,  brave,  popular;  their  coun 
trymen,  far  from  thinking  them  capable  of  any  atrocious  crime,  conceived 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  their  early  virtues.  Notwithstanding  all  these 
noble  qualities,  some  unknown  motive  engaged  them  in  a  conspiracy, 
which,  if  we  adhere  to  the  account  commonly  received,  must  be  transmitted 
to  posterity  as  one  of  the  most  wicked,  as  well  as  one  of  the  worst  con- 
certed of  which  history  makes  any  mention. 

On  the  fifth  of  August,  as  the  king,  who  resided  during  the  hunting 
season  in  his  palace  of  Falkland,  was  going  out  to  his  sport  early  in  the 
morning,  he  was  accosted  by  Mr.  Alexander  Ruthven,  who,  with  an  air  of 
great  importance,  told  the  king  that  the  evening  before  he  had  met  an 
unknown  man  of  a  suspicious  aspect  walking  alone  in  a  by-path  near  his 
brother's  house  at  Perth;  and, on  searching  him,  had  found  under  his  cloak 
a  pot  tilled  with  a  great  quantity  of  foreign  gold ;  that  he  had  immediately 
seized  both  him  and  his  treasure,  and,  without  communicating  the  matter 
to  any  person,  had  kept  him  confined  and  bound  in  a  solitary  house:  and 
that  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  impart  such  a  singular  event  first  of  all  to 
his  Majesty.  James  immediately  suspected  this  unknown  person  to  •_,«  a 
seminary  priest  supplied  with  foreign  coin  in  order  to  excite  new  commo- 
tions in  the  kingdom;  and  resolved  to  empower  the  magistrates  of  Perth 
to  call  the  person  before  them,  and  inquire  into  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  story.  Ruthven  violently  opposed  this  resolution,  and  with  many 
arguments  urged  the  king  to  ride  directly  to  Perth  and  examine  the  matter 
in  person.  Meanwhile  the  chase  began;  and  James,  notwithstanding  his 
passion  lor  that  amusement,  could  not  help  ruminating  upon  the  strangeness 
of  the  tale,  and  on  Ruthven's  importunity.  At  last  he  called  him,  and 
promised  when  the  sport  was  over  to  set  out  for  Perth.  The  chase, 
however,  cuntinued  long;  and  Ruthven,  who  all  the  while  kept  close  by 
the  king,  was  still  urging  him  to  make  hast^  At  the  death  of  the  buck 
he  would  not  allow  James  to  stay  til!  a  fresh  horse  Mas  brought  him;  and 
observing  the  duke  of  Lennox  and  the  eaij  of  Mar  preparing  to  accompany 
the  king,  he  entreated  him  tu  countermand  them.  This  James  refused; 
and  though  Ruthven's  impatience  and  anxiety,  as  well  as  the  apparent 
perturbation  in  his  whole  behaviour,  raised  some  suspicions  in  his  mind; 
yet  his  own  curiosity  and  Ruthven's  solicitations  prevailed  on  him  to  set 
out  foi  Perth.  When  within  a  mile  of  the  town,  Ruthven  rode  forward  to 
inform  his  brothei  of  the  king's  arrival,  though  he  had  already  despatched 
two  messengers  for  that  purpose.  At  a  little  distance  from  the  town,  the 
earl,  attended  by  several  of  the  citizens,  met  the  king,  who  had  only 
twenty  persons  in  his  train.  No  preparations  were  made  for  the  kings 
entertainment:  the  earl  appeared  pensive  and  embarrassed,  and  was  at  no 
pains  to  atone,  by  his  courtesy  or  hospitality,  for  the  bad  fare  with  which 
he  treated  his  guests.  When  the  king's  repast  was  over,  his  attendants 
were  led  to  dine  in  another  room,  and  he  being  left  almost  alone,  Ruthven 
whispered  him  that  now  was  the  time  to  go  to  the  chamber  where  the 
unknown  person  was  kept.  James  commanded  him  to  bring  sir  Thomas 
Erskine  along  with  them;  but,  instead  of  that,  Ruthven  ordered  him  not  to 
follow :  and  conducting  the  king  up  a  staircase,  and  then  through  several 
apartments,  the  doors  of  which  he  locked  behind  him,  led  him  at  last  into 
a  small  study  in  which  there  stood  a  man  clad  in  armour,  with  a  sword 
and  dagger  by  his  side.  The  king,  who  expected  to  have  found  one  dis- 
armed and  bound,  started  at  the  sight,  and  inquired  if  this  was  the  person, 
but  Ruthven,  snatching  the  dagger  from  the  girdle  of  the  man  in  armour, 
and  holding  it  to  the  king's  breast,  "Remember,"  said  he,  "how  unjustly 
my  father  suffered  by  your  command  ;  you  are  now  my  prisoner;  submit 
to  my  disposal  without  resistance  or  outcry ;  or  this  dagger  shall  instantly 
ivenge  his  blood  "    James  expostulated  with  Ruthven,  entreated,  and 


OF   SCOTLAND.  303 

flattered  him.  The  man  whom  he  found  in  the  study  stood  all  the  while 
trembling  and  dismayed,  without  courage  either  to  aid  the  king  or  to 
second  his  aggressor.  Ruthven  protested  that  if  the  king  raised  no  outcry 
his  life  should  be  safe ;  and  moved  by  some  unknown  reason,  retired  in 
order  to  call  his  hrother,  leaving  to  the  man  in  armour  the  care  of  the  king, 
whom  he  bound  by  oath  not  to  make  any  noise  during  his  absence. 

While  the  king  was  in  this  dangerous  situation,  his  attendants  growing 
Impatient  to  know  whither  he  had  retired,  one  of  Gowrie's  domestics  en- 
tered the  room  hastily  and  told  them  that  the  king  had  just  rode  away 
towards  Falkland.  All  of  them  rushed  out  into  the  street  ;  and  the  earl, 
in  the  utmost  hurry,  called  for  their  horses.  But  by  this  time  his  brother 
had  returned  to  the  king,  and  swearing  that  now  there  was  no  remedy,  he 
must  die,  offered  to  bind  his  hands.  Unarmed  as  James  was,  he  scorned 
to  submit  to  that  indignity  ;  and  closing  with  the  assassin,  a  fierce  struggle 
ensued.  The  man  in  armour  stood,  as  formerly,  amazed  and  motionless  ; 
and  the  king,  dragging  Ruthven  towards  a  window  which  during  his  ab- 
sence, he  had  persuaded  the  person  with  whom  he  was  left  to  open,  cried 
with  a  wild  and  affrighted  voice,  "  Treason  !  Treason !  Help !  I  am 
murdered !"  His  attendants  heard  and  knew  the  voice,  and  saw  at  the 
window  a  hand  which  grasped  the  king's  neck  with  violence.  They  flew 
with  precipitation  to  his  assistance.  Lennox  and  Mar,  with  the  greater 
number,  ran  up  the  principal  staircase,  where  they  found  all  the  doors 
shut,  which  they  battered  with  the  utmost  fury,  endeavouring  to  burst 
them  open.  But  sir  John  Ramsey,  entering  by  a  back-stair  which  led 
to  the  apartment  where  the  king  was,  found  the  door  open,  and  rushing 
upon  Ruthven,  who  was  still  struggling  with  the  king,  struck  him  twice 
with  his  dagger,  and  thrust  him  towards  the  staircase,  where  sir  Thomas 
Erskine  and  sir  Hugh  Herries  met  and  killed  him  ;  he  crying  with  his  last 
breath,  "  Alas  !  I  am  not  to  blame  for  this  action."  During  this  scuffle  the 
man  who  had  been  concealed  in  the  study  escaped  unobserved.  Together 
with  Ramsey,  Erskine,  and  Herries,  one  Wilson,  a  footman,  entered  the 
room  where  the  king  was,  and  before  they  had  time  to  shut  the  door, 
Gowrie  rushed  in  with  a  drawn  sword  in  each  hand,  followed  by  seven 
of  his  attendants  well-armed,  and  with  a  loud  voice  threatened  them  all 
with  instant  death.  They  immediately  thrust  the  king  into  the  little  study, 
and,  shutting  the  door  upon  him,  encountered  the  earl.  Notwithstanding 
the  inequality  of  numbers,  Sir  John  Ramsey  pierced  Gowrie  through  the 
heart,  and  he  fell  down  dead  without  uttering  a  word  ;  his  followers, 
having  received  several  wounds,  immediately  fled.  Three  of  the  king's 
defenders  were  likewise  hurt  in  the  conflict.  A  dreadful  noise  continued 
still  at  the  opposite  door,  where  many  persons  laboured  in  vain  to  force  a 
passage  ;  and  the  king  being  assured  that  they  were  Lennox,  Mar,  and  his 
other  friends,  it  was  opened  on  the  inside.  They  ran  to  the  king,  whom 
they  unexpectedly  found  safe,  with  transports  of  congratulation  ;  and  he, 
falling  on  his  knees,  with  all  his  attendants  around  him,  offered  solemn 
thanks  to  God  for  such  a  wonderful  deliverance.  The  danger  however 
was  not  yet  over.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town,  whose  provost  Gowrie 
was,  and  by  whom  he  was  extremely  beloved,  hearing  the  fate  of  the  two 
brothers,  ran  to  their  arms,  and  surrounded  the  house,  threatening  revenge, 
with  many  insolent  and  opprobrious  speeches  against  the  king.  James 
endeavoured  to  pacify  the  enraged  multitude  by  speaking  to  them  from  the 
window  ;  he  admitted  their  magistrates  into  the  house  ;  related  to  them 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  fact  ;  and  their  fury  subsiding,  by  degrees 
they  dispersed.  On  searching  the  earl's  pockets  for  papers  that  might 
discover  his  designs  and  accomplices,  nothing  was  found  but  a  small  parch- 
ment bag,  full  of  magical  characters  and  words  of  enchantment  ;  and  if 
we  may  believe  the  account  of  the  conspiracy  published  by  the  king 
*  while  these  were  about  him  the  wound  of  which  he  died  bled  not ;  but 


304  THE  HISTORY  | Book  VJJJ. 

as  soon  as  they  were  taken  away  the  blood  gushed  out  in  great  abundance.'* 
After  all  the  daiigerous  adventures  of  this  busy  day  the  king  returned  in 
the  evening  to  Falkland,  having  committed  the  dead  bodies  of  the  two 
brothers  to  the  custody  of  the  magistrates  of  Perth 

Notwithstanding  the  minute  detail  which  the  king  gave  of  all  the  cir 
cumstances  of  this  conspiracy  against  his  life,  the  motives  which  induced 
the  two  brothers  to  attempt  an  action  so  detestable,  the  end  they  had  in 
view,  and  the  accomplices  on  whose  aid  they  depended,  were  altogether 
unknown.  The  words  of  Ruthven  to  the  king  gave  some  ground*  to  think 
that  the  desire  of  revenging  their  father's  death  had  instigated  them  to  this 
attempt.  But  whatever  injuries  their  father  had  suffered,  it  is  scarcely  pro- 
bable that  they  could  impute  them  to  the  king,  whose  youth,  as  well  as  his 
subjection  at  that  time  to  the  violence  of  a  faction,  exempted  him  from 
being  the  object  of  resentment,  on  account  of  actions  which  were  not  done 
by  his  command.  James  had  even  endeavoured  to  repair  the  wrongs 
which  the  father  had  suffered  by  benefits  to  his  children  ;  and  Gowrie 
himself,  sensible  of  his  favour,  had  acknowledged  it  with  the  wannest  ex- 
pressions of  gratitude.  Three  of  the  earl's  attendants,  being  convicted  ol 
assisting  him  in  this  assault  on  the  king's  servants,  were  executed  at  Perth  ; 
but  they  could  give  no  light  into  the  motives  which  had  prompted  their 
master  to  an  action  so  repugnant  to  these  acknowledgments.  Diligent 
search  was  made  for  the  person  concealed  in  the  study,  and  from  him 
great  discoveries  were  expected.  But  Andrew  Henderson,  the  earl's 
steward,  who  upon  a  promise  of  pardon  confessed  himself  to  be  the  man, 
was  as  much  a  stranger  to  his  master's  design  as  the  rest ;  and  though 
placed  in  the  study  by  Gowrie's  command,  he  did  not  even  know  tor 
what  end  that  station  had  been  assigned  him.  The  whole  transaction 
remained  as  impenetrably  dark  as  ever ;  and  the  two  brothers,  it  was  con- 
cluded, had  concerted  their  scheme  without  either  confidant  or  accomplice, 
with  unexampled  secrecy  as  well  as  wickedness. 

An  accident  no  less  strange  than  the  other  circumstances  of  the  story, 
and  which  happened  nine  years  after,  discovered  that  this  opinion,  how- 
ever plausible,  was  ill-founded  ;  and  that  the  two  brothers  had  not  carried 
on  their  machinations  all  alone.  One  Sprot,  a  notary,  having  whispered 
among  several  persons  that  he  knew  some  secrets  relating  to  Gowrie's 
conspiracy,  the  privy  council  thought  the  matter  worthy  of  their  attention, 
and  ordered  him  to  be  seized.  His  confession  was  partly  voluntary  and 
partly  forced  from  him  by  torture.  According  to  his  account,  Logan  of 
Kestalrig,  a  gentleman  of  an  opulent  fortune,  but  of  dissolute  morals,  was 
privy  to  all  Gowrie's  intentions,  and  an  accomplice  in  his  crimes.  Mr. 
Ruthven.  he  said,  had  frequent  interviews  with  Logan  in  order  to  concert 
the  plan  of  their  operations ;  the  earl  had  corresponded  with  him  to  the 
same  purpose ;  and  one  Bour,  Logan's  confidant,  was  trusted  with  the 
secret,  and  carried  the  letters  between  them.  Both  Logan  and  Bour  were 
now  dead.  But  Sprot  affirmed  that  he  had  read  letters  written  both  by 
Gowrie  and  Logan  on  that  occasion  ;  and  in  confirmation  of  his  testimony 
several  of  Logan's  letters,  which  a  curiosity  fatal  to  himself  had  prompted 
Sprot  to  steal  from  among  Bour's  papers,  were  produced.*  These  were 
compared  by  the  privy  council  with  papers  of  Logan's  handwriting,  and 

*  Logan's  letters  were  five  in  number:  one  to  Bour,  another  to  Gowrie,  and  three  of  them  without 
any  direction;  nor  could  Sprot  discover  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom  they  were  written.  Logan 
gives  him  the  appellation  of  Right  Honour  a  hie.  It  appears  from  this,  however,  and  from  other 
words  in  the  letter,  Crom.  95,  that  there  were  several  persons  privy  to  the  conspiracy.  The  date  of 
the  first  letter  is  July  18th.  Mr.  Ruthven  had  communicated  the  matter  to  Logan  only  five  days 
before.  Ibid.  It  appears  from  the  original  summons  of  fvrfaulture  against  Logan's  heirs,  that 
Bour,  though  he  had  letters  addressed  to  him  with  regard  to  a  conspiracy  equally  dangerous  and 
Important,  was  so  illiterate  that  he  could  not  read.  "  Jacobus  Bour,  literarum  prorsus  ignarus, 
dicti  Georgii  opera,  in  legendis  omnibus  scriptis  ad  eum  missis,  vel  pertinentibus  utebatur."  This  is 
altogether  strange  ;  and  nothing  but  the  capricious  character  of  Logan  can  account  for  his  choosing 
tucn  a  confidant. 


OF  SCOTLAND.  SOS 

the  resemblance  was  manifest.  Persons  of  undoubted  credit,  and  well 
qualified  to  judge  of  the  matter,  examined  them,  and  swore  to  their  authen- 
ticity. Death  itself  did  not  exempt  Logan  from  prosecution;  his  hones 
were  dug  up  and  tried  for  high  treason,  and  by  a  sentence  equally  odious 
and  illegal,*  his  lands  were  forfeited,  and  his  posterity  declared  infamous 
Sprot  was  condemned  to  be  hanged  for  misprision  of  treason.  He  adhered 
to  his  confession  to  the  last,  and  having  promised  on  the  scaffold  to  give 
the  spectators  a  sign  in  confirmation  ofthe  truth  of  what  he  had  deposed, 
he  thrice  clapped  his  hands  after  he  was  thrown  off  the  ladder  by  the  exe 
cutioner.t 

But  though  it  be  thus  unexpectedly  discovered  that  Gowrie  did  not  act 
without  associates,  little  additional  light  is  thrown  by  this  discovery  on  the 
motives  and  intention  of  his  conduct.  It  appears  almost  incredible  that  two 
young  men  of  such  distinguished  virtue  should  revolt  all  at  once  from  their 
duty,  and  attempt  a  crime  so  atrocious  as  the  murder  of  their  sovereign 
It  appears  still  more  improbable  that  they  should  have  concerted  their 
undertaking  with  so  little  foresight  and  prudence.  If  they  intended  that 
the  deed  should  have  remained  concealed,  they  could  not  have  chosen  a 
more  improper  scene  for  executing  it  than  their  own  house.  If  they 
intended  that  Henderson  should  have  struck  the  blow,  they  could  not  have 
pitched  on  a  man  more  destitute  of  the  courage  that  must  diiect  the  hand 
of  an  assassin ;  nor  could  they  expect  that  he,  unsolicited  and  unacquainted 
with  their  purpose,  would  venture  on  such  a  desperate  action  If  Ruthven 
meant  to  stab  the  king  with  his  own  hand,  why  did  he  withdraw  the 
dagger  after  it  was  pointed  at  his  breast  ?     How  could  he  leave  the  king 

*  By  the  Roman  law,  persons  guilty  of  the  crime  of  high  treason  might  be  tried  even  afier  death. 
This  practice  was  adopted  by  the  Scots  without  any  limitation,  Pari.  1540,  c.  69.  Bui  the  unlimited 
exercise  of  this  power  was  soon  conceived  to  be  dangerous ;  and  the  crown  was  laid  under  proper 
restrictions  by  an  act  A.  D.  1542,  which  has  never  been  printed.  The  words  of  it  are,  "And  because 
the  said  lords  (i.  e.  the  lords  of  articles)  think  the  said  act  (viz.  in  1540)  loo  general,  and  prejudicial 
to  the  barons  in  the  realm,  therefore  statutes  and  ordains,  that  the  said  act  shall  have  no  place  i»i 
time  coming,  but  against  the  heirs  of  them  that  notoriously  commit  or  slwll  commit  lese  majesty 
against  the  king's  person,  against  the  realm  for  averting  the  same,  and  against  them  that  shall  happen 
to  betray  the  king's  army  allenarly,  and  being  notoriously  known  in  their  time:  and  the  heirs  of 
these  persons  to  be  called  and  judged  within  five  years  after  the  decease  of  the  said  persons  com- 
mitters of  the  said  crimes:  and  the  said  time  being  by-past,  the  said  heirs  never  to  be  pursued  for 
ihe  same."  The  sentence  against  Logan  violated  this  statute  in  two  particulars.  He  was  not 
notoriously  known  during  his  life  to  be  an  accomplice  in  the  crima  for  which  he  was  tried ;  and  his 
heir  was  called  in  question  more  than  five  years  after  his  death.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  statute 
seems  not  to  have  been  attended  to  in  the  parliament  which  forfeited  Logan.  Another  singular 
circumstance  deserves  notice  As  it  is  a  maxim  of  justice  that  no  person  can  be  tried  in  absence; 
and  as  lawyers  are  always  tenacious  of  their  forms,  and  often  absurd  in  their  devices  for  preserving: 
them,  they  contrived  that,  in  any  process  against  a  dead  person,  his  corpse  or  bones  shall  be  pre- 
sented at  the  bar.  Examples  of  this  occur  frequently  in  the  Scottish  history.  After  the  battle  of 
Corrichie,  the  dead  body  of  the  earl  of  Huntly  was  presented  in  parliament,  before  sentence  oifor- 
faulture  was  pronounced  against  him  For  the  same  reason  Ihe  bodies  of  Gowrie  and  his  brother 
were  preserved,  in  order  that  they  might  be  produced  in  parliament.  Logan's  bones,  incompliance 
with  the  same  rule,  were  dug  up.     Mackenz.  Crim  Law,  Book  i.  Tit.  6.  §  22. 

t  It  appears  that  archbishop  Spotswood  was  present  at  the  execution  of  Sprot,  Crom.  1 15,  and 
yet  he  seems  to  have  given  no  credit  to  his  discoveries.  The  manner  in  which  he  speaks  of  him  is 
remarkable :  "  Whether  or  not  I  should  mention  the  arraignment  and  execution  of  George  Sprot, 
who  suffered  at  Edinburgh,  I  am  doubtful.  Hisconfession,  though  voluntary  and  constant,  carrying 
small  probability.  The  man  deposed,  &c.  It  seemed  to  be  a  very  fiction,  and  a  mere  invention  of 
the  man's  own  brain,  for  neither  did  he  show  the  letter,  nor  could  any  wise  man  think  that  Gowrie, 
who  went  about  the  treason  so  secretly,  would  have  communicated  the  matter  to  such  a  man  as 
Logan  was  known  to  be,"  p.  208.  Spotswood  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the  solemnity  with  which 
Logan  had  been  tried,  and  of  the  proof  brought  of  the  authenticity  of  his  letters.  He  himself  was 
probably  present  in  parliament  at  the  trial.  The  earl  of  Dunbar,  of  whom  he  always  speaks  with 
the  highest  respect,  was  the  person  who  directed  the  process  against  Logan.  Such  a  peremptory  de 
claration  against  the  truth  of  Sprot's  evidence,  notwithstanding  all  these  circumstances,  is  sur- 
prising. Sir  Thomas  Hamilton,  the  king's  advocate  at  that  time,  and  afterwards  earl  of  Haddington, 
represents  the  proof  produced  at  Logan's  trial  as  extremely  convincing;  and  in  an  original  letter  of 
his  to  the  king,  ihe  21st  of  June  1609,  (in  Bibl.  Facult.  Jurid.)al'ter  mentioning  the  manner  in  which 
the  trial  had  been  conducted,  he  thus  goes  on: 

"  When  the  probation  of  the  summons  was  referred  to  the  'lords  of  articles'  votes,  they  found  uni- 
formly, all  in  one  voice,  the  said  summons  to  be  so  clearly  proved,  that  they  seemed  to  contend  who 
should  be  able  most  zealously  to  express  the  satisfaction  of  his  heart,  not  only  by  the  most  pithy 
words,  but  by  tears  of  joy.  diverse  of  the  best  rank  confessing,  that,  whereof  they  doubted  at  their 
entry  into  ihe  house  was  now  so  manifest  that  they  behooved  Co  esteem  them  traitors  who  should  an? 
longer  refuse  to  declare  their  assured  resolution  of  the  truth  <Bf  that  treason. 

v     m  —39 


306  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

after  such  a  plain  declaration  of  bis  intention  ?  Was  it  not  preposterous  to 
commit  him  to  the  keeping  of  such  a  timid  associate  as  Henderson  ?  For 
what  purpose  did  he  waste  time  in  binding  the  arms  of  an  unarmed  man, 
whom  he  might  easily  have  despatched  with  his  sword  ?  Had  Providence 
permitted  them  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  sovereign,  what 
advantage  could  have  accrued  to  them  by  his  death  ?  And  what  claims  or 
pretensions  could  they  have  opposed  to  the  rights  of  his  children  ?*  Inevi- 
table and  instant  vengeance,  together  with  perpetual  infamy,  were  the  only 
consequences  they  could  expect  to  follow  such  a  crime. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  king  had  formed 
any  design  against  the  life  of  the  two  brothers.  They  had  not  incurred 
his  indignation  by  any  crime  ;  and  were  in  no  degree  the  objects  of  his 
jealousy  or  hatred  ;t  nor  was  he  of  a  spirit  so  sanguinary,  or  so  noted  for 
rash  and  desperate  valour,  as  to  have  attempted  to  murder  them  in  their 
own  house,  where  they  were  surrounded  with  many  domestics,  he  only 
with  a  slender  and  unarmed  train  ;  where  th?y  could  call  to  their  assistance 
the  inhabitants  of  a  city  at  the  devotion  of  their  family,  while  he  was  at  a 
distance  from  all  aid :  and  least  of  all  would  he  have  chosen  for  his  asso- 
ciates in  such  an  enterprise  the  earl  of  Mar  and  the  duke  of  Lennox,  the 
former  connected  in  close  friendship  with  the  house  of  Gowrie,  and  the 
latter  married  to  one  of  the  earl's  sisters. 

Whichsoever  of  these  opposite  systems  we  embrace,  whether  we  impute 
the  intention  of  murder  to  Gowrie  or  to  the  king,  insuperable  difficulties 
arise,  and  we  are  involved  in  darkness,  mystery,  and  contradictions. 
Perhaps  the  source  of  the  whole  conspiracy  ought  to  be  searched  for  deeper, 
and  by  deriving  it  from  a  more  remote  cause  we  may  discover  it  to  be  less 
criminal. 

To  keep  the  king  of  Scots  in  continual  dependence  was  one  great  object 
of  Elizabeth's  policy.  In  order  to  this  she  sometimes  soothed  him,  and 
sometimes  bribed  his  ministers  and  favourites ;  and  when  she  failed  of 
attaining  her  end  by  these  means,  she  encouraged  the  clergy  to  render 
any  administration  which  she  distrusted  unpopular,  by  decrying  it,  or  stir- 
red up  some  faction  of  the  nobles  to  oppose  and  to  overturn  it.  In  that 
fierce  age,  men  little  acquainted  with  the  arts  of  undermining  a  ministry  by 
intrigue,  had  recourse  to  the  ruder  practice  of  rendering  themselves  mas- 
ters of  the  king's  person,  that  they  might  thereby  obtain  the  direction  of  his 
councils.  Those  nobles  who  seized  the  king  at  the  Raid  of  Ruthven  were 
instigated  and  supported  by  Elizabeth.     Bothwell,  in  all  his  wild  attempts, 

*  It  has  been  asserted  that,  in  consequence  of  the  kind's  death,  the  earl  of  Gowrie  might  have 
pretended  to  the  crown  of  England,  as  the  son  of  Dorothea  Stewart,  daughter  of  lord  Methven  by 
Margaret  of  England,  who,  afler  her  divorce  from  the  earl  of  Angus,  took  that  nobleman  for  her 
third  husband.  Burnet,  Hist,  of  his  own  Times.  But  this  assertion  is  ill  founded.  It  appears  from 
undoubted  evidence,  that  lord  Methven  had  only  one  child  by  queen  Margaret,  which  died  in  its 
infancy,and  Dorothea  lady  Ruthven  was  not  the  daughter  of  queen  Margaret,  but  of  Janet  Stewart, 
lord  Methven's  second  wife,  a  daughter  of  John  earl  of  Athol.  Crawf.  Peer.  329.  And  though 
Gowrie  had  really  been  descended  from  the  blood  royal  of  England,  the  king  at  that  time  had  a  son 
and  daughter ;  and,  besides  them,  lady  Arabella  Stewart,  iaughte  :  of  Charles  earl  of  Lennox,  had 
a  preferable  title  to  the  crown  of  England. 

t  Sir  Henry  Neville,  in  a  letter  to  sir  Ralph  Winwood,  imputes  the  death  of  the  two  brothers  to 
a  cause  not  mentioned  by  any  of  our  historians.  "  Out  of  Scotland  we  hear  that  there  is  no  good 
agreement,  but  rather  an  open  difference,  between  the  king  and  his  wife,  and  many  are  of  opinion 
that  the  discovery  of  some  affection  between  her  and  the  earl  of  Gowrie's  brother  (who  was  killed 
with  him)  was  the  truest  cause  and  motive  of  that  tragedy."  Winw.  Mem.  vol.  i.  274.  Whether 
the  following  passages  in  Nicholson's  letter  be  any  confirmation  of  that  suspicion,  is  submitted  to 
the  reader.  In  his  letter,  Sept.  22, 1602,  he  mentions  the  return  of  Gowrie's  uvo  younger  brothers 
into  Scotland,  and  adds,  "  The  coming  in  of  these  two,  and  the  queen  of  Scots  dealing  with  them, 
and  sending  away  and  furnishing  Mrs  Beatrix  [their  sister]  with  such  information  as  sir  Thomas 
Erskine  has  given,  hath  bred  great  suspicion  in  the  king  of  Scots  that  they  come  not  in  but  in  some 
dangerous  plot."  In  another  letter,  January  1,  iwr.l,  "The  day  of  writing  my  last,  Mrs.  Beatrix 
Ruthven  was  brought  by  the  lady  Paisley  and  Mrs  of  Angus,  as  one  of  their  gentlewomen,  into  the 
court  in  the  evening,  and  stowed  in  a  chamber  prepared  for  her  by  the  queen's  direction,  where  the 
queen  had  much  time  and  conference  with  her.  Of  this  the  king  got  notice,  and  showed  his  dislike 
thereof  to  the  queen,  gently  reproviof  her  for  it,  and  examining  quietly  of  the  queen's  servants  o/ 
the  same,  and  of  other  matters  therekrto  belonging,  with  such  discretion  and  secrecy  as  requirea 
mob*  Bitter." 


OF   SCOTLAND.  301 

enjoyed  her  protection,  ami  when  they  miscarried,  he  was  secure  of  a 
retreat  in  her  dominions.  The  connexions  which  James  had  been  forming 
of  late  with  the  Roman  catholic  princes,  his  secret  negotiations  in  England 
with  hersubjects,  and  the  maxims  by  which  he  governed  his  own  kingdom, 
all  contributed  to  excite  her  jealousy.  She  dreaded  some  great  revolution 
in  Scotland  to  be  approaching,  and  it  was  her  interest  to  prevent  it.  The 
earl  of  Gowrie  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  and 
descended  from  ancestors  warmly  attached  to  the  English  interest.  He 
had  adopted  the  same  system,  and  believed  the  welfare  of  his  country  to 
be  inseparably  connected  with  the  subsistence  of  the  alliance  between  the 
two  kingdoms.  During  his  residence  at  Paris  he  had  contracted  an  inti 
mate  friendship  with  sir  Henry  Neville,  the  queen's  ambassador  there,  and 
was  recommended  by  him  to  his  court  as  a  person  of  whom  great  use 
might  be  made.*  Elizabeth  received  him  as  he  passed  through  England 
with  distinguished  marks  of  respect  and  favour.  From  all  these  circum- 
stances a  suspicion  may  arise  that  the  plan  of  the  conspiracy  against  the 
king  was  formed  at  that  time  in  concert  with  her.  Such  a  suspicion  pre 
vailed  in  that  age,  and  from  the  letters  of  Nicholson,  Elizabeth's  agent  in 
Scotland,  it  appears  not  to  be  destitute  of  foundation.  An  English  ship  was 
observed  hovering  for  some  time  in  the  mouth  of  the  Frith  of  Forth.  The 
earl's  two  younger  brothers  fled  into  England  after  the  ill  success  of  the  con- 
spiracy, and  were  protected  by  Elizabeth.  James  himself,  though  he 
prudently  concealed  it,  took  great  umbrage  at  her  behaviour.  None,  how 
ever,  of  Elizabeth's  intrigues  in  Scotland  tended  to  hurt  the  king's  person, 
but  only  to  circumscribe  his  authority  and  to  thwart  his  schemes.  His  life 
was  the  surest  safeguard  of  her  own,  and  restrained  the  popish  pretenders 
tohcr  crown,  and  their  abettors,  from  desperate  attempts,  to  which  their 
impatience  and  bigotry  might  otherwise  have  urged  them  on.  To  have 
encouraged  Gowrie  to  murder  his  sovereign  would,  on  her  part,  have  been 
an  act  of  the  utmost  imprudence.  Nor  does  this  seem  to  have  been  the 
intention  of  the  two  brothers.  Mr.  Ruthven,  first  of  all,  endeavoured  to 
decoy  the  king  to  Perth  without  any  attendants.  When  these  proved 
more  numerous  than  was  expected,  the  earl  employed  a  stratagem  in  order 
to  separate  them  from  the  king,  by  pretending  that  he  had  rode  away 
towards  Falkland,  and  by  calling  hastily  for  their  horses  that  they  might 
follow  him.  By  their  shutting  James  up  meanwhile  in  a  distant  corner  of 
the  house,  and  by  attempting  to  bind  his  hands,  their  design  seems  to  have 
been  rather  to  seize  than  to  assassinate  him.  Though  Gowrie  had  not 
collected  his  followers  in  such  numbers  as  to  have  been  able  to  detain  him 
long  a  prisoner  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom  by  open  force,  he  might  soon 
have  been  conveyed  aboard  the  English  ship,  which  waited  perhaps  to 
receive  him  ;  and  he  might  have  been  landed  at  Fastcastle,  a  house  of 
Logan's,  in  which,  according  to  many  obscure  hints  in  his  letters,  some 
rendezvous  of  the  conspirators  was  to  be  held.  Amidst  the  surprise  and 
terror  into  which  the  king  must  have  been  thrown  by  the  violence  offered  to 
him,  it  was  extremely  natural  for  him  to  conclude  that  his  life  was  sought. 
It  was  the  interest  of  all  his  followers  to  confirm  him  in  this  belief,  and  to 
magnify  his  danger,  in  order  to  add  to  the  importance  and  merit  of  their 
own  services.  Thus  his  fear  and  their  vanity,  aided  by  the  credulity  and 
wonder  which  the  contemplation  of  any  great  and  tragical  event,  when  not 
fully  understood,  is  apt  to  inspire,  augmented  the  whole  transaction.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  extravagance  and  improbability  of  the  circumstances 
which  were  added,  detracted  from  the  credit  of  those  which  really  hap- 
pened ;  and  even  furnished  pretences  for  calling  in  question  the  truth  of  the 
whole  conspiracy. 

The    account    of  what    had    happened  at    Perth    reached  Edinburgh 

*  Www.  j.  156. 


•308  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V^llI 

next  morning.  The  privy  council  commanded  the  ministers  of  that  city 
instantly  to  assemble  their  people  ;  and  after  relating  to  them  the  circum- 
stances of  the  conspiracy  formed  against  the  king's  life,  to  return  public 
thanks  to  God  for  the  protection  which  he  had  so  visibly  afforded  him. 
But  as  the  first  accounts  transmitted  to  Edinburgh,  written  in  a  hurry,  and 
while  the  circumstances  of  the  conspiracy  were  but  imperfectly  known, 
and  the  passions  which  it  excited  strongly  felt,  were  indistinct,  exag- 
gerated, and  contradictory,  the  ministers  laid  hold  of  this  ;  and  though 
they  offered  to  give  public  thanks  to  God  for  the  king's  safety,  they 
refused  to  enter  into  any  detail  of  particulars,  or  to  utter  from  the  chair  of 
truth  what  appeared  to  be  still  dubious  and  uncertain. 

A  few  days  after  the  king  returned  to  Edinburgh  ;  and  though  Galloway, 
the  minister  of  his  own  chapel,  made  an  harangue  to  the  people  at  the  pub- 
lic cross,  in  which  he  recited  all  the  circumstances  of  the  conspiracy ; 
though  James  himself,  in  their  hearing,  confirmed  his  account;  though  he 
commanded  a  narrative  of  the  whole  transaction  to  be  published ;  the 
ministers  of  that  city,  as  well  as  many  of  their  brethren,  still  continued  in- 
credulous and  unconvinced.  Their  high  esteem  of  Gowrie,  their  jealousy 
of  every  part  of  the  king's  conduct,  added  to  some  false  and  many  impro- 
bable circumstances  in  the  narrative,  not  only  led  them  to  suspect  the 
whole,  but  gave  their  suspicions  an  air  of  credibility.  Rut  at  length  the 
king,  partly  by  arguments,  partly  by  threats,  prevailed  on  all  of  them,  ex- 
cept Mr.  Robert  Bruce,  to  own  that  they  were  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
the  conspiracy.  He  could  be  brought  no  farther  than  to  declare  that  he 
reverenced  the  king's  account  of  the  transaction,  but  could  not  sa3'  that  he 
himself  was  persuaded  of  the  truth  of  it.  The  scruples  or  obstinacy  of  a 
single  man  would  have  been  little  regarded ;  but  as  the  same  spirit  of 
incredulity  began  to  spread  among  the  people,  the  example  of  one  in  so 
high  reputation  for  integrity  and  abilities  was  extremely  dangerous.  The 
king  was  at  the  utmost  pains  to  convince  and  to  gain  Bruce  ;  but  finding  it 
impossible  to  remove  his  doubts,  he  deprived  him  of  his  benefice,  and  after 
repeated  delays,  and  many  attempts  towards  a  reconcilement,  banished 
him  the  kingdom.* 

The  proceedings  of  parliament  were  not  retarded  by  any  scruples  of 
this  sort.  The  dead  bodies  of  the  two  brothers  were  produced  there  ac- 
cording to  law ;  an  indictment  for  high  treason  was  preferred  against  them ; 
witnesses  were  examined  ;  and  by  a  unanimous  sentence,  their  estates  and 
honours  were  forfeited ;  the  punishment  due  to  traitors  was  inflicted  on 
their  dead  bodies  ;  and,  as  if  the  punishment  hitherto  in  use  did  not  express 
sufficient  detestation  of  their  crimes,  the  parliament  enacted  that  the  sur- 
name of  Ruthven  should  be  abolished ;  and  in  order  to  preserve  the 
memory  of  the  king's  miraculous  escape,  and  to  declare  the  sense  which 
the  nation  had  of  the  divine  goodness,  to  all  future  ages,  appointed  the  fifth 
of  August  to  be  observed  annually  as  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving.") 

*  Spotiw.  461,  &c.    Cald.  v.  389,  &c. 

t  A  few  weeks  after  the  death  of  the  two  brothers,  the  king  published  a  Discourse  of  their  vile 
and  unnatural  conspiracy  against  his  life.  In  the  year  J713,  George  earl  of  Cromarlie  published 
an  "  Historical  account  of  the  conspiracy  by  the  earl  of  Gowrie  and  Robert  Logan  of  Restalrig, 
against  king  .lames  VI."  He  seems  not  to  have  seen  tht  account  which  the  king  himself  had  given 
of  that  matter,  and  borrows  the  whole  historical  part  from  Spotswood  and  other  authors;  but  he 
nas  extracted  from  the  public  records  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses  produced  by  the  king's  council, 
hi  order  to  make  good  the  charge  against  ihe  two  brothers,  and  Logan  their  associate.  From  these 
two  treatises  our  knowledge  of  all  the  material  circumstances  of  the  conspiracy  is  derived.  The 
evidence  which  they  contain  one  would  expect  to  be  authentic  and  decisive.  An  account  of  a  fact 
Btill  recent,  published  by  royal  authority,  and  the  original  depositions  of  persons  examined  in  presence 
of  the  highest  court  in  the  nation,  ought  to  convey  a  degreeof  evidence  seldom  attained  in  historical 
relations,  and  to  exclude  all  remaining  doubt  and  uncertainty.  But  as  every  thing  with  regard  to 
this  transaction  is  dark  and  problematical,  the  king's  account  and  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses 
not  only  vary,  but  contradict  each  othsr  in  so  many  circumstances  that  much  room  is  still  left  for 
hesitation  and  historical  skepticism.  The  testimony  of  Henderson  is  the  fullest  and  most  important, 
but  in  several  particulars  the  king's  account  and  his  are  contradictory.  I.  According  to  the  king'f 
account,  while  Mr.  Ruthven  was  holding  the  dagger  ai  his  breast,  "  the  fellow  in  the  study  a ' 


OF  SCOTLAND.  509 

lbOl.]  Though  Gowrie's  conspiracy  occasioned  a  6udden  and  a  great 
alarm,  it  was  followed  by  no  consequence  of  importance  ;  and  having  been 
concerted  by  the  two  brothers  either  without  any  associates  or  with  such 
as  were  unknown,  the  danger  was  over  as  soon  as  discovered.  But  not 
long  after  a  conspiracy  broke  out  in  England  against  Elizabeth,  which, 
though  the  first  danger  was  instantly  dispelled,  produced  tragical  effects, 
that  rendered  the  close  of  that  queen's  reign  dismal  and  unhappy.  Aa 
James  was  deeply  interested  in  that  event,  it  merits  our  particular  notice. 

The  court  of  England  was  at  this  time  divided  between  two  powerful 
factions,  which  contended  for  the  supreme  direction  of  affairs.  The  leader 
of  the  one  was  Robert  D'Evreux,  earl  of  Essex  ;  sir  Robert  Cecil,  the 
son  of  lord  treasurer  Burleigh,  was  at  the  head  of  the  other.  The  former 
was  the  most  accomplished  and  the  most  popular  of  all  the  English  nobles  ; 
brave,  generous,  affable  ;  though  impetuous,  yet  willing  to  listen  to  the 
counsels  of  those  whom  he  loved  ;  an  avowed  but  not  an  implacable  enemy ; 
a  friend  no  less  constant  than  warm  ;  incapable  of  disguising  his  own  sen- 
timents, or  of  misrepresenting  those  of  others ;  better  fitted  for  a  camp 
than  for  a  court ;  of  a  genius  that  qualified  him  for  the  first  place  in  the 
administration,  with  a  spirit  that  scorned  the  second  as  below  his  merit. 
He  was  soon  distinguished  by  the  queen,  who,  with  a  profusion  uncommon 
to  her,  conferred  on  him,  even  in  his  earliest  youth,  the  highest  honours. 
Nor  did  this  diminish  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his  countrymen;  but  by 
a  rare  felicity  he  was  at  once  the  favourite  of  his  sovereign  and  the  darling 

quaking  and  trembling."  Disc.  17.  But  Henderson  says  that  he  himself  wrested  the  dagger  out  ol 
Sir.  Ruthven's  hands.  Disc.  53,  Croin.  50  Henderson  likewise  boasted  to  his  wife,  that  he  had 
that  day,  twice  saved  the  king  from  b:  ing  stabbed.  Disc.  54.  Crom.  53.  II.  T lie  king  asserts  that 
Henderson  opened  the  window  during  Mr.  Ruthven's  absence.  Disc.  23.  Henderson  deposes  Chat 
he  was  only  attempting  to  open  it  when  Mr.  Rutbven  returned,  and  that  during  the  struggle  between 
the  king  and  him,  he  opened  it.  Disc.  53,  54.  Crom.  51,  52.  111.  If  we  may  believe  the  king,  thi 
fellow  in  the  study  stood,  during  the  struggle,  behind  the  king's  back,  inactive  and  trembling  all  the 
time.  Disc.  27.  But  Henderson  affirms,  that  he  snatched  away  the  garter  with  which  Mr.  Ruthven 
attempted  to  bind  the  king;  that  he  pulled  back  Mr.  Ruthven's  hand,  while  he  was  endeavouring 
to  stop  the  king's  mouth,  and  that  he  opened  the  window.  Disc.  54.  Crom.  52.  IV.  By  the  king's 
account,  Mr.  Ruthven  left  him  in  the  study,  and  went  away  in  order  to  meet  with  his  brother,  and 
the  earl  came  up  the  stairs  for  the  same  purpose.  Disc.  23.  Henderson  deposes,  that  when  Mr. 
Ruthven  left  the  king,  "  he  believes  that  he  did  not  pass  from  the  door."  Croin.  51.  It  is  apparent, 
both  from  the  situation  of  the  house,  and  from  other  circumstances,  that  there  could  not  possibly 
have  been  any  interview  between  the  brothers  at  this  time.  Disc.  23. 

Henderson  was  twice  examined,  first  at  Falkland  before  the  privy  council  in  August,  and  next  at 
Edinburgh  before  the  parliament  in  November.  Not  to  mention  some  lesser  variations  between 
these  depositions,  we  shall  point  out  two  which  are  remarkable.  In  his  first  deposition,  Mr.  Hen 
detson  relates  the  most  material  circumstances  of  the  whole  in  these  words:  "Mr.  Ruthven  pulled 
out  the  deponent's  dagger,  and  held  the  same  to  his  Majesty's  breast,  saying.  Remember  you  of  my 
father's  murder ;  you  shall  now  die  for  it :  and  pointing  to  his  Highness' s  heart  with  the  dagger,  the 
deponent  threw  the  same  out  of  Mr.  Ruthven's  hands,  and  swore  that  as  God  should  judge  his  soul, 
that  if  Mr  Ruthven  had  retained  the  dagger  in  his  hand  the  space  a  man  may  go  six  steps,  he  would 
have  stricken  the  king  to  the  hilts  with  it."  Disc.  52  But  at  his  second  examination  he  varied 
from  this  in  two  material  circumstances.  First,  the  words  he  at  that  time  put  in  Mr.  Ruthven's 
mouth  while  he  held  the  dagger  at  the  king's  breast  are.  "Sir,  you  must  be  my  prisoner ;  remember  on 
my  father' s  death'"  Secondly,  when  he  threatened  him  with  death,  it  was  only  to  deter  him  from 
making  any  noise,  "  Hold  your  tongue,  or  by  Christ  you  shall  die."  2.  In  his  first  deposition,  the 
words  of  Mr.  Ruthven,  when  he  returned  to  the  chamber  where  he  had  left  the  king,  are,  "  There 
is  no  remedy,  by  God  you  must  die."  But  in  his  second  deposition,  "  By  God  there  is  no  remedy, 
and  offered  to  bind  his  Majesty's  hands."  Croin.  51.  The  material  words  you  must  die  are  omitted. 
The  first  deposition  seems  plainly  lo  intimate  that  it  was  Ruthven's  intention  to  murder  the  king. 
The  second  would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  he  had  no  other  design  than  to  detain  him  as  a  prisoner. 

There  are  likewise  some  remarkable  contradictions  in  the  testimonies  of  the  other  witnesses.  1. 
In  the  discourse  published  by  authority,  it  is  insinuated  that  the  tumi.it  of  the  inhabitants  was 
raised  against  the  king,  and  that  it  required  some  art  to  pacify  them.  Disc.  32.  The  duke  of  Len- 
nox confirms  this  in  his  deposition.  Crom.  44.  An  act  of  privy  council  summoning  the  magistrates 
of  Perth  to  answer  for  that  riot  is  still  extant.  And  yet  Andrew  Roy,  one  of  the  bailies  of  the  town, 
deposes,  that  he  himself  raised  the  people,  and  that  they  took  arms  in  order  to  assist  the  king. 
Crom.  66.  2.  Henderson  deposes,  that  he  gave  an  evasive  answer  to  Mr.  John  Moncrief,  who  in- 
quired where  he  had  been  that  morning,  because  the  earl  had  commanded  him  not  to  let  any  man 
know  that  he  had  been  at  Falkland.  Disc.  54.  Moncrief  deposes  to  the  same  purpose.  Crom.  64 
And  yet  George  Hay,  afterwards  lord  Kinnnul,  and  the  chancellor  of  Scotland,  and  Peter  Hay,  de 
pose,  that  the  earl,  in  their  presence,  asked  Henderson,  "Whom  he  found  with  the  king  at  Falk 
land?"  Crom.  70,  71.  Which  question  seems  to  prove'that  he  did  not  aim  at  keeping  that  journey 
■  secret.  In  the  collection  of  Criminal  Trials,  published  by  Mr.  Arnot  in  1785,  the  evidence  again* 
lbs  two  brothers  haa  been  considered  with  great  attention.    P.  20,  Ate. 


310  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

of  the  people.  Cecil,  on  the  other  hand,  educated  in  a  court,  and  '.rained 
under  a  father  deeply  skilled  in  all  its  arts,  was  crafty,  insinu  tii  g,  indus- 
trious;  and  though  possessed  of  talents  which  fitted  him  lor  the  highest 
offices,  he  did  not  rely  upon  his  merit  alone  for  attaining  lhem,  but  availed 
himself  of  every  advantage  which  his  own  address  or  the  mistakes  oi 
others  afforded  him.  Two  such  men  were  formed  to  be  rivals  and  ene- 
mies. Essex  despised  the  arts  of  Cecil  as  low  and  base.  To  Cecil,  the 
earl's  magnanimity  appeared  to  be  presumption  and  folly.  All  the  military 
men  except  Raleigh  favoured  Essex.  Most  of  the  courtiers  adhered  to 
Cecil,  whose  manners  more  nearly  resembled  their  own. 

As  Elizabeth  advanced  in  years,  the  struggle  between  these  factions 
became  more  violent.  Essex,  in  order  to  strengthen  himself,  had  early 
courted  the  friendship  of  the  king  of  Scots,  for  whose  right  of  succession 
he  was  a  zealous  advocate,  and  held  a  close  correspondence  both  with  him 
and  with  his  principal  ministers.  Cecil,  devoted  to  the  queen  alone,  rose 
daily  to  new  honours  by  the  assiduity  of  his  services  and  the  patience 
with  which  he  expected  the  reward  of  them ;  while  the  earl's  high  spirit 
and  impetuosity  sometimes  exposed  him  to  checks  from  a  mistress,  who, 
though  partial  in  her  affection  towards  him,  could  not  easily  bear  contra- 
diction, and  who  conferred  favours  often  unwillingly,  and  always  slowly. 
His  own  solicitations,  however,  seconded  maliciously  by  his  enemies,  who 
wished  to  remove  him  at  a  distance  from  court,  advanced  him  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  employed  in  Ireland  against  Tyrone,  and  to  the  >  fix  e 
of  lord  lieutenant  of  that  kingdom,  with  a  commission  almost  unlimilei!. 
His  success  in  that  expedition  did  not  equal  either  his  own  promises  or  the 
expectations  of  Elizabeth.  The  queen,  peevish  from  her  disappointment, 
and  exasperated  against  Essex  by  the  artifices  of  his  enemies,  wrote  him  a 
harsh  letter,  full  of  accusations  and  reproaches.  These  his  impatient  spirit 
could  not  bear,  and  in  the  first  transports  of  his  resentment  he  proposed  tc 
carry  over  a  part  of  his  army  into  England,  and  by  driving  his  enemies 
from  the  queen's  presence,  to  reinstate  himself  in  favour  and  in  power. 
But  upon  more  mature  thoughts  he  abandoned  this  rash  design,  and  setting 
sail  with  a  few  officers  devoted  to  his  person,  landed  in  England  and  posted 
directly  to  court.  Elizabeth  received  him  without  any  symptom  either  oi 
affection  or  of  displeasure.  By  proper  compliances  and  acknowledgments 
he  might  have  regained  his  former  ascendancy  over  the  queen.  But  he 
thought  himself  too  deeply  injured  to  submit  to  these.  Elizabeth,  on  the 
other  hand,  determined  to  subdue  his  haughty  temper ;  and  though  her 
severity  drew  from  him  the  most  humble  letters,  she  confined  him  to  the 
lord  keeper's  house,  and  appointed  commissioners  to  try  him,  both  for  his 
conduct  during  his  government  of  Ireland,  and  for  leaving  that  kingdom 
without  her  permission.  By  their  sentence  he  was  suspended  from  all  his 
offices  except  that  of  master  of  the  horse,  and  continued  a  prisoner  during 
the  queen's  pleasure.  Satisfied  with  having  mortified  his  pride  thus  far, 
Elizabeth  did  not  suffer  the  sentence  to  be  recorded,  and  soon  after  allowed 
him  to  retire  to  his  own  house.  During  these  transactions,  which  occupied 
several  months,  Essex  fluctuated  between  the  allegiance  he  owed  to  his 
sovereign  and  the  desire  of  revenge  ;  and  sometimes  leaned  to  the  one  and 
sometimes  to  the  other.  In  one  of  the  intervals  when  the  latter  prevailed, 
he  sent  a  messenger  into  Scotland  to  encourage  the  king  to  assert  his  own 
right  to  the  succession  by  force  of  arms,  and  to  promise  that,  besides  the 
assistance  of  the  ear!  and  all  his  friends  in  England,  lord  Mountjoy,  now 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  would  join  him  with  five  thousand  men  from  that 
kingdom.  But  James  did  not  choose  to  hazard  the  losing  of  a  kingdom, 
of  which  he  was  just  about  to  obtain  possession,  by  a  premature  attempt 
to  seize  it.  Mountjoy,  too,  declined  the  enterprise,  and  Essex  adopted 
more  dutiful  schemes;  all  thoughts  of  ambition  appearing-  to  be  totally 
effaced  out  of  his  mind. 


OF   SCOTLAND.  311 

This  moderation,  which  was  merely  the  effect  of  disgust  and  disappoint- 
ment, was  not  of  long  continuance  ;  and  the  queen,  having  not  only  refused 
to  renew  a  lucrative  grant  which  <he  had  formerly  bestowed,  but  even  to 
admit  him  into  her  presence,  that  new  injury  drove  a  temper  naturally 
impatient,  and  now  much  fretted,  to  absolute  despair.  His  friends,  instead 
of  soothing  his  rage  or  restraining  his  impetuosity,  added  to  both  by  their 
imprudent  and  interested  zeal.  After  many  anxious  consultations  he  de- 
termined to  attempt  to  redress  his  wrongs  by  violence.  But  being  con- 
scious how  unpopular  such  an  enterprise  would  be  if  it  appeared  to  pro- 
ceed from  motives  of  private  revenge  alone,  he  endeavoured  to  give  it  the 
semblance  of  public  utility  by  mingling  the  king  of  Scotland  s  interest 
with  his  own.  He  wrote  to  "James,  that  the  faction  which  now  predomi- 
nated in  the  English  court  had  resolved  to  support  the  pretensions  of  the 
infanta  of  Spain  to  the  crown  ;  that  the  places  of  the  greatest  importance 
in  the  kingdom  were  put  into  the  hands  of  his  avowed  enemies ;  and  that 
unless  he  sent  ambassadors  without  delay  to  insist  on  the  immediate  decla- 
ration of  his  right  of  succession,  their  measures  were  so  well  concerted  that 
all  his  hopes  would  be  desperate.  James,  who  knew  how  disagreeable 
such  a  proposal  would  be  to  the  queen  of  England,  was  not  willing  rashly 
to  expose  himself  to  her  displeasure.  Essex,  nevertheless,  blinded  by 
resentment  and  impatient  for  revenge,  abandoned  himself  to  these  passions, 
and  acted  like  a  man  guided  by  frenzy  or  despair.  With  two  or  three 
hundred  followers  incompletely  armed,  he  attempted  to  assault  a  throne 
the  best  established  in  Europe.  Sallying  at  their  head  out  of  his  own 
house,  he  called  on  the  citizens  of  London,  if  they  either  valued  his  life  or 
wished  to  preserve  the  kingdom  from  the  dominion  of  the  Spaniards,  to 
take  arms  and  to  follow  his  standard.  He  advanced  towards  the  palace 
with  an  intention  to  drive  Cecil  and  his  faction  out  of  the  queen's  presence, 
and  to  obtain  a  declaration  of  the  Scottish  king's  right  of  succession.*  But 
though  almost  adored  by  the  citizens,  not  a  man  would  join  him  in  this  wild 
enterprise.  Dispirited  by  their  indifference,  deserted  by  some  of  his  own 
attendants,  and  almost  surrounded  by  the  troops  which  marched  against 
him  under  different  leaders  into  the  city,  he  retreated  to  his  own  house; 
and  without  any  bold  effort  suitable  to  his  present  condition,  or  worthy  of 
his  former  reputation  for  courage,  he  surrendered  to  his  enemies. 

As  soon  as  James  heard  of  Essex's  ill  success,  he  appointed  the  earl  of 
Mar,  and  Bruce,  abbot  of  Kinloss,  to  repair  as  his  ambassadors  to  the  court 
of  England.  The  former  of  these  was  the  person  by  whose  means  Essex 
had  carried  on  his  correspondence  with  the  king.  He  was  a  passionate 
admirer  of  the  earl's  character,  and  disposed  to  attempt  every  thing  that 
could  contribute  to  his  safety.  Bruce,  united  in  a  close  friendship  with 
Mar,  was  ready  to  second  him  with  equal  zeal.  Nor  was  the  purpose  of 
the  embassy  less  friendly  to  Essex  than  the  choice  of  his  ambassadors  : 
they  were  commanded  to  solicit  in  the  warmest  manner  for  the  earl's  life  ; 
and  if  they  found  that  the  king,  by  avowing  his  friends,  could  either  pro- 
mote their  designs  or  contribute  to  their  safety,  they  were  empowered  to 
lay  aside  all  disguise,  and  to  promise  that  he  would  put  himself  at  their 
head,  and  claim  what  was  due  to  him  by  force  of  arms.t  But  before  the 
ambassadors  could  reach  London,  Essex  had  suffered  the  punishment  which 
he  merited  by  his  treason.  Perhaps  the  fear  of  their  interposing  in  order 
to  obtain  his  pardon  hastened  his  death.  Elizabeth  continued  for  some 
time  irresolute  concerning  his  fate,  and  could  not  bring  herself  to  consign 
into  the  hands  of  the  executioner,  a  man  who  had  once  possessed  her  favour 
so  entirely,  without  a  painful  struggle  between  her  resentment  against  his 
late  misconduct  and  her  ancient  affection  towards  him.  The  distress  to 
which  she  was  now  reduced  tended  naturally  to  soften  the  former,  while  it 

*  Birch.  Mem.  ii.  477.  *  Johnst.  289.    Birch.  Mem.  ii.  510. 


31S  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

revived  tbe  latter  with  new  tenderness  ;  and  the  intercession  of  one  faithfu, 
•riend  who  had  interest  with  the  queen  might  perhaps  have  saved  his  life, 
and  have  procured  him  a  remission  which,  of  herself,  she  was  ashamed  tc 
grant.  But  this  generous  nobleman  had  at  that  time  no  such  friend.  Eli- 
zabeth, solicited  incessantly  by  her  ministers,  and  offended  with  the  haugh 
tiness  of  Essex,  who,  as  she  imagined,  scorned  to  sue  for  pardon,  at  last 
commanded  the  sentence  to  be  put  in  execution.  No  sooner  was  the  blow 
struck  than  she  repented  of  her  own  rashness,  and  bewailed  his  death  with 
the  deepest  soirow.  James  always  considered  him  as  one  who  had  fallen 
a  martyr  to  his  service,  and  after  his  accession  to  the  English  throne, 
restored  his  son  to  his  honours,  as  well  as  all  his  associates  in  the  conspi- 
racy, and  distinguished  them  with  his  favour.* 

The  Scottish  ambassadors,  finding  that  they  had  arrived  too  late  to  exe- 
cute the  chief  business  committed  to  their  charge,  not  only  concealed  that 
part  of  their  instructions  with  the  utmost  care,  but  congratulated  the  queen,  in 
their  master's  name,  on  her  happy  escape  from  such  an  audacious  conspiracy. 
Elizabeth,  though  no  stranger  to  the  king's  correspondence  with  Essex,  or 
to  that  n  bleman's  intentions  of  asserting  James's  right  to  the  crown,  was 
not  willing  that  these  should  be  known  to  the  people,  and  for  that  reason 
received  the  congratulations  of  the  Scottish  ambassadors  with  all  possible 
marks  of  credit  and  good  will ;  and  in  order  to  sooth  James,  and  to  preserve 
the  appearances  of  union  between  the  two  courts,  increased  the  subsidy 
which  she  paid  him  annually.  The  ambassadors  resided  for  some  time  in 
England,  and  were  employed  with  great  success  in  renewing  and  extend- 
ing the  intrigues  which  Bruce  had  formerly  entered  into  with  the  English 
nobles.  As  Elizabeth  advanced  in  years  the  English  turned  their  eyes 
more  and  more  towards  Scotland,  and.  were  eager  to  prevent  each  other  in 
courting  the  favour  of  their  future  monarch.  Assurances  of  attachment, 
professions  of  regard,  and  promises  of  support  were  offered  to  James  from 
every  corner  of  the  kingdom.  Cecil  himself,  perceiving  what  hopes  Essex 
had  founded  on  the  friendship  of  the  Scottish  king,  and  what  advantages  he 
might  have  derived  from  it,  thought  it  prudent  to  stand  no  longer  at  a  dis- 
tance from  a  prince  who  might  so  soon  become  his  master.  But  being- 
sensible  at  the  same  time  how  dangerous  such  an  intercourse  might  prove 
under  a  mistress  naturally  jealous,  and  whose  jealousy  grew  stronger  with 
old  age  ;  though  he  entered  into  a  correspondence  with  him,  he  carried  it 
on  with  all  the  secrecy  and  caution  necessary  in  his  situation,  and  peculiar 
to  his  character.}  James,  having  gained  the  man  whose  opposition  and 
influence  he  had  hitherto  chiefly  dreaded,  waited,  in  perfect  security,  till 
that  event  should  happen  which  would  open  his  way  to  the  throne  of 
England. |  It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  he  restrained  within  proper 
bounds  his  adherents  in  that  kingdom,  who,  labouring  to  distinguish  them- 
selves by  that  officious  zeal  with  which  a  prince  who  has  a  near  prospect 
of  mounting  the  throne  is  always  served,  urged  him  to  allow  a  motion  to 
be  made  in  parliament  for  declaring  his  right  of  succession  to  the  crown. 
James  prudently  discouraged  that  design ;  but  it  was  with  no  small  satis- 
faction that  he  observed  the  ascendant  he  was  acquiring  in  a  court,  the  dic- 
tates of  which  he  had  been  so  long  obliged  to  obey ;  and  which  had  either 
prescribed  or  thwarted  every  step  he  had  taken  during  the  whole  course 
nf  his  reigi).§ 

*  Camd.     SpotbW.  464.  t  See  Append.  No.  LIII. 

|  Dr.  Birch,  in  his  Life  of  Prince  Henry,  p.  232,  has  given  some  account  of  the  mysterious  mode 
■n  which  this  correspondence  was  carried  on,  and  how  the  letters  were  conveyed  from  London  to 
Dublin,  and  from  thence  to  Scotland.  Notwithstanding  the  solicitude  which  Cecil  repf  aledly  dis- 
covers that  his  letters  should  be  destroyed  as  soon  as  the  king  had  read  thein,  a  considerable  number 
of  them  has  been  preserved,  and  published  by  sir  David  Daliymple  in  the  year  17G6.  They  were 
written  by  lord  Henry  Howard,  under  the  inspection  of  Cecil,"  in  a  style  affectedly  obscirv  Tbfi 
whole  correspondence  is  more  curious  than  instructive. 

$  3potsw.  407.  471.    Birch.  Mem.  ii.  514. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  313 

1602.1  Notwithstanding  the  violent  struggles  of  the  political  factions 
which  divided  the  court,  and  the  frequent  revolutions  which  had  happened 
there,  since  the  king  first  took  the  reigns  of  government  into  his  own  hands, 
Scotland  had  enjoyed  unusual  tranquillity,  being  undisturbed  by  any  foreigii 
enemy,  and  free  from  any  intestine  commotion  of  long  continuance.  During 
this  period  James  endeavoured  to  civilize  the  Highlands  and  the  Isles,  a 
part  of  his  dominions  too  much  neglected  by  former  monarchs,  though  the 
reformation  of  it  was  an  object  highly  worthy  of  their  care.  The  long 
peace  with  England  had  afforded  an  opportunity  of  subduing  the  licentious 
spirit  of  the  borderers,  and  of  restraining  their  depredations,  often  no  less 
ruinous  to  their  countrymen  than  to  their  enemies.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
low  country  began,  gradually,  to  forget  the  use  of  arms,  and  to  become 
attentive  to  the  arts  of  peace.  But  the  Highlanders,  retaining  their  natural 
fierceness,  averse  from  labour,  and  inured  to  rapine,  infested  their  more 
industrious  neighbours  by  their  continual  incursions.  James,  being  soli- 
citous not  only  to  repress  their  inroads,  but  to  render  them  useful  subjects,* 
had  at  different  times  enacted  many  wise  laws  extremely  conducive  to 
these  ends.  All  landlords,  or  chiefs  of  clans,  were  enjoined  to  permit  no 
persons  to  reside  in  their  estates  who  could  not  find  sufficient  surety  for 
their  good  behaviour ;  they  were  required  to  make  a  list  of  all  suspicious 
persons  under  their  jurisdiction,  to  bind  themselves  to  deliver  them  to  jus- 
tice, and  to  indemnify  those  who  should  suffer  by  their  robberies  ;  and,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  faithful  performance  of  these  articles,  the  chiefs  them- 
selves were  obliged  to  give  hostages  to  the  king,  or  to  put  pledges  in  his 
hands.  Three  towns,  which  might  serve  as  a  retreat  for  the  industrious, 
and  a  nursery  for  arts  and  commerce,  were  appointed  to  be  built  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  Highlands  ;  one  in  Cantire,  another  in  Lochaber,  and  a  third 
in  the  Isle  of  Lewis  ;  and,  in  order  to  draw  inhabitants  thither,  all  the  pri- 
vileges of  royal  boroughs  were  to  be  conferred  upon  them.  Finding  it, 
however,  to  be  no  easy  matter  to  inspire  the  natives  of  those  countries 
with  the  love  of  industry,  a  resolution  was  taken  to  plant  among  them  colo- 
nies of  people  from  the  more  industrious  counties.  The  first  experiment 
was  made  on  the  Isle  of  Lewis  ;  and  as  it  was  advantageously  situated  for 
the  fishing  trade,  a  source  from  which  Scotland  ought  naturally  to  derive 
gre«t  wealth,  the  colony  transported  thither  was  drawn  out  of  Fife,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  were  well  skilled  in  that  branch  of  commerce.  But, 
before  they  had  remained  there  long  enough  to  manifest  the  good  effects 
of  this  institution,  the  islanders,  enraged  at  seeing  their  country  occupied 
by  those  intruders,  took  arms,  and  surprising  them  in  the  night-time,  mur- 
dered some  of  them,  and  compelled  the  rest  to  abandon  the  settlement. 
The  king's  attention  being  soon  after  turned  to  other  subjects,  we  hear  no 
more  of  this  salutary  project.  Though  James  did  not  pursue  the  design 
with  that  steady  application  and  perseverance,  without  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  change  the  manners  of  a  whole  people,  he  had  the  glory,  however, 
not  only  of  having  first  conceived  the  thought,  but  of  having  first  pointed  out 
the  proper  method  of  introducing  the  civil  arts  of  life  into  that  part  of  the  islandt 

1603.]  After  having  long  enjoyed  a  good  state  of  health,  the  effect  of  a 
sound  constitution,  and  the  reward  of  uncommon  regularity  and  temperance, 
Elizabeth  began  this  winter  to  feel  her  vigour  decrease,  and  to  be  sensible 
of  the  infirmities  of  old  age.  Having  removed  on  a  very  stormy  day  from 
Westminster  to  Richmond  [Jan.  31],  whither  she  was  impatient  to  retire, 
her  complaints  increased.  She  had  no  formed  fever  :  her  pulse  was  good  : 
but  she  ate  little,  and  could  not  sleep.  Her  distemper  seemed  to  proceed 
from  a  deep  melancholy,  which  appeared  both  in  her  countenance  and 
behaviour.  She  delighted  in  solitude  ;  she  sat  constantly  in  the  dark  :  and 
was  often  drowned  in  tears. 

»  Basil.  Dcr.  139.  f!  V     V'T    1594.  1WT.     Spott.  488. 

Vol.  III.— 40 


314  THE   HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

No  sooner  was  the  queen's  indisposition  known,  than  persons  of  al 
ranks,  and  of  all  different  sects  and  parties,  redoubled  their  applications  ta 
the  king  of  Scots,  and  vied  with  each  other  in  professions  of  attachment  to  hia 
person,  and  in  promises  of  submission  to  his  government.  Even  some  o. 
Elizabeth's  own  servants,  weary  of  the  length  of  her  reign,  fond  of  novelty, 
impatient  to  get  rid  of  the  burden  of  gratitude  for  past  benefits,  and  expecting 
to  share  in  the  liberality  of  a  new  prmce,  began  to  desert  her  :  and  crowds 
ot  people  hurried  towards  Scotland,  eager  to  preoccupy  the  favour  of  the 
successor,  or  afraid  of  being  too  late  in  paying  homage  to  him. 

Meanwhile,  the  queen's  disease  increased,  and  her  melancholy  appeared 
to  be  settled  and  incurable.  Various  conjectures  were  formed  concerning 
the  causes  of  a  disorder  from  which  she  seemed  to  be  exempted  by  the 
natural  cheerfulness  of  her  temper.  Some  imputed  it  to  her  being  forced, 
contrary  to  her  inclination,  to  pardon  the  earl  of  Tyrone,  whose  rebellion 
had  for  many  years  created  her  much  trouble.  Others  imagined  that  it 
arose  from  observing  the  ingratitude  of  her  courtiers,  and  the  levity  of  her 
people,  who  beheld  her  health  declining  with  most  indecent  indifference, 
and  looked  forward  to  the  accession  of  the  Scottish  king  with  an  impatience 
which  they  could  not  conceal.  The  most  common  opinion  at  that  time, 
and  perhaps  the  most  probable  was,  that  it  flowed  from  grief  for  the  earl 
of  Essex.  She  retained  an  extraordinary  regard  for  the  memory  of  lhat 
unfortunate  nobleman  ;  and  though  she  often  complained  of  his  obstinacy, 
seldom  mentioned  his  name  without  tears.*  An  accident  happened  soon 
after  her  retiring  to  Richmond,  which  revived  her  affections  with  new  ten- 
derness, and  embittered  her  sorrows.  The  countess  of  Nottingham,  being 
on  her  deathbed,  desired  to  see  the  queen  in  order  to  reveal  something  to 
her,  without  discovering  which  she  could  not  die  in  peace.  When  the 
queen  came  into  her  chamber,  she  told  her,  that  while  Essex  lay  under 
sentence  of  death,  he  was  desirous  of  imploring  pardon  in  the  manner  which 
the  queen  nerself  had  prescribed,  by  returning  a  ring  which  during  (he 
height  of  his  favour  she  had  given  him,  with  a  promise  that  if,  in  any  future 
distress,  he  sent  that  back  to  her  as  a  token,  it  should  entitle  him  to  her 
protection  ;  that  lady  Scrope  was  the  person  he  intended  to  employ  in  order 
to  present  it ;  that,  by  a  mistake,  it  was  put  into  her  hands  instead  of  lady 
Scrope's ;  and  that  she,  having  communicated  the  matter  to  her  husbann, 
one  of  Essex's  most  implacable  enemies,  he  had  forbid  her  either  to  carry 
the  ring  to  the  queen,  or  to  return  it  to  the  earl.  The  countess,  having  thus 
disclosed  her  secret,  begged  the  queen's  forgiveness  ;  but  Elizabeth,  who 
now  saw  both  the  malice  of  the  earl's  enemies,  and  how  unjustly  she  had 
suspected  him  of  inflexible  obstinacy,  replied,  "  God  may  forgive  you,  but 
I  never  can  ;"  and  left  the  room  in  ffreat  emotion.!  From  that  moment 
her  spirit  sunk  entirely ;  she  could  scarce  taste  food  ;  she  refused  all  the 
medicines  prescribed  by  her  physicians  ;  declaring  that  she  washed  to  die, 
and  would  live  no  longer.  No  entreaty  could  prevail  on  her  to  go  to  bed  ; 
she  sat  on  cushions  during  ten  days  and  nights,  pensive  and  silent,  holding 

•  Birch.  Mem.  ii.  505. 

t  This  anecdote  concerning  Elizabeth  was  first  published  by  Osborne,  Mem  of  Eliz.  p.  23  ;  is 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  De  Maurier,  Mem  260,  and  by  the  traditional  evidence  of  lady 
Elizabeth  Spelman,  published  by  Dr.  Birch,  Nesoc.  106.  Camden  mentions  the  queen's  grief  for 
Essex's  death  as  one  of  the  causes  of  her  melancholy.  Some  original  papers  remain,  which  prove 
that  this  was  commonly  believed  at  the  time.  Birch.  Mem.  ii  506.  E^sex,  however,  had  been  be- 
headed two  years  before  her  death,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  no  other  reason,  but  that  which 
we  have  assigned,  why  her  sorrows  should  revive  with  so  much  violence  at  so  great  a  distance  of 
Ume.  As  the  death  of  the  countess  of  Nottingham  happened  about  a  fortnight  before  the  queen's 
death,  the  coincidence  of  these  events,  together  with  the  other  evidence  mentioned,  adds  so  much 
probability  to  the  story  related  by  Osborne,  as  will  entitle  it  to  a  place  in  history.  The  only  objectioB 
to  the  account  we  have  given  of  Elizabeth's  attachment  to  Essex,  arises  from  her  great  age.  At 
the  age  of  68,  the  amorous  passions  are  commonly  abundantly  cool,  and  the  violence  of  all  the  pas- 
•ions,  except  one,  is  much  abated.  But  the  force  of  this  objection  is  entirely  removed  by  an  author 
who  has  illustrated  many  passages  in  the  English  history,  and  adorned  mote  Catalogue  of  Royal 
*nd  Noble  Authors,  Article  Essex. 


OF    SCOTLAND.  315 

her  finger  almost  continually  in  her  mouth,  with  her  eyes  open,  and  fixed 
on  the  ground.  The  only  thing  to  which  she  seemed  to  give  any  attention, 
was  the  acts  of  devotion  performed  in  her  apartment  by  the  arch  bishop  o: 
Canterbury;  and  in  these  she  joined  with  great  appearance  of  fervour. 
Wasted,  at  last,  as  well  by  anguish  of  mind  as  by  long  abstinence,  she 
expired  without  a  struggle,  on  Thursday,  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  March, 
in  the  seventieth  year  of  her  age,  and  in  the  forty-fifth  of  her  reign.* 

Foreigners  often  accuse  the  English  of  indifference  and  disrespect  towards 
their  princes  ;  but  without  reason.  No  people  are  more  grateful  than  they 
to  those  monarchs  who  merit  their  gr,atitude.  The  names  of  Edward  111 
and  Henry  V.  are  mentioned  by  the  English  of  this  age  with  the  same 
warmth  as  they  were  by  those  who  shared  in  the  blessings  and  splendour 
of  their  reigns.  The  memory  of  Elizabeth  is  still  adored  in  England 
The  historians  of  that  kingdom,  after  celebrating  her  love  of  her  people  , 
her  sagacity  in  discerning  their  true  interest ;  her  steadiness  in  pursuing  it ; 
her  wisdom  in  the  choice  of  her  ministers ;  the  glory  she  acquired  by 
arms  ;  the  tranquillity  she  secured  to  her  subjects  ;  and  the  increase  of  fame, 
of  riches,  and  of  commerce,  which  were  the  fruits  of  all  these  ;  justly  rank 
her  among  the  most  illustrious  princes.  Even  the  defects  in  her  character, 
they  observe,  were  not  of  a  kind  pernicious  to  her  people.  Her  excessive 
frugality  was  not  accompanied  with  the  love  of  hoarding ;  and  though  it 
prevented  some  great  undertakings,  and  rendered  the  success  of  others 
incomplete,  it  introduced  economy  into  her  administration,  and  exempted 
the  nation  from  many  burdens,  which  a  monarch  more  profuse  or  more 
enterprising  must  have  imposed.  Her  slowness  in  rewarding  her  servants 
sometimes  discouraged  useful  merit ;  but  it  prevented  the  undeserving  from 
acquiring  power  and  wealth  to  which  they  had  no  title.  Her  extreme 
jealousy  of  those  princes  who  pretended  to  dispute  her  right  to  the  crown 
led  her  to  take  such  precautions  as  tended  no  less  to  the  public  safety  than 
to  her  own  ;  and  to  court  the  affections  of  her  people  as  the  firmest  support 
of  her  throne.  Such  is  the  picture  which  the  English  draw  of  this  great 
queen. 

Whoever  undertakes  to  write  the  history  of  Scotland,  finds  himself 
obliged,  frequently,  to  view  her  in  a  very  different  and  in  a  less  amiable 
light.  Her  authority  in  that  kingdom,  during  the  greater  part  of  her  reign, 
was  little  inferior  to  that  which  she  possessed  in  her  own.  But  this  autho- 
rity, acquired  at  first  by  a  service  of  great  importance  to  the  nation,  she 
exercised  in  a  manner  extremely  pernicious  to  its  happiness.  By  her  indus- 
try in  fomenting  the  rage  of  the  two  contending  factions  ;  by  supplying  the 
one  with  partial  aid  ;  by  feeding  the  other  with  false  hopes ;  by  balancing 
their  power  so  artfully  that  each  of  them  was  able  to  distress,  and  neither 
of  them  to  subdue  the  other ;  she  rendered  Scotland  long  the  seat  of  dis- 
cord, confusion,  and  bloodshed  ;  and  her  craft  and  intrigues,  effecting  what 
the  valour  of  her  ancestors  could  not  accomplish,  reduced  that  kingdom  to 
a  state  of  dependence  on  England.  The  maxims  of  policy,  often  little  con- 
sonant to  those  of  morality,  may,  perhaps,  justify  this  conduct.  But  no 
apology  can  be  offered  for  her  behaviour  to  queen  Mary ;  a  scene  of  dissimu- 
lation without  necessity,  and  of  severity  beyond  example.  In  almost  all 
her  other  actions  Elizabeth  is  the  object  of  our  highest  admiration;  in  this 
we  must  allow  that  she  not  only  laid  aside  the  magnanimity  which  became 
a  queen,  but  the  feelings  natural  to  a  woman. 

Though  Elizabeth  would  never  permit  the  question  concerning  the  right 
of  succession  to  the  crown  to  be  determined  in  parliament ;  nor  declare  hei 
own  sentiments  concerning  a  point  which  she  wished  to  remain  an  impene- 
trable mystery ;  she  had,  however,  formed  no  design  of  excluding  the  Scot- 
tish king  from  an  inheritance  to  which  his  title  was  undoubted.     A  short 

*  Camd.     Birch.  Mem.  ii.  50G      Ilireh   .Vegoc.  266.     Strype,  iv.  373. 


316  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VIll. 

time  before  her  death  she  broke  the  silence  which  she  had  so  long  pre- 
served on  that  subject,  and  told  Cecil  and  the  lord  admiral,  "  That  her 
throne  was  the  throne  of  kings ;  that  she  would  have  no  mean  person  to 
ascend  it,  and  that  her  cousin  the  king  of  Scots  should  be  her  successor.' 
This  she  confirmed  on  her  deathbed.  As  soon  as  she  breathed  her  last, 
the  lords  of  the  privy  council  proclaimed  James  king  of  England.  All  the 
intrigues  carried  on  by  foreigners  in  favour  of  the  infanta,  all  the  cabals 
formed  within  the  kingdom  to  support  the  titles  of  lady  Arabella  and  the 
earl  of  Hartford,  disappeared  in  a  moment ;  the  nobles  and  people,  forget 
ting  their  ancient  hostilities  with  Scotland  and  their  aversion  for  the 
dominion  of  strangers,  testified  their  satisfaction  with  louder  acclamations 
than  were  usual  at  the  accession  of  their  native  princes.  Amidst  this 
tumult  of  joy,  a  motion  made  by  a  few  patriots,  who  proposed  to  prescribe 
some  conditions  to  the  successor,  and  to  exact  from  him  the  redress  of  some 
grievances,  before  they  called  him  to  the  throne,  was  scarcely  heard  ;  and 
Cecil,  by  stifling  it,  added  to  his  stock  of  merit  with  his  new  master.  Sir 
Charles  Percy,  brother  of  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  and  Thomas  Somer- 
set, the  earl  of  Worcester's  son,  were  despatched  to  Scotland  with  a  letter 
to  the  king,  signed  by  all  the  peers  and  privy  counsellors  then  in  London  ; 
informing  him  of  the  queen's  death,  of  his  accession  to  the  throne,  of  their 
care  to  recognise  his  title,  and  of  the  universal  applause  with  which  the 
public  proclamation  of  it  had  been  attended.  They  made  the  utmost  haste 
to  deliver  this  welcome  message  ;  but  were  prevented  by  the  zeal  of  sir 
Robert  Carey,  lord  Hunsdon's  youngest  son,  who,  setting  out  a  few  hours 
after  Elizabeth's  death,  arrived  at  Edinburgh  on  Saturday  night,  just  as 
the  king  had  gone  to  bed.  He  was  immediately  admitted  into  the  royal 
apartment,  and  kneeling  by  the  king's  bed,  acquainted  him  with  the 
death  of  Elizabeth,  saluted  him  king  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and 
Ireland  ;  and  as  a  token  of  the  truth  of  the  intelligence  which  he  brought, 
presented  him  a  ring,  which  his  sister  lady  Scrope  had  taken  from  the 
queen's  finger  after  her  death.  James  heard  him  with  a  decent  composure 
But  as  Carey  was  only  a  private  messenger,  the  information  which  he 
brought  was  not  made  public,  and  the  king  kept  his  apartment  till  the 
arrival  of  Percy  and  Somerset.  Then  his  titles  were  solemnly  proclaimed  ; 
and  his  own  subjects  expressed  no  less  joy  than  the  English,  at  this  increase 
of  his  dignity.  As  his  presence  was  absolutely  necessaiy  in  England, 
where  the  people  were  extremely  impatient  to  see  their  new  sovereign,  he 
prepared  to  set  out  for  that  kingdom  without  delay.  He  appointed  his 
queen  to  follow  him  within  a  few  weeks.  He  committed  the  government 
of  Scotland  to  his  privy  council.  He  intrusted  the  care  of  his  children  to 
different  noblemen.  On  the  Sunday  before  his  departure  he  repaired  to 
the  church  of  St.  Giles,  and  after  hearing  a  sermon,  in  which  the  preacher 
displayed  the  greatness  of  the  divine  goodness  in  raising  him  to  the  throne 
of  such  a  powerful  kingdom  without  opposition  or  bloodshed,  and  exhorted 
him  to  express  his  gratitude,  by  promoting  to  the  utmost  the  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  his  subjects  ;  the  king  rose  up,  and  addressing  himself  to  the 
people,  made  many  professions  of  unalterable  affection  towards  them  ; 
promised  to  visit  Scotland  frequently;  assured  them  that  his  Scottish  sub- 
jects, notwithstanding  his  absence,  should  feel  that  he  was  their  native 
piince,  no  less  than  when  he  resided  among  them  ;  and  might  still  trust  that 
In's  ears  should  be  always  open  to  their  petitions,  which  he  would  answer 
with  the  alacrity  and  love  of  a  parent.  His  words  were  often  interrupted 
oy  the  teais  of  the  whole  audience  ;  who,  though  they  exulted  at  the  king's 
prosperity,  were  melted  into  sorrow  by  these  tender  declarations.* 

On  the  fifth  of  April  he  began  his  journey,  with  a  splendid  but  not  a 
numeruis  train    and  next  day  he  entered  Berwick      Wherever  he  came 

*  Spot  i\    -17(3, 


OF   SCOTLAND.  317 

immense  multitudes  were  assembled  to  welcome  him ;  and  the  principal 
persons  in  the  different  counties  through  which  he  passed  displayed  all 
their  wealth  and  magnificence  in  entertainments  prepared  for  him  at  their 
houses.  Elizabeth  had  reigned  so  long  in  England  that  most  of  her  sub- 
jects remembered  no  other  court  but  hers,  and  tlieir  notions  of  the  manners 
and  decorums  suitable  to  a  prince  were  formed  upon  what  they  had 
observed  there.  It  was  natural  to  apply  this  standard  to  the  behaviour 
and  actions  of  their  new  monarch,  and  to  compare  him,  at  first  sight,  with 
the  queen  on  whose  throne  he  was  to  be  placed.  James,  whose  manners 
were  extremely  different  from  hers,  suffered  by  the  comparison.  He  had 
not  that  flowing  affability  by  which  Elizabeth  captivated  the  hearts  of  her 
people;  and  though  easy  among  a  few  whom  he  loved,  his  indolence  could 
not  bear  the  fatigue  of  rendering  himself  agreeable  to  a  mixed  multitude 
He  was  no  less  a  stranger  to  that  dignity  with  which  Elizabeth  tempered 
t.er  familiarity.  And,  instead  of  that  well  judged  frugality  with  which  she 
conferred  titles  of  honour,  he  bestowed  them  with  an  undistinguishing  pro- 
fusion, that  rendered  them  no  longer  marks  of  distinction  or  rewards  oi 
merit.  But  these  were  the  reflections  of  the  few  alone  ;  the  multitude  con- 
tinued their  acclamations  ;  and  amidst  these  James  entered  London  on  the 
seventh  of  May,  and  took  peaceable  possession  of  the  throne  of  England. 

Thus  were  united  two  kingdoms,  divided  from  the  earliest  accounts  of 
time,  but  destined  by  their  situation  to  form  one  great  monarchy.  By  tins 
junction  of  its  whole  native  force,  Great  Britain  hath  risen  to  an  eminence 
and  authority  in  Europe  which  England  and  Scotland,  while  separate, 
could  never  have  attained. 

The  Scots  had  so  long  considered  their  monarchs  as  next  heirs  to  the 
English  throne,  that  they  had  full  leisure  to  reflect  on  all  the  consequences 
of  their  being  advanced  to  that  dignity.  But  dazzled  with  the  glory  of 
giving  a  sovereign  to  their  powerful  enemy,  relying  on  the  partiality  of 
their  native  prince,  and  in  full  expectation  of  sharing  liberally  in  the  wealth 
and  honours  which  he  would  now  be  able  to  bestow,  they  attended  little 
to  the  most  obvious  consequences  of  that  great  event,  and  rejoiced  at  his 
accession  to  the  throne  of  England,  as  if  it  had  been  no  less  beneficial  to 
the  kingdom  than  honourable  to  the  king.  They  soon  had  reason,  how- 
ever, to  adopt  very  different  sentiments;  and  from  that  period  we  may  date 
a  total  alteration  in  the  political  constitution  of  Scotland. 

The  feudal  aristocracy,  which  had  been  subverted  in  most  nations  of 
Europe  by  the  policy  of  their  princes,  or  had  been  undermined  by  the 
progress  of  commerce,  still  subsisted  with  full  force  in  Scotland.  Many 
causes  had  contributed  gradually  to  augment  the  power  of  the  Scottish 
nobles ;  and  even  the  reformation  which,  in  every  other  country  where  it 
prevailed,  added  to  the  authority  of  the  monarch,  had  increased  their 
wealth  and  influence.  A  king  possessed  of  a  small  revenue,  with  a  pre- 
rogative extremely  limited,  and  unsupported  by  a  standing  army,  could 
not  exercise  much  authority  over  such  potent  subjects.  He  was  obliged 
to  govern  by  expedients;  and  the  laws  derived  their  force  not  from  his 
power  to  execute  them,  but  from  the  voluntary  submission  of  the  nobles. 
But  though  this  produced  a  species  of  government  extremely  feeble  and 
irregular;  though  Scotland,  under  the  name,  and  with  all  the  outward 
ensigns  of  a  monarchy,  was  really  subject  to  an  aristocracy,  the  people 
were  not  altogether  unhappy;  and  even  in  this  wild  form  of  a  constitution, 
there  were  principles  which  tended  to  their  security  and  advantage.  The 
king,  checked  and  overawed  by  the  nobles,  durst  venture  upon  no  act  of 
arbitrary  power.  The  nobles,  jealous  of  the  king,  whose  claims  and  pre- 
tensions were  many,  though  his  power  was  small,  were  afraid  of  irritating 
their  dependants  by  unreasonable  exactions,  and  tempered  the  rigour  of 
aristocratical  tyranny  with  a  mildness  \nd  equality  to  which  it  is  naturally 
a  stranger.    As  long  aa  the  military  genius  of  the  feudal  government 


318  THE   HISTORY  [Book  V 111. 

remained  in  vigour,  the  vassals  both  of  the  crown  and  of  the  barons  were 
generally  not  only  free  from  oppression,  but  were  courted  by  their  supe- 
riors, whose  power  and  importance  were  founded  on  their  attachment 
and  love. 

But  by  his  accession  to  the  throne  of  England,  James  acquired  such  an 
immense  accession  of  wealth,  of  power,  and  of  splendour,  that  the  nobles, 
astonished  and  intimidated,  thought  it  vain  to  struggle  for  privileges  which 
they  were  now  unable  to  defend.  Nor  was  it  from  fear  alone  that  they 
submitted  to  the  yoke:  James,  partial  to  his  countrymen,  and  willing  that 
they  should  partake  in  his  good  fortune,  loaded  them  with  riches  and 
honours ;  and  the  hope  of  his  favour  concurred  with  the  dread  of  his  power, 
in  taming  their  fierce  and  independent  spirits.  The  will  of  the  prince 
became  the  supreme  law  in  Scotland;  and  the  nobles  strove,  with  emula- 
tion, who  should  most  implicitly  obey  commands  which  they  had  formerly 
been  accustomed  to  contemn.  Satisfied  with  having  subjected  the  nobles 
to  the  crown,  the  king  left  thetn  in  full  possession  of  their  ancient  jurisdic 
tion  over  their  own  vassals.  The  extensive  rights  vested  in  a  feudal  chief 
became  in  their  hands  dreadful  instruments  of  oppression;  and  the  military 
ideas,  on  which  these  rights  were  founded,  being  gradually  lost  or  dis- 
regarded, nothing  remained  to  correct  or  to  mitigate  the  rigour  with  which 
they  were  exercised.  The  nobles,  exhausting  their  fortunes  by  the  expense 
of  frequent  attendance  upon  the  English  court,  and  by  attempts  to  imitate 
the  manners  and  luxury  of  their  more  wealthy  neighbours,  multiplied 
exactions  upon  the  people,  who  durst  hardly  utter  complaints  which  they 
knew  would  never  reach  the  ear  of  the  sovereign,  nor  move  him  to  grant 
them  any  redress.  From  the  union  of  the  crowns  to  the  revolution  in  1688, 
Scotland  was  placed  in  a  political  situation  of  all  others  the  most  singular 
and  the  most  unhappy  ;  subjected  at  once  to  the  absolute  will  of  a  monarch, 
and  to  the  oppressive  jurisdiction  of  an  aristocracy,  it  suffered  all  the 
miseries  peculiar  to  both  these  forms  of  government.  Its  kings  were  des- 
potic ;  its  nobles  were  slaves  and  tyrants ;  and  the  people  groaned  under 
the  rigorous  domination  of  both. 

During  this  period,  the  nobles,  it  is  true,  made  one  effort  to  shake  off  the 
yoke,  and  to  regain  their  ancient  independency.  After  the  death  of  James 
the  Scottish  nation  was  no  longer  viewed  by  our  monarchs  with  any  partial 
affection.  Charles  I.,  educated  among  the  English,  discovered  no  peculiar 
attachment  to  the  kingdom  of  which  he  was  a  native.  The  nobles,  per- 
ceiving the  sceptre  to  be  now  in  hands  less  friendly,  and  swayed  by  a 
prince  with  whom  they  had  little  connexion,  and  over  whose  councils  tney 
had  little  influence,  no  longer  submitted  with  the  same  implicit  obedience. 
Provoked  by  some  encroachments  of  the  king  on  their  order,  and  appre- 
hensive of  others,  the  remains  of  their  ancient  spirit  began  to  appear.  They 
complained  and  remonstrated.  The  people,  being,  at  the  same  time, 
violently  disgusted  at  the  innovations  in  religion,  the  nobles  secretly 
heightened  this  disgust;  and  their  artifices,  together  with  the  ill  conduct  of 
the  court,  raised  such  a  spirit,  that  the  whole  nation  took  arms  against  iheir 
sovereign  with  a  union  and  animosity  of  which  there  had  formerly  been  no 
example.  Charles  brought  against  them  the  forces  of  England,  and  not- 
withstanding their  own  union,  and  the  zeal  of  the  people,  the  nobles  must 
have  sunk  in  the  struggle.  But  the  disaffection  which  was  growing  among 
his  English  subjects  prevented  the  king  from  acting  with  vigour.  A  civil 
war  broke  out  in  both  kingdoms;  and  after  many  battles  and  revolutions, 
which  are  well  known,  the  Scottish  nobles,  who  first  began  the  war,  were 
involved  in  the  same  ruin  with  the  throne.  At  the  restoration,  Charles  II. 
regained  full  possession  of  the  royal  prerogative  in  Scotland;  and  the 
nc  bles,  whose  estates  were  wasted,  or  their  spirit  broken  by  the  calamities 
to  which  they  had  been  exposed,  were  less  able  and  less  willing  than  ever 
to  resist  the  pawer  of  the  crown.     During  bis  reign,  and  that  of  James 


OF   SCOTLAND.  319 

VII.,  the  dictates  of  the  monarch  were  received  in  Scotland  with  most 
abject  submission.  The  poverty  to  which  many  of  the  nobles  were 
reduced  rendered  them  meaner  slaves  and  more  intolerable  tyrants  than 
ever.  The  people,  always  neglected,  were  now  odious,  and  loaded  with 
every  injury  on  account  of  their  attachment  to  religious  and  political  prin- 
ciples extremely  repugnant  to  those  adopted  by  their  princes. 

The  revolution  introduced  other  maxims  into  the  government  of  Scot- 
land. To  increase  the  authority  of  the  prince,  or  to  secure  the  privileges 
(if  the  nobles,  had  hitherto  been  almost  the  sole  object  of  our  laws.  The 
rights  of  the  people  were  hardly  ever  mentioned,  were  disregarded,  or 
unknown.  Attention  began,  henceforward,  to  be  paid  to  the  welfare  ol 
the  people.  By  the  claim  of  right,  their  liberties  were  secured  ;  and  the 
number  of  their  representatives  being  increased,  they  gradually  acquired 
new  weight  and  consideration  in  parliament.  As  they  came  to  enjoy 
more  security  and  greater  power,  their  minds  began  to  open,  and  to  form 
more  extensive  plans  of  commerce,  of  industry,  and  of  police.  But  the 
aristocratical  spirit,  which  still  predominated,  together  with  many  other 
accidents,  retarded  the  improvement  and  happiness  of  the  nation. 

Another  great  event  completed  what  the  revolution  had  begun.  The 
political  power  of  the  nobles,  already  broken  by  the  union  of  the  two 
crowns,  was  almost  annihilated  by  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms.  Instead 
of  making  a  part,  as  formerly,  of  the  supreme  assembly  of  the  nation ; 
instead  of  bearing  the  most  considerable  sway  there,  the  peers  of  Scot- 
land are  admitted  into  the  British  parliament  by  their  representatives  only, 
and  form  but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  one  of  those  bodies  in  which  the 
legislative  authority  is  vested.  They  themselves  are  excluded  absolutely 
from  the  House  of  Commons,  and  even  their  eldest  sons  are  not  permitted 
to  represent  their  countrymen  in  that  august  assembly.  Nor  have  their 
feudal  privileges  remained  to  compensate  for  this  extinction  of  their  poli- 
tical authority.  As  commerce  advanced  in  its  progress,  and  government 
attained  nearer  to  perfection,  these  were  insensibly  circumscribed,  and  at 
last,  by  laws  no  less  salutary  to  the  public  than  fatal  to  the  nobles,  they 
have  been  almost  totally  abolished.  As  the  nobles  were  deprived  of  power, 
the  people  acquired  liberty.  Exempted  from  burdens  to  which  they  were 
formerly  subject,  screened  from  oppression  to  which  they  had  been  long 
exposed,  and  adopted  into  a  constitution  whose  genius  and  laws  were  more 
liberal  than  their  own,  they  have  extended  their  commerce,  refined  their 
manners,  made  improvements  in  the  elegancies  of  life,  and  cultivated  the 
arts  and  sciences. 

This  survey  of  the  political  state  of  Scotland,  in  which  events  and  their 
causes  have  been  mentioned  rather  than  developed,  enables  us  to  point  out 
three  eras,  from  each  of  which  we  may  date  some  great  alteration  in  one 
or  other  of  the  three  different  members  of  which  the  supreme  legislative 
assembly  in  our  constitution  is  composed.  At  their  accession  to  the  throne 
of  England,  the  kings  of  Scotland,  once  the  most  limited,  became  in  an 
instant  the  most  absolute  princes  in  Europe,  and  exercised  a  despotic 
authority,  which  their  parliaments  were  unable  to  control,  or  their  nobles 
to  resist.  At  the  union  of  the  two  kingdoms,  the  feudal  aristocracy,  which 
had  subsisted  so  many  ages,  and  with  power  so  exorbitant,  was  overturned, 
and  the  Scottish  nobles,  having  surrendered  rights  and  pre-eminences  pecu- 
liar to  their  order,  reduced  themselves  to  a  condition  which  is  no  longer 
the  terror  and  envy  of  other  subjects.  Since  (he  union,  the  commons, 
anciently  neglected  by  their  kings,  and  seldom  courted  by  the  nobles, 
have  emerged  into  dignity;  and,  neing  admitted  to  a  paiticipation  of  all 
the  privileges  which  the  English  had  purchased  at  the  expense  of  so  much 
Dlood,  must  now  be  deemed  a  body  not  less  considerable  in  the  one  king- 
dom than  they  have  long  been  in  the  other. 

The   church  felt  the  effects  of  the  absolute  power  which  the  kinp 


320  THE  HISTORY  [Book  VIII. 

acquired  by  his  accession ;  and  its  revolutions,  too,  are  worthy  of  notice. 
James,  during  the  latter  years  of  his  administration  in  Scotland,  had  revived 
the  name  and  office  of  bishops.     But  they  possessed  no  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction, or  pre-eminence;  their  revenues  were  inconsiderable,  and   they 
were  scarcely  distinguished  by  any  thing  but  by  their  seat  in  parliament, 
and  by  being  the  object  of  the  clergy's  jealousy  and  the  people  s  hatred 
The  king,  delighted  with  the  splendour  and  authority  which  the  English 
bishops  enjoyed,  and  eager  to  effect  a  union  in  the  ecclesiastical  policy, 
which  he  had  in  vain  attempted  in  the  civil  government  of  the  two  king- 
doms, resolved  to  bring  both  churches  to  an  exact  conformity  with  each 
other.    Three  Scotsmen  were  consecrated  bishops  at  London.    From  them 
their  brethren  were  commanded  to  receive  orders.     Ceremonies  unknown 
in  Scotland  were  imposed  ;  and  though  the  clergy,  less  obsequious  than  the 
nobles,  boldly  opposed  these  innovations,  James,  long  practised  and  well 
skilled  in  the  arts  of  managing  them,  obtained  at  length  their  compliance. 
But  Charles  I.,  a  superstitious  prince,  unacquainted  with  the  genius  ot  the 
Scots,  imprudent  and  precipitant  in  all  the  measures  he  pursued  in  that 
kingdom,  pressing  too  eagerly  the  reception  of  the  English  liturgy,  and 
indiscreetly  attempting  a  resumption  of  church  lands,  kindled  the  flames 
of  civil  war;  and  the  people  being  left  at  liberty  to  indulge  their  own 
wishes,  the  episcopal  church  was  overturned,  and  the  presbyterian  govern- 
ment and  discipline  were  re-established  with  new  vigour.     Together  with 
monarchy,  episcopacy  was  restored  in  Scotland.     A  form  of  government  so 
odious  to  the  people  required  force  to  uphold  it ;  and  though  not  only  the 
whole  rigour  of  authority,  but  all  the  barbarity  of  persecution,  were  em- 
ployed in  its  support,  the  aversion  of  the  nation  was  insurmountable,  and 
it  subsisted  with  difficulty.     At  the  revolution,  the  inclinations  of  the  people 
were  thought  worthy  the  attention  of  the  legislature,  the  presbyterian 
government  was  again  established,  and  being  ratified  by  the  union,  is  still 
maintained  in  the  kingdom.  .  .,       ,       i    . 

Nor  did  the  influence  of  the  accession  extend  to  the  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical constitutions  alone ;  the  genius  of  the  nation,  its  taste  and  spirit,  things 
of  a  nature  still  more  delicate,  were  sensibly  affected  by  that  event.    When 
learning  revived  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  all  the  modern 
languages  were  in  a  state  extremely  barbarous,  devoid  of  elegance,  of 
vigour,  and  even  of  perspicuity.    No  author  thought  of  writing  in  language 
so  ill  adapted  to  express  and  embellish  his  sentiments,  or  of  erecting  a 
work  for  immortality  with  such  rude  and  perishable  materials.     As  the 
spirit  which  prevailed  at  that  time  did  not  owe  its  rise  to  any  original 
effort  of  the  human  mind,  but  was  excited  chiefly  by  admiration  of  the 
ancients,  which  began  then  to  be  studied  with  attention  in  every  part  of 
Europe,  their  compositions  were  deemed  not  only  the  standards  of  taste 
and  of  sentiment,  but  of  style  ;  and  even  the  languages  in  which   they 
wrote  were  thought  to  be  peculiar,  and  almost  consecrated  to  learning  and 
the  muses.     Not  only  the  manner  of  the  ancients  was  imitated,  but  their 
language  was  adopted :  and  extravagant  as  the  attempt  may  appear  to 
vvrfte  in  a  dead  tongue,  in  which  men  were  not  accustomed  to  think,  and 
which  they  could  not  speak  or  even  pronounce,  the  success  of  it  was 
astonishing.     As  they  formed  their  style  upon  the  purest  models  :  as  they 
ere  uninfected  with  those  barbarisms  which  the  inaccuracy  of  familiar 
conversation,  the  affectation  of  courts,  intercourse  with  strangers,  and  a 
thousand  other  causes,  introduce  into  living   languages  ;  many  moderns 
have  attained  to  a  degree  of  elegance  in  their  Latin  compositions  which 
the  Romans  themselves  scarce  possessed  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Augustan 
age.     While   this  was  almost  the  only  species  of  composition,  and  all 
authors,  by  using  one  common  language,  could  be  brought  to  a  nearer 
comparison,  the  Scottish  writers  were   not   inferior  to  those  of  any  other 
nation.     The  happy  genius  of  Buchanan,  equally  formed  to  excel  in  prose 


OF   SCOTLAND.  3?1 

and  in  verse,  more  various,  more  original,  and  more  elegant  than  that  of 
almost  any  other  modern  who  writes  in  Latin,  reflects,  with  regard  to  this 
particular,  the  greatest  lustre  on  his  country. 

But  the  labour  attending  the  study  of  a  dead  tongue  was  irksome  ;  the 
unequal  return  for  their  industry  which  authors  met  with,  who  could  be 
read  and  admired  only  within  the  narrow  circle  of  the  learned,  was  mor- 
tifying; and  men,  instead  of  wasting  half  their  lives  in  learning  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Romans,  began  to  refine  and  to  polish  their  own.  The 
modem  tongues  were  found  to  be  susceptible  of  beauties  and  graces, 
which,  if  not  equal  to  those  of  the  ancient  ones,  were  at  least  more  attain- 
able. The  Italians  having  first  set  the  example,  Latin  was  no  longer  used 
in  works  of  taste  ;  it  was  confined  to  books  of  science  ;  and  the  politer 
nations  have  banished  it  even  from  these.  The  Scots,  we  may  presume, 
would  have  hail  no  cause  to  regret  this  change  in  the  public  taste,  and 
would  still  have  been  able  to  maintain  some  equality  with  other  nations,  in 
their  pursuit  of  literary  honour.  The  English  and  Scottish  ianguages, 
derived  from  the  same  sources,  were  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  in 
a  stste  nearly  similar,  differing  from  one  another  somewhat  in  orthography, 
though  not  only  the  words  but  the  idioms  were  much  the  same.  The 
letters  of  several  Scottish  statesmen  of  that  age  are  not  inferior  in  elegance 
or  in  purity  to  those  of  the  English  ministers  with  whom  they  corresponded 
James  himself  was  master  of  a  style  far  from  contemptible;  and  by  his 
example  and  encouragement  the  Scottish  language  might  have  kept  pace 
with  the  English  in  refinement.  Scotland  might  have  had  a  series  ol 
authors  in  its  own,  as  well  as  in  the  Latin  language  to  boast  of;  and  the 
improvements  in  taste,  in  the  arts,  and  in  the  sciences,  which  spread  over 
the  other  polished  nations  of  Europe,  would  not  have  been  unknown  there. 

But,  at  the  very  time  when  other  nations  were  beginning  to  drop  the  use 
of  Latin  in  works  of  taste,  and  to  make  trial  of  the  strength  and  compass 
of  their  own  languages,  Scotland  ceased  to  be  a  kingdom.  The  transports 
of  joy,  which  the  accession  at  first  occasioned,  were  soon  over:  and  the 
Scots,  being  at  once  deprived  of  all  the  objects  that  refine  or  animate  a 
people  ;  of  the  presence  of  their  prince,  of  the  concourse  of  nobles,  of  the 
splendour  and  elegance  of  a  court,  a  universal  dejection  of  spirit  seems  to 
have  seized  the  nation.  The  court  being  withdrawn,  no  domestic  standard 
of  propriety  and  correctness  of  speech  remained  ;  the  tew  compositions 
that  Scotland  produced  were  tried  by  the  English  standard,  and  every  word 
or  phrase  that  varied  in  the  least  from  that  was  condemned  as  barbarous  ; 
whereas,  if  the  two  nations  bad  continued  distinct,  each  might  have  retain- 
ed idioms  and  forms  of  speech  peculiar  to  itself;  and  these  rendered 
fashionable  by  the  example  of  a  court,  and  supported  by  the  authority  of 
writers  of  reputation,  might  have  been  viewed  in  the  same  light  with  the 
varieties  occasioned  by  the  different  dialects  in  the  Greek  tongue  ;  they 
even  might  have  been  considered  as  beauties  ;  and  in  many  cases  might 
have  been  used  promiscuously  by  the  authors  of  both  nations.  But,  by  the 
accession,  the  English  naturally  became  the  sole  judges  and  lawgivers  in 
language,  and  rejected  as  solecisms  every  form  of  speech  to  which  their 
ear  was  not  accustomed.  Nor  did  the  Scots,  while  the  intercourse  between 
the  two  nations  was  inconsiderable,*  and  ancient  prejudices  were  still  so 
violent  as  to  prevent  imitation,  possess  the  means  of  refining  their  own 

*  A  remarkable  proof  of  the  little  intercourse  between  the  English  and  Scots  before  the  union  of 
thf  crowns,  is  to  be  found  in  two  curious  papers,  one  published  by  Haynes,  the  other  by  Strype.  In 
the  year  1567,  Elizabeth  commanded  the  bishop  of  London  to  take  a  survey  of  all  the  strangers 
within  the  cities  of  London  and  Westminster.  By  this  report,  which  is  very  minute,  it  appears  that 
the  whole  number  of  Scots  at  that  time  was  58.  Haynes,  455.  A  survey  of  the  same  kind  wis 
made  by  sir  Thomas  Row,  lord  Mayor,  A.  D.  1508.  The  number  of  Scots  had  then  increased  to  88 
Strype,  iv.  Supplement.  No.  1.  On  the  accession  of  James,  a  considerable  number  of  Scots,  espe- 
cially of  the  higher  rank,  resorted  to  England  but  it  was  not  till  the  union  that  the  intercourse 
between  the  two  kingdoms  became  great. 

Vol   III.-41 


322  T  H  £   H  I  S  T  O  R  Y  [Book  VIII 

tongue  according  to  the  purity  of  the  English  standard.  On  the  contrary 
new  corruptions  flowed  into  it  from  ever)7  different  source.  The  clergy  of 
Scotland,  in  that  age,  were  more  eminent  for  piety  than  for  learning ;  and 
though  there  did  not  arise  many  authors  among  them,  yet  being  in  posses- 
sion of  the  privilege  of  discoursing  publicly  to  the  people,  and  their  sermons 
being  too  long,  and  perhaps  too  frequent,  such  hasty  productions  could  not 
be  elegant,  and  many  slovenly  and  incorrect  modes  of  expression  may  be 
traced  back  to  the  original.  The  pleadings  of  lawyers  were  equally  loose 
and  inaccurate  ;  and  that  profession  having  furnished  more  authors,  and 
the  matters  of  which  they  treat  mingling  daily  in  common  discourse  and 
business,  many  of  those  vicious  forms  of  speech,  which  they  denominated 
Scotticisms,  have  been  introduced  by  them  into  the  language.  Nor  did 
either  the  language  or  public  taste  receive  any  improvement  in  parliament, 
where  a  more  liberal  and  more  correct  eloquence  might  have  been  expect- 
ed. All  business  was  transacted  there  by  the  lords  of  articles  ;  and  they 
were  so  servilely  devoted  to  the  court,  that  few  debates  arose,  and,  prior 
to  the  revolution,  none  were  conducted  with  the  spirit  and  vigour  natural  to 
a  popular  assembly. 

Thus,  during  the  whole  seventeenth  century,  the  English  were  gradually 
refining  their  language  and  their  taste  ;  in  Scotland  the  former  was  much 
debased,  and  the  latter  almost  entirely  lost.  In  the  beginning  of  that  peri- 
od, both  nations  were  emerging  out  ot  barbarity  ;  but  the  distance  between 
them,  which  was  then  inconsiderable,  became  before  the  end  of  it  immense. 
Even  after  science  had  once  dawned  upon  them,  the  Scots  seemed  to  be 
sinking  back  into  ignorance  and  obscurity  ;  and  active  and  intelligent  as 
they  naturally  are,  they  continued,  while  other  nations  were  eager  in  the 
pursuit  of  fame  and  knowledge,  in  a  state  of  languor.  This,  however, 
must  be  imputed  to  the  unhappiness  of  their  political  situation,  not  to  any 
defect  of  genius ;  for  no  sooner  was  the  one  removed  in  any  degree  than 
the  other  began  to  display  itself.  The  act  abolishing  the  power  of  the 
lords  of  articles,  and  other  salutary  laws  passed  at  the  revolution,  having 
introduced  freedom  of  debate  into  the  Scottish  parliament,  eloquence,  with 
all  the  arts  that  accompany  or  perfect  it,  became  immediate  objects  of 
attention  ;  and  the  example  of  Fletcher  of  Salton  alone  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  the  Scots  were  still  capable  of  generous  sentiments,  and,  notwith- 
standing some  peculiar  idioms,  were  able  to  express  themselves  with  energy 
and  with  elegance. 

At  length  the  union  having  incorporated  the  two  nations,  and  rendered 
them  one  people,  the  distinctions  which  had  subsisted  for  many  ages  gradu- 
ally wear  away;  peculiarities  disappear;  the  same  manners  prevail  in 
both  parts  of  the  island ;  the  same  authors  are  read  and  admired ;  the 
same  entertainments  are  frequented  by  the  elegant  and  polite  ;  and  the 
same  standard  of  taste  and  of  purity  in  language  is  established.  The 
Scots,  after  being  placed,  during  a  whole  century,  in  a  situation  no  less  fatal 
to  the  liberty  than  to  the  taste  and  genius  of  the  nation,  were  at  once  put  in 
possession  ot  privileges  more  valuable  than  those  which  their  ancestors  had 
formerly  enjoyed ;  and  every  obstruction  that  had  retarded  their  pursuit, 
or  prevented  their  acquisition  of  literary  fame,  was  totally  removed 


A 

CRITICAL   DISSERTATION 


CONCERNING 


THE  MURDER  OF  KING  HENRY,  AND  THE  GENUINENESS  OF 
THE  QUEEN'S  LETTERS  TO  BOTHWELL. 

It  is  not  ray  intention  to  engage  in  all  the  controversies  to  which  the 
murder  of  king  Henry,  or  the  letters  from  queen  Mary  to  Bothwell,  have 
given  rise  ;  far  less  to  appear  as  an  adversary  to  any  particular  author  who 
hath  treated  of  them.  To  repeat  and  to  expose  all  the  ill  founded  asser- 
tions, with  regard  to  these  points,  which  have  flowed  from  inattention,  from 
prejudice,  from  partiality,  from  malevolence,  and  from  dishonesty,  would 
be  no  less  irksome  to  myself  than  unacceptable  to  most  of  my  readers.  All 
I  propose  is,  to  assist  others  in  forming  some  judgment  concerning  the  facts 
in  dispute,  by  stating  the  proofs  produced  on  each  side,  with  as  much 
brevity  as  the  case  will  admit,  and  with  the  same  attention  and  impartiality 
which  I  have  endeavoured  to  exercise  in  examining  other  controverted 
points  in  the  Scottish  history. 

In  order  to  account  for  the  king's  murder,  two  different  systems  have 
been  formed.  The  one  supposes  Bothwell  to  have  contrived  and  executed 
this  crime  ;  the  other  imputes  it  to  the  earls  of  Murray,  Morton,  and  their 
party. 

The  decision  of  many  controverted  facts  in  history  is  a  matter  rather  of 
curiosity  than  of  use.  They  stand  detached  ;  and  whatever  we  determine 
with  regard  to  them,  the  fabric  of  the  story  remains  untouched.  But  the 
fact  under  dispute  in  this  place  is  a  fundamental  and  essential  one,  and 
according  to  the  opinion  which  an  historian  adopts  with  regard  to  it,  he 
must  vary  and  dispose  the  whole  of  his  subsequent  narration.  An  histori- 
cal system  may  be  tried  in  two  different  ways  ;  whether  it  be  consistent 
with  probability,  and  whether  it  be  supported,  by  evidence. 

Those  who  charge  the  king's  murder  upon  Bothwell  argue  in  the  follow 
ing  manner ;  and  though  their  reasonings  have  been  mentioned  already  in 
different  parts  of  the  narrative,  it  is  necessary  to  repeat  them  here.  Mary's 
love  for  Darnly,  say  they,  was  a  sudden  and  youthful  passion.  The  beauty 
of  his  person,  set  off  by  some  external  frivolous  accomplishments,  was  his 
chief  merit,  and  gained  her  affections.  His  capricious  temper  soon  raised 
in  the  queen  a  disgust,  which  broke  out  on  different  occasions.  His  engaging 
in  the  conspiracy  against  Rizio  converted  this  disgust  into  an  antipathy, 
which  she  was  at  no  pains  to  conceal.  This  breach  was,  perhaps,  in  its 
own  nature  irreparable  ;  the  king  certainly  wanted  that  art  and  condescen- 
sion which  alone  could  have  repaired  it.  It  widened  every  day,  and  a 
deep  and  settled  hatred  effaced  all  remains  of  affection.  Bothwell  observed 
this,  and  was  prompted  by  ambition,  and  perhaps  by  love,  to  found  upon 
it  a  scheme  which  proved  fatal  both  to  the  queen  and  to  himself.  He  had 
served  Mary  at  different  times  with  fidelity  and  success.  He  insinuated 
himself  into  her  favour,  oy  address  and  by  flattery.  By  degrees  he  gained 
her  heart.  In  order  to  gratify  his  love,  or  at  least  his  ambition,  it  was 
necessary  to  get  rid  of  the  king.  Mary  had  rejected  the  proposal  whicn, 
it  is  said,  had  been  made  to  her  for  obtaining  a  divorce.  The  king  was 
equally  hated  by  the  partisans  of  the  house  of  Hamilton,  a  considerable 
party  in  the  kingdom ;  by  Murray,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  popular 


324  DISSERTATION    Ofl 

p*>r«on«  in  his  country  ;  by  Morton  and  his  associates,  whom  he  had  deceived, 
»■'. .;  svbfirn  Bothwell  had  bound  to  his  interest  by  a  recent  favour.  Among 
rr.*,  people  Darnly  was  fallen  under  extreme  contempt.  Bothwell  might 
expect,  for  all  these  reasons,  that  the  murder  of  the  king  would  pass  with- 
out any  inquiry,  and  might  trust  to  Mary's  low,  and  to  his  own  address 
and  good  fortune,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  rest,  of  his  wishes.  What 
Bothwell  expected  really  came  to  pass.  Mary,  it  not  privy  herself  to  the 
design,  connived  at  an  action  which  rid  her  of  a  man  whom  she  had  such 
good  reason  to  detest.  A  few  months  after  the  murder  of  her  husband, 
she  married  the  person  who  was  both  suspected  and  accused  of  having 
perpetrated  that  odious  crime. 

Those  who  charge  the  guilt  upon  Murray  and  his  party  reason  in  this 
manner :  Murray,  they  say,  was  a  man  of  boundless  ambition.  Notwith- 
standing  the  illegitimacy  of  his  birth,  he  had  early  formed  a  design  of 
usurping  the  crown.  On  the  queen's  return  into  Scotland,  he  insinuated 
himself  into  her  favour,  and  engrossed  the  whole  power  into  his  own  hands. 
He  set  himself  against  every  proposal  of  marriage  which  was  made  to  her, 
lest  his  own  chance  of  succeeding  to  the  crown  should  be  destroyed.  He 
hated  Darnly,  and  was  no  less  hated  by  him.  In  order  to  be  revenged  on 
him,  he  entered  into  a  sudden  friendship  with  Bothwell,  his  ancient  anc3 
mortal  enemy.  He  encouraged  him  to  assassinate  Henry,  by  giving  him 
hopes  of  marrying  the  queen.  All  this  was  done  with  a  design  to  throw 
upon  the  queen  herself  the  imputation  of  being  accessary  to  the  murder, 
and,  under  that  pretext,  to  destroy  Bothwell,  to  depose  and  imprison  her, 
and  to  seize  the  sceptre  which  he  had  wrested  out  of  her  hands. 

The  former  of  these  systems  has  an  air  of  probability,  is  consistent 
with  itself,  and  solves  appearances.  In  the  latter,  some  assertions  are  false, 
some  links  are  wanting  in  the  chain,  and  effects  appear  of  which  no  suffi- 
cient cause  is  produced.  Murray,  on  the  queen's  return  into  Scotland, 
served  her  with  great  fidelity,  and  by  his  prudent  administration  rendered 
her  so  popular,  and  so  powerful,  as  enabled  her  with  ease  to  quash  a  formi- 
dable insurrection  raised  by  the  party  of  which  he  was  the  leader  in  the 
year  1565.  What  motive  could  induce  Murray  to  murder  a  prince  with 
out  capacity,  without  followers,  without  influence  over  the  nobles,  whorr 
the  queen,  by  her  neglect,  had  reduced  to  the  lowest  state  of  contempt, 
and  who,  after  a  long  disgrace,  had  regained  (according  to  the  most  favour 
able  supposition)  the  precarious  possession  of  her  favour  only  a  few  days 
before  his  death  ?  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  Murray  had  to  fear  from 
the  king's  life.  It  is  still  a  more  difficult  matter  to  guess  what  he  could 
gain  by  his  death.  If  we  suppose  that  the  queen  had  no  previous  attach- 
ment to  Bothwell,  nothing  can  appear  more  chimerical  than  a  scheme  tG 
persuade  her  to  marry  a  man  whose  wife  was  still  alive,  and  who  was  not 
only  suspected,  but  accused  of  murdering  her  former  husband.  But  that 
such  a  scheme  should  really  succeed  is  still  more  extraordinary.  If  Mur- 
ray had  instigated  Bothwell  to  commit  the  crime,  or  bad  himself  been  ac- 
cessary to  the  commission  of  it,  what  hopes  were  there  that  Bothwell 
would  silently  bear  from  a  fellow-criminal  all  the  prosecutions  which  he 
suffered,  without  ever  retorting  upon  him  the  accusation,  or  revealing  the 
whole  scene  of  iniquity  ?  An  ancient  and  deadly  feud  had  subsisted  between 
Murray  and  Bothwell ;  the  queen  with  difficulty  had  brought  them  to 
some  terms  of  agreement.  But  is  it  probable  that  Murray  would  choose 
an  enemy,  to  whom  he  had  been  so  lately  reconciled,  for  his  confidant  in 
the  commission  of  such  an  atrocious  crime  ?  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
it  ever  enter  into  the  imagination  of  a  wise  man,  first  to  raise  his  rival  to 
supreme  power,  in  hopes  that  afterwards  he  might  render  him  odious,  by 
accusing  him  of  crimes  which  he  had  not  committed,  and,  in  consequence 
of  this  unjust  charge,  should  be  enabled  to  deprive  him  of  that  power? 
The  most  adventurous  politician  never  hazarded  such  a  dangerous  exoe- 


K.  HENRY'S  MURDER.  325 

nment : — the   most    credulous    folly   never   trusted    such    an   uncertain 
chance. 

How  strong  soever  these  general  reasonings  may  appear  to  be,  it  is  not 
upon  them  alone  that  we  must  decide,  but  according  to  the  particular  evi- 
dence that  is  produced.     This  we  now  proceed  to  examine. 

That  Bothwell  was  guilty  of  the  king's  murder,  appears,  1.  From  the 
concurring  testimony  of  all  the  contemporary  historians.  2.  From  the  con- 
fession of  those  persons  who  suffered  for  assisting  at  the  commission  of 
the  crime,  and  who  entered  into  a  minute  detail  of  all  its  circumstances. 
Anders,  ii.  165.  3.  From  the  acknowledgment  of  Mary's  own  commis- 
sioners, who  allow  Bothwell  to  have  been  one  of  those  who  were  guilty  of 
this  crime.  Good.  ii.  213.  4.  From  the  express  testimony  of  Lesly,  bishop 
of  Ross,  to  the  same  effect  with  the  former.  Def.  of  Q,  Mary's  Hon.  And. 
i.  76.  Id.  iii.  p.  31.  5.  Morton,  at  his  death,  declared  that  Bothwell  had 
solicited  him  at  different  times,  to  concur  in  the  conspiracy  formed  against 
the  life  of  the  king  ;  and  that  he  was  informed  by  Archibald  Douglas,  one 
of  the  conspirators,  that  Bothwell  was  present  at  the  murder.  Crawf. 
Mem.  App.  4.  The  letter  from  Douglas  to  the  queen,  which  I  have  pub- 
lished in  the  Appendix,  No.  XLVII.,  confirms  Morton's  testimony.  6. 
Lord  Herries  promises,  in  his  own  name,  and  in  the  name  of  the  nobles 
who  adhered  to  the  queen,  that  they  would  concur  in  punishing  Bothwell 
as  the  murderer  of  the  king     Append.  No.  XXIV. 

The  most  direct  charge  ever  brought  against  Murray  is  in  these  words 
of  bishop  Lesly :  "  Is  it  unknown,"  addressing  himself  to  the  earl  of  Mur- 
ray, "  what  the  lord  Herries  said  to  your  face  openly,  even  at  your  own 
table,  a  few  days  after  the  murder  was  committed  ?  Did  he  not  charge  you 
with  the  foreknowledge  of  the  same  murder  ?  Did  he  not,  nulla  circuihone 
usus,  flatly  and  plainly  burden  you,  that  riding  in  Fife,  and  coming  with 
one  of  your  most  assured  and  trusty  servants  the  same  day  whereon  you 
departed  from  Edinburgh,  you  said  to  him,  among  other  talk,  "  This  night, 
ere  morning,  Lord  Darnly  shall  lose  his  life  ?"  Defence  of  Q.  Mary,  An- 
ders, ii.  75.  But  the  assertion  of  a  man  so  heated  with  faction  as  Lesly, 
unless  it  were  supported  by  proper  evidence,  is  of  little  weight.  The  ser- 
vant, to  whom  Murray  is  said  to  have  spoken  these  words,  is  not  named ; 
nor  the  manner  in  which  this  secret  conversation  was  brought  to  light  men- 
tioned. Lord  Herries  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  advocates  for  Mary, 
and  it  is  remarkable  that,  in  all  his  negotiation  at  the  court  of  England,  he 
never  once  repeated  this  accusation  of  Murray.  In  answering  the  challenge 
given  him  by  lord  Lindsay,  Herries  had  a  fair  opportunity  of  mentioning 
Murray's  knowledge  of  the  murder;  but,  though  he  openly  accuses  of  that 
crime  some  of  those  who  adhered  to  Murray,  he  industriously  avoids  any 
insinuation  against  Murray  himself.  Keith,  Pref.  ii.  Mary  herself,  in  con- 
versation with  sir  Francis  Knolles,  accused  Morton  and  Maitland  of  being 
privy  to  the  murder,  but  does  not  mention  Murray.  And.  iv.  55.  When 
the  bishop  of  Ross  and  lord  Herries  appeared  before  the  English  council, 
January  11,  1569,  they  declared  themselves  ready,  in  obedience  to  the 
queen's  command,  to  accuse  Murray  and  his  associates  of  being  accessary 
to  the  murder ;  but  "  they  being  also  required,  whether  they,  or  any  of 
them,  as  of  themselves,  would  accuse  the  said  earl  in  special,  or  any  of  his 
adherents,  or  thought  them  guilty  thereof,"  they  answered,  "  that  they  took 
God  to  witness  that  none  of  them  did  ever  know  any  thing  of  the  conspi- 
racy of  that  murder,  or  were  in  council  and  foreknowledge  thereof;  nei- 
ther who  were  devisors,  inventors,  and  executors,  of  the  same,  till  it  was 
publicly  discovered  long  thereafter,  by  some  of  the  assassins,  who  suffered 
death  on  that  account."  Good.  ii.  308.  These  words  are  taken  out  of  a 
register  kept  by  Ross  and  Herries  themselves,  and  seem  to  be  a  direct  con- 
futation of  the  bishop's  assertion. 

The  earls  of  Huntly  and  Argyll,  in  their  Protestation  touching  the  mur 


326  DISSERTATION   ON 

der  of  the  king  of  Scots,  after  mentioning  the  conference  at  Craigmillai 
concerning  a  divorce,  add,  "  So  after  these  premises,  the  murder  ol  the 
king  following,  we  judge  in  our  consciences,  and  hold  for  certain  and  truth, 
that  the  earl  of  Murray  and  secretary  Lethington  were  authors,  inventors, 
counsellors,  and  causers  of  the  same  murder,  in  what  manner,  or  by  what- 
soever persons  the  same  was  executed."  And.  iv.  188.  But,  1.  This  is 
nothing  more  than  the  private  opinion  or  personal  affirmation  of  these  two 
noblemen.  2.  The  conclusion  which  they  make  has  no  connexion  with  the 
premises  on  which  they  found  it.  Because  Murray  proposed  to  obtain  for 
the  queen  a  divorce  from  her  husband  with  her  own  consent,  it  does  no! 
follow  that  therefore  he  committed  the  murder  without  her  knowledge. 
3.  Huntly  and  Argyll  were  at  that  time  the  leaders  of  that  party  opposite 
to  Murray,  and  animated  with  all  the  rage  of  faction.  4.  Both  of  them 
were  Murray's  personal  enemies.  Huntly,  on  account  of  the  treatment 
which  his  family  and  clan  had  received  from  that  nobleman.  Argyll  was 
desirous  of  being  divorced  from  his  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  on  no  good 
terms,  Knox,  328,  and  by  whom  he  had  no  children.  Crawf.  Peer.  19 
She  was  Murray's  sister,  and  by  his  interest  Argyll's  design  was  obstructed. 
Keith,  551.  These  circumstances  would  go  Far  towards  invalidating  a 
positive  testimony;  they  more  than  counterbalance  an  indeterminate  sus 
picion.  5.  It  is  altogether  uncertain  whether  Huntly  and  Argyll  ever  sub- 
scribed this  protestation.  A  copy  of  such  a  protestation  as  the  queen 
thought  would  be  of  advantage  to  her  cause  was  transmitted  to  them  by 
uer.  Anders,  iv.  b.  ii.  186.  The  protestation  itself,  published  by  Ander- 
son, is  taken  from  an  unsubscribed  copy  with  blanks  for  the  date  and  place 
of  subscribing.  On  the  back  of  this  copy,  there  is  pasted,  indeed,  a  paper, 
which  Cecil  has  marked,  "  Answer  of  the  earl  of  Murray  to  a  writing  of 
the  earls  of  Huntly  and  Argyll."  Anders.  194,  195.  But  it  can  hardly  be 
deemed  a  reply  to  the  abovementioned  protestation.  Murray's  answer 
bears  date  at  London,  Jan.  19, 1568.  The  queen's  letter,  in  which  she 
enclosed  the  copy  of  the  protestation,  bears  date  at  Bowton,  Jan.  5,  1568. 
Now  it  is  scarce  to  be  supposed  that  the  copy  could  be  sent  into  Scotland, 
be  subscribed  by  the  two  earls,  and  be  seen  and  answered  by  Murray 
within  so  short  a  time.  Murray's  reply  seems  intended  only  to  prevent  the 
impression  which  the  vague  and  uncertain  accusations  of  his  enemies  might 
malce  in  his  absence.  Cecil  had  got  the  original  of  the  queen's  letter  into 
his  custody.  Anders,  iv.  185.  This  naturally  leads  us  to  conjecture  that 
the  letter  itself,  together  with  the  enclosed  protestation,  were  intercepted 
before  they  came  to  the  hands  of  Huntly  and  Argyll.  Nor  is  this  mere 
conjecture  alone.  The  letter  to  Huntly,  in  which  the  protestation  was 
enclosed,  is  to  be  found,  Cott.  Lib.  Cal.  C.  1.  fol.  280,  and  is  an  original 
subscribed  by  Mary,  though  not  written  by  her  own  hand,  because  she 
seldom  chose  to  write  in  the  English  language.  The  protestation  is  in  the 
same  volume,  fol.  282,  and  is  manifestly  written  by  the  same  person  who 
wrote  the  queen's  letter.  This  seems  to  render  it  highly  probable  that 
both  were  intercepted.  So  that  much  has  been  founded  on  a  paper  not 
subscribed  by  the  two  earls,  and  probably  never  seen  by  them.  Besides, 
this  method  which  the  queen  took  of  sending  a  copy  to  the  two  earls,  ol 
what  was  proper  for  them  to  declare  with  regard  to  a  conference  held  in 
their  own  presence,  appears  somewhat  suspicious.  It  would  have  been 
more  natural,  and  not  so  liable  to  any  misinterpretation,  to  have  desired 
them  to  write  the  most  exact  account,  which  they  could  recollect,  of  wha. 
had  passed  at  the  conversation  at  Craigmillar.  6.  But  even  if  all  this  rea- 
soning should  be  set  aside,  and  the  authenticity  of  the  protestation  should 
be  admitted  ii  its  fullest  extent,  it  may  still  be  a  question,  what  degree  of 
credit  should  be  given  to  the  assertion  of  the  two  earls,  who  were  not  only 
present  at  the  first  parliament  held  by  Murray  as  regent,  in  December, 
1567,  in  which  the  one  carried  the  sceptre,  and  the  other  the  sword  of  state 


K.    HENRY'S   MURDER.  327 

Spotsw.  241,  but  were  both  members  of  the  committee  of  lords  of  arti- 
cles, and  in  that  capacity  assisted  in  framing  all  the  acts  by  which  the 
queen  was  deprived  of  the  crown,  and  her  son  seated  on  the  throne  ;  and 
in  particular  concurred  in  the  act  by  which  it  was  declared,  that  whatever 
had  befallen  the  queen  "was  in  her  awin  default,  in  sa  far  as,  be  divers 
hir  privie  letters  written  halelie  with  liir  awin  hand,  and  send  by  hir  to 
James  sometyme  earle  of  Bothwell,  cheif  executour  of  the  said  horribill 
murthour,  as  weill  befoir  the  committing  thairof  as  thairaftir  :  And  be  hir 
ungodlie  and  dishonourabill  proceeding  to  ane  pretendit  marriage  with  him, 
suddainlie  and  unprovifitlie  thaireftir,  it  is  maist  certane  that  sche  was  pre- 
vie,  airt  and  pairt,  of  the  actual  devise  and  deid  of  the  foirnamit  murthour 
of  the  king  her  lauchful  husband,  and  thairfoir  justlie  desirvis  quhatsum 
ever  hes  bene  done  to  hir  in  ony  tyme  bygaine,  or  that  sal  be  usit  towards 
hir,  for  the  said  cause."    Anders,  ii.  221. 

The  queen's  commissioners  at  the  conferences  in  England  accused  Mur- 
ray and  his  associates  of  having  murdered  the  king.  Good.  ii.  281.  But 
this  charge  is  to  be  considered  as  a  recrimination  extorted  by  the  accusation 
preferred  against  the  queen,  and  contains  nothing  more  than  loose  and 
general  affirmations,  without  descending  to  such  particular  circumstances  as 
either  ascertain  their  truth,  or  discover  their  falsehood.  The  same  accu- 
sation is  repeated  by  the  nobles  assembled  at  Dumbarton,  Sept.  1568. 
Good.  ii.  359.     And  the  same  observation  may  be  made  concerning  it. 

All  the  queen's  advocates  have  endeavoured  to  account  for  Murray's 
murdering  of  the  king,  by  supposing  that  it  was  done  on  purpose  that  he 
might  have  the  pretence  of  disturbing  the  queen's  administration,  and 
thereby  rendering  ineffectual  her  general  revocation  of  crown  lands,  which 
would  have  deprived  him  and  his  associates  of  the  best  part  of  their 
estates.  Lesly,  Def.  of  Mary's  Hon.  p.  73.  Anders,  iv.  part  ii.  130. 
But  whoever  considers  the  limited  powers  of  a  Scottish  monarch,  will 
see  that  such  a  revocation  could  not  be  very  formidable  to  the  nobles. 
Every  king  of  Scotland  began  his  reign  with  such  a  revocation  ;  and  as 
often  as  it  was  renewed,  the  power  of  the  nobles  rendered  it  ineffectual. 
The  best  vindication  of  Murray  and  his  party  from  this  accusation  is  that 
which  they  presented  to  the  queen  of  England,  and  which  hath  never 
hitherto  been  published. 

Answers  to  the  objections  and  alledgance  of  the  queen,  alledgine;  the  earl  of 
Murray,  lord  regent,  the  earl  of  Morton,  Marr,  Glenc.airn,  Hume,  Ruth- 
ven,  fyc.  to  have  been  moved  to  armour,  for  that  they  abhorred  and  might 
not  abide  her  revocation  of  the  alienation  made  of  her  property. 

It  is  answered,  that  is,  alledged  but  [i.  e.  without]  all  appearance,  that 
it  appears  God  has  bereft  the  alledgance  of  all  wit  ana  good  remembrance, 
for  thir  reasons  following  : 

Imprimis,  as  to  my  lord  regent,  he  never  had  occasion  to  grudge  thereat, 
in  respect  the  queen  made  nim  privy  to  the  same,  and  took  resolution 
with  him  for  the  execution  thereof,  letting  his  lordship  know  she  would 
assuredly  in  the  samine  except  all  things  she  had  given  to  him,  and  ratefy 
them  in  the  next  parliament  as  she  did  indeed  ;  and  for  that  cause  wished 
my  lord  to  leave  behind  him  master  John  Wood,  to  attend  upon  the  same, 
to  whom  she  declared,  that  als  well  in  that  as  in  all  other  her  grants  it 
should  be  provided,  yea  of  free  will  did  promise  and  offer  before  ever  he 
demanded,  as  it  came  to  pass  without  any  let  or  impediment ;  for  all  wa9 
ratified  by  her  command,  and  hand  write,  at  the  parliament,  but  [i.e 
without]  any  difficulty. 

Item  as  to  my  lord  of  Morton,  he  could  not  grudge  thereat,  quha  nevei 
had  of  her  property  worth  twenty  dollars,  that  ever  I  knew  of. 

Item  the  same,  may  I  say  of  my  lord  Glencairn. 


3*e  DISSERTATION    ON 

Item  the  same,  I  may  say  of  my  lord  Hume 

Item  the  same,  I  may  say  of  my  lord  Ruthven. 

Item  the  same,  I  may  say  of  my  lord  Lindsay. 

Only  my  lord  of  Marr,  had  ane  little  thing  of  the  property  quilk  alsu?. 

was  gladly  and  liberally  confirmed  to  him,  in  the  said  parliament  preceding 

a  yeai  •,  was  never  ane  had  any  cause  of  miscontent  of  that  revocation,  far 

ess  to  have  put  their  lives  and  heritage  to  so  open  and  manifest  ane  danger 

as  they  did  for  sic  ane  frivole  cause. 

Gyf  ever  any  did  make  evill  countenance,  and  show  any  miscontentment 
of  the  said  revocation,  it  was  my  lord  of  Argyll  in  special,  quha  spak 
largely  in  the  time  of  parliament  thairanents  to  the  queen  herself,  and  did 
complain  of  the  manifest  corruption  of  ane  act  of  parliament  past  upon 
her  majesty's  return,  and  sa  did  lett  any  revocation  at  that  time  ;  but  the 
armour  for  revenge  of  the  king's  deid  was  not  till  twa  months  after,  at 
quhat  time  there  was  no  occasion  given  thereof,  nor  ever  a  man  had  mind 
thereof. 

Having  thus  examined  the  evidence  which  has  been  produced  against 
the  earls  of  Murray  and  Bothwell ;  we  shall  next  proceed  to  inquire 
whether  the  queen  herself  was  accessary  to  the  murder  of  her  husband. 

No  sooner  was  the  violent  death  of  Darnly  known,  than  strong  suspicion 
arose,  among  some  of  her  subjects,  that  Mary  had  given  her  consent  to 
the  commission  of  that  crime.  Anders,  ii.  156.  We  are  informed  by 
her  own  ambassador  in  France,  the  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  that  the  sen- 
timents of  foreigners,  on  this  head,  were  no  less  unfavourable  to  her. 
Keith,  Pref.  ix.  Many  of  her  nobles  loudly  accused  her  of  that  crime, 
and  a  great  part  of  the  nation,  by  supporting  them,  seem  to  have  allowed 
the  accusation  to  be  well  founded. 

Some  crimes,  however,  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  hardly  admit  of 
a  positive  or  direct  proof.  Deeds  of  darkness  can  seldom  be  brought  per- 
fectly to  light.  Where  persons  are  accused  not  of  being  principals,  but 
only  of  being  accessaries  in  the  commission  of  a  crime ;  not  of  having 
perpetrated  it  themselves,  but  only  of  giving  consent  to  the  commission  of  it 
by  others  ;  the  proof  becomes  still  more  difficult :  and  unless  when  some 
accomplice  betrays  the  secret,  a  proof  by  circumstances,  or  presumptive 
evidence  is  all  that  can  be  attained.  Even  injudicial  trials,  such  evidence 
is  sometimes  held  to  be  sufficient  for  condemning  criminals.  The  degree 
of  conviction  which  such  evidence  carries  along  with  it  is  often  not  inferior 
to  that  which  arises  from  positive  testimony  ;  and  a  concurring  series  of 
circumstances  satisfies  the  understanding  no  less  than  the  express  declara- 
tion of  witnesses. 

Evidence  of  both  these  kinds  has  been  produced  against  Mary.  We 
shall  first  consider  that  which  is  founded  upon  circumstances  alone. 

Some  of  these  suspicious  circumstances  preceded  the  king's  death  ; 
others  were  subsequent  to  it.  With  regard  to  the  former  we  may  observe 
that  the  queen's  violent  love  of  Darnly  was  soon  converted  into  an  aversion 
to  him  no  less  violent ;  and  that  his  own  ill  conduct  and  excesses  of  every 
kind  were  such  that,  if  they  did  not  justify,  at  least  they  account  for  this 
sudden  change  of  her  disposition  towards  him.  The  rise  and  progress  of 
this  domestic  rupture  I  have  traced  with  great  care  in  the  History,  and  to 
tLe  proofs  of  it  which  may  be  found  in  papers  published  by  other  authors, 
1  have  added  those  contained  in  App.  No.  XVI.  and  XVII.  Le  Croc,  the 
French  ambassador,  who  was  an  eyewitness  of  what  he  describes,  not  only 
represents  her  aversion  to  Darnly  to  be  extreme,  but  declares  that  there 
could  be  no  hopes  of  a  reconcilement  between  them  [Dec.  12, 1566].  "  The 
queen  is  in  the  hands  of  physicians,  and  I  do  assure  you  is  not  at  all  well : 
and  do  believe  the  principal  part  of  her  disease  to  consist  in  deep  grief  and 
sorrow  ;  nor  does  it  seem  possible  to  make  her  forget  the  same.     Still  sh* 


e 


H    II  EN  R  V  »S    MUKDER.  328 

«peali  :hese  words,  7  cou/u  am/i.  to  be  dead.  You  know  very  well  that 
(h«>  injury  she  has  received  is  exceeding  great,  and  her  majesty  will  never 
iorge*  it.  To  speak  my  mind  freely  to  you,  I  do  not  expect,  upon  several 
;' ,i.oui..s.  <i)vg(s>d  understanding  between  them  [i..e.  the  king  and  queen], 
tr  «  •.  (ioa  effectually  put  to  his  hand.  [Dec.  23.]  His  bad  deportment 
<s  incurable  ;  nor  can  there  ever  be  any  good  expected  from  him,  for 
several  reasons,  which  1  might  tell  you  was  I  present  with  you.  I  cannot 
pretend  to  foretell  how  all  may  turn ;  but  I  will  say,  that  matters  cannot 
subsist  long  as  they  are,  without  being  accompanied  with  sundry  bad 
consequences."  Keith.  Pref.  vii.  Had  llenry  died  a  natural  death  at  this 
juncture,  it  must  have  been  considered  as  a  very  fortunate  event  to  the 
queen,  and  as  a  seasonable  deliverance  from  a  husband  who  had  becom< 
altogether  odious  to  her.  Now  as  Henry  was  murdered  a  few  weeks 
afterwards,  and  as  nothing  had  happened  to  render  the  queen's  aversion 
to  him  less  violent,  the  opinion  of  those  who  consider  Mary  as  the  author 
of  an  event  which  was  manifestly  so  agreeable  to  her,  will  appear  perhaps 
to  some  of  our  readers  to  be  neither  unnatural  nor  over  refined.  If  wo  add 
to  this,  what  has  been  observed  in  the  History,  that  in  proportion  to  the 
increase  ot  Mary's  hatred  of  her  husband,  Bothwell  seems  to  have  made 
uogress  in  her  favour,  and  that  he  became  the  object  not  only  of  her  con- 
dence  but  her  attachment,  that  opinion  acquires  new  strength.  It  is  easy 
to  observe  many  advantages  which  might  redound  to  Mary  as  well  as  to 
Bothwell  from  the  king's  death ;  but  excepting  them,  no  person,  and  no 

garty  in  the  kingdom,  could  derive  the  least  benefit  from  that  event, 
othwell,  accordingly,  murdered  the  king,  and  it  was  in  that  age  thought 
no  unwarranted  imputation  on  Mary's  character,  to  suppose  that  she  had 
consented  to  the  deed. 

The  steps  which  the  queen  took  after  her  husband's  death  add  strength 
to  that  supposition.  1.  Melvil,  who  was  in  Edinburgh  at  the  time  of  the 
king's  death,  asserts  that  "  every  body  suspected  the  earl  of  Bothwell ;  and 
those  who  durst  speak  freely  to  others,  said  plainly  that  it  was  he."  p.  155. 
2.  Mary  having  issued  a  proclamation,  on  the  12th  of  February,  offering  a 
reward  to  any  person  who  should  discover  those  who  had  murdered  her 
husband ;  And.  i.  36  ;  a  paper  in  consequence  of  this  was  affixed  to  the 
gates  of  the  tolbooth,  February  16,  in  which  Bothwell  was  named  as  the 
chief  person  guilty  of  that  crime,  and  the  queen  herself  was  accused  of 
having  given  her  consent  to  it.  And.  ii.  156.  3.  Soon  after,  February  20, 
the  earl  of  Lennox,  the  king's  father,  wrote  to  Mary,  conjuring  her,  by 
every  motive,  to  prosecute  the  murderers  with  the  utmost  rigour.  He 
plainly  declared  his  own  suspicions  of  Bothwell,  and  pointed  out  a  method 
of  proceeding  against  him,  and  for  discovering  the  authors  of  that  crime, 
no  less  obvious  than  equitable.  He  advised  Tier  to  seize,  and  to  commit 
to  sure  custody,  Bothwell  himself,  and  such  as  were  already  named  as 
his  accomplices ;  to  call  an  assembly  of  the  nobles  :  to  issue  a  procla- 
mation, inviting  Bothwell's  accusers  to  appear  ;  and  if,  on  that  encourage- 
ment, no  person  appeared  to  accuse  them,  to  hold  them  as  innocent,  and 
to  dismiss  them  without  further  trial.  And.  i.  40.  4.  Archbishop  Beatoun, 
her  ambassador  in  France,  in  a  letter  to  Mary,  March  9th,  employs  argu- 
ments of  the  utmost  weight  to  persuade  her  to  prosecute  the  murderers 
with  the  greatest  severity.  "  I  can  conclude  nathing  (says  he)  by  quhat  zour 
majesty  writes  to  me  zourself,  that  sen  it  has  plesit  God  to  conserve  zow 
to  make  a  rigorous  vengeance  thereof,  that  rather  than  it  be  not  actually 
taine,  it  appears  to  me  better  in  this  warld  that  ze  had  lost  life  and  all. 
J  ask  your  majestie  pardon,  that  I  writ  sa  tar,  for  I  can  heir  nathing  to 
zou.  jrejudise,  but  I  man  [must]  constraindly  writ  the  samin,  that  all  may 
come  to  zour  knawlege  ;  for  the  better  remede  may  be  put  therto.  Hen 
it  a  neediull  that  ze  forth  «haw  how  rnlher  than  ev-r  of  before,  the  greite 
v«?rt':e,  rnagnamrritie,  and  <".f.ns^!:cc-  thai  God  bss  grantit  zow,  be  quhais 
Vol   Ill  —4-2 


330  DISSERTATION   ON 

grace,  I  hope  ze  sail  overcome  this  most  heavy  envie  an:!  displesir  of  ttoe 
committing  therof,  and  conserve  that  reputation  in  all  godliness,  ze  have 
conquist  of  lang,  quhich  can  appear  na  wayis  mair  dearie,  than  that  zou 
do  sick  [such]  justice  that  the  haill  [whole]  vvorld;,may  declare  zour  inno- 
cence, and  give  testimony  for  ever  of  thair  treason  that  has  committed 
{but  [without]  fear  of  God  or  man)  so  cruel  and  ungodlie  a  murther 
quhairof  there  is  sa  meikle  [much]  ill  spoken,  that  I  am  constraint  to  ask 
zow  mercy,  that  neither  can  I  or  will  I  make  the  rehearsal  thereof,  which 
is  owr  [too]  odious.  But  alas !  madame,  all  over  Europe  this  day,  there 
is  na  purpose  in  head  sa  frequent  as  of  zour  niajestie,  and  of  the  present 
state  of  zour  realm,  quhilk  is  in  the  most  part  interprets  sinisterly." 
Keith.  Pref.  ix.  5.  Elizabeth,  as  appears  from  Appendix,  No.  XIX.  uiged 
the  same  thing  in  strong  terms.  6.  The  circumstances  of  the  case  itself, 
no  less  than  these  solicitations  and  remonstrances,  called  for  the  utmost 
vigour  in  her  proceedings.  Her  husband  had  been  murdered  in  a  cruel 
manner,  almost  in  her  own  presence.  Her  subjects  were  filled  with  the 
utmost  horror  at  the  crime.  Bothwell,  one  of  her  principal  favourites, 
had  been  publicly  accused  as  the  author  of  it.  Reflections,  extremely 
dishonourable  to  herself,  had  been  thrown  out.  If  indignation,  and  the 
love  of  justice,  did  not  prompt  her  to  pursue  the  murderers  with  ardour: 
decency,  at  least,  and  concern  for  vindicating  her  own  character,  should 
have  induced  her  to  avoid  any  appearance  ot  remissness  or  want  of  zeal. 
But  instead  of  this,  Mary  continued  to  discover  in  all  her  actions  the 
utmost  partiality  towards  Bothwell.  On  the  15th  of  February,  five  days 
after  the  murder,  she  bestowed  on  him  the  reversion  of  th«  superiority  of 
the  town  of  Leith,  which  in  the  year  1565  she  had  mortgaged  to  the  citizens 
of  Edinburgh.  This  grant  was  of  much  importance,  as  it  gave  him  not 
only  the  command  of  the  principal  port  in  the  kingdom,  but  a  great  ascend- 
ant over  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who  wished  much  to  keep  possession 
of  it.*  2.  Bothwell  being  extremely  desirous  to  obtain  the  command  of 
the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  the  queen,  in  order  to  prevail  on  the  earl  of  Mar 
to  surrender  the  government  of  it,  offered  to  commit  the  young  prince  to 
his  custody.  Mar  consented ;  and  she  instantly  appointed  Bothwell  governor 
of  the  castle.  And.  i.  Pref.  64.  Keith,  379.  note  (d).  3.  The  inquiry 
into  the  murder,  previous  to  Bothwell's  trial,  seems  to  have  been  conducted 
with  the  utmost  remissness.     Buchanan  exclaims  loudly  against  this,  And. 

*  Copy  from  the  original  in  the  Charter-house  of  the  City  of  Edinburgh  of  an  Assignation  to 
the  Reversion  of  the  Superiority  of  Leith  by  Queen  Mary,  to  the  Earl  of  Bothwell. 

Maria  Dei  gratia  Regina  Scotorum,  omnibus  probis  hominibus  suis  ad  quoe  prtesentes  liters  per- 
venerint  salutem.  Sciatis,  quod  nos  ad  memoriam  reducenles  multiplex  bonum  verum  et  fidele 
servitium,  non  tantum  quondam  nostra  charissim*  main  Marie  Regime  regni  nostri  pro  tempore 
in  nostra  minoritate  factum  et  impensum,  verum  etiam  nobismet  ipsis,  tarn  intra  partes  Galliae  quam 
intra  hoc  nostrum  regnum,  ad  extentionem  nostri  honoris  et  auctoritatis  in  punitione  furum,  male- 
factorum,  et  transgressorum  infra  idem,  per  nostrum  confisum  consanguineum  et  consiliarium 
Jacobum  comitem  Bothuile,  dominum  Hahs,  Creighion,  el  Liddisdale,  magnum  admirallum  regn 
nostri,  commissionem  et  onerationem  ad  hunc  effectum  habentem,  per  quas  ipse  suuin  corpus  et 
vitam  in  magno  periculo  posuit;  ac  etiam,  in  performatione  et  extentione  nostri  dicti  servitii,  suam 
hereditatem,  supra  summam  viginti  millium  mercaium  hujus  nostri  regni,  alienavit  ac  Itesit.  Et 
nos  cogitantesquod,  ex  nostra  principali  honore  et  devoria  dictum  nostrum  confisum  consanguineum 
et  consiliarium  cum  quodam  accidente  et  gratitudine  recompensare  et  gratificare  incumbit  qute  nos 
commod^sibi  concedere  poterimus,  unde  ipse  magis  habilis  omnibus affuturistemporibus esse  poterit, 
et  ad  hujusmodi  pertbrmaiidum  in  omnibus  causis  seu  eventibus :  In  recompensationem  quorum 
pramissorum,  ac  pro  diversis  aliis  nostris  rationabilibus  causis  et  consideralionibus  nos  moventibus, 
Fecimus,  &c.  dictum  Jacobum  comitem  Bothuile,  &c.  ac  suos  haeredes  masculos  quoscumque  nos 
tros  legitimos,  &c.  assignalos  in  et  ad  literas  reversionis  factas,  &c  per  Symonem  Preston  de  eodero 
militem,  prwpositum,  balivos,  consules,  et  communitatem  hujus  nostri  burgi  de  Edinburgh,  pro 
seipsis  ac  suis  successoribus,  &c.  nobis,  nostrisque  heredibus,  successoribus,  et  assignatis  pro  redemp- 
tione,  &c.  superioritatis  totius  villas  de  Leith,  &c.  impignoratse  per  nos  dictis  prseposito,  &c.  sub 
reversione  alienafe  continentis  summam  decern  millium  mercarum  monette  prescripts  nunieran- 
dum  et  calculandum  in  parochiali  ecclesia  do  Edinburgh,  super  premonitione  quadraginta  dierum, 
ut  moris  est,  veluti  in  dictis  reversionis  literis,  >lcc  de  nata  8vo  Octob.  1565,  4c  (The  rest  is  form, 
and  contains  a  clause  of  absolute  warrandice.)  I»  cujus  rei  Testimonium  pr&sentibus  magnum 
sigillurn  nostrum  apponi  fecimus  Apud  Edinburgh,  decinio  quinto  die  mensis  Februarii,  anna 
Donrni  millesimo  quingente6imo  sexagesimo  sexto,  et  regni  nostri  vicesimo  quinto. 

The  I'reat  seal  entire. 


K.  HENRY'S  MLR  DER.  331 

ii.  24.  Nor  was  it  without  reason  that  he  did  so,  as  it  is  evident  from  a 
circumstance  in  the  affidavit  of  Thomas  Nelson,  one  of  the  king's  servants, 
who  was  in  the  house  when  his  master  was  murdered,  and  was  dug  up 
alive  out  of  the  rubbish.  Being  examined  on  the  Monday  after  the  king's 
death,  "  This  deponar  schew  that  Bonkle  had  the  key  of  the  sellare,  and 
the  queenis  servandis  the  keyis  of  her  sbalmir.  Quhilk  the  laird  oi'Tilli- 
Irardin  hearing,  said  Hald  thair,  here  is  ane  ground.  Efter  quhilk  words 
spokin,  thai  left  of,  and  procedit  na  farther  in  the  inquisition."  And.  iv. 
part  ii.  1(>7.  Had  there  been  any  intention  to  search  into  the  bottom  of 
the  matter,  a  circumstance  of  so  much  in  porta  nee  merited  the  most  careful 
inquiry.  4.  Notwithstanding  Lennox's  repeated  solicitations,  notwithstand- 
ing the  reasonableness  of  his  demands,  and  the  necessity  of  complying- 
with  them,  in  order  to  encourage  any  accuser  to  appear  against  Bothwell, 
she  not  only  refused  to  commit  him  to  custody,  or  even  to  remove  him  from 
her  presence  and  councils  :  And.  i.  42.  48 ;  but  by  the  grants  which  we 
have  mentioned,  and  by  other  circumstances,  discovered  an  increase  of 
attachment  to  him.  5.  She  could  not  avoid  bringing  Bothwell  to  a  public 
trial ;  but  she  permitted  him  to  sit  as  a  member  in  that  meeting  of  the  privy 
council  which  directed  his  own  trial ;  and  the  trial  itself  was  carried  on 
with  such  unnecessary  precipitancy,  and  with  so  many  other  suspicious  cir- 
cumstances, as  to  render  his  acquittal  rather  an  argument  of  his  guilt  than 
a  proof  of  his  innocence.  These  circumstances  have  all  been  mentioned 
at  length  in  Book  IV.,  and  therefore  are  not  repeated  in  this  place. 
6.  Two  days  after  the  trial,  Mary  gave  a  public  proof  of  her  regard  for 
Bothwell,  by  appointing  him  to  carry  the  sceptre  before  her  at  the  meeting 
of  parliament.  Keith,  378.  7.  In  that  parliament,  she  granted  him  a  rati- 
fication of  all  the  great  possessions  and  honours  which  she  had  conferred 
upon  him,  in  which  was  contained  an  ample  enumeration  of  all  the  services 
he  had  performed.  And.  i.  117.  8.  Though  Melvil,  who  foresaw  that  her 
attachment  to  Bothwell  would  at  length  induce  her  to  marry  him,  warned 
her  of  the  infamy  and  danger  which  would  attend  that  action,  she  not  only 
disregarded  this  salutary  admonition,  but  discovered  what  had  passed 
between  them  to  Bothwell,  which  exposed  Melvil  to  his  resentment. 
Melv.  156.  9.  Bothwell  seized  Mary  as  she  returned  from  Stirling, 
April  24.  If  he  had  done  this  without  her  knowledge  and  consent,  such 
an  insult  could  not  have  failed  to  have  filled  her  with  the  most  violent 
indignation.  But,  according  to  the  account  of  an  old  MS.  "  The  friendly 
love  was  so  highly  contracted  between  this  great  princess  and  her  enor- 
mous subject  that  there  was  no  end  thereof  (for  it  was  constantly 
esteemed  by  all  men,  that  either  of  them  loved  other  carnally),  so  that  she 
suffered  patiently  to  be  led  where  the  lover  list,  and  all  the  way  neither 
made  obstacle,  impediment,  clamour,  or  resistance,  as  in  such  accidents 
used  to  be,  or  that  she  might  have  done  by  her  princely  authority,  being 
accompanied  with  the  noble  earl  of  Huntfy  and  secretary  Maitland  of 
Lethington."  Keifh,  383.  Melvil,  who  was  present,  confirms  this  account, 
and  tells  us  that  the  °fficer  by  whom  he  was  seized  informed  him  that  nothing 
was  done  without  the  queen's  consent,  Melv.  158.  10.  On  the  12th  of 
May,  a  few  days  before  her  marriage,  Mary  declared  that  she  was  then  at 
full  liberty,  and  that  though  Bothwell  had  offended  her  by  seizing  her  per- 
son, she  was  so  much  satisfied  with  his  dutiful  behaviour  since  that  time, 
and  so  indebted  to  him  for  past  services,  that  she  not  only  forgave  that 
offence,  but  resolved  to  promote  him  to  higher  honours.  And.  i.  87. 
11.  Even  after  the  confederate  nobles  had  driven  Bothwell  from  the  queen's 
presence,  and  though  she  saw  that  he  was  considered  as  the  muiderer  ol 
her  former  husband  by  so  great  a  pari  of  her  subjects,  her  affection  did  not 
in  the  least  abate,  and  she  continued  to  express  the  most  unalterable 
attachment  to  him.  "I  can  pt-rceive  (says  sir  N.  Throkmorton)  that  the 
rigour  with  which  the  queen  is  ker>t  proceedeth  by  order  from  these  men, 


332  DISSERTATION    ON 

because  that  tht  t^ijeev)  will  not  by  any  means  be  induced  to  lend  he/ 
authority  to  prosecute  rhe  murderer  ,  nor  will  not  consent  by  any  persua- 
sion to  abandon  the  lord  Bothwell  tor  ner  husband,  but  avoweth  constantly 
that  she  will  live  and  die  with  him  ,  and  saith,  that  if  it  were  put  to  her 
choice  to  relinquish  her  crown  and  kingdom,  or  the  lord  Bothwell,  she 
would  leave  her  kingdom  and  dignity  to  go  a  simple  damsel  with  him,  arid 
she  will  never  consent  that  he  snail  fare  worse,  or  have  more  harm  than 
herself."  Appendix,  No  XXII.  In  all  their  negotiation  with  Throk- 
morton,  the  confederates  mention  this  unalterable  attachment  of  the 
queen  to  Bothwell  as  a  sufficient  reason  for  rejecting  his  proposals  of  an 
accommodation  with  their  sovereign.  Keith,  419.  449.  This  assertion 
they  renewed  in  the  conferences  at  York.  Andeis.  iv.  part  ii.  p.  66. 
Murray,  in  his  interview  with  Mary  in  Lochlevin,  charged  ner  with  per- 
sisting in  her  inordinate  affection  to  Bothwell.  Keith,  446.  All  these, 
however,  may  be  considered  merely  as  accusations  brought  by  the  con- 
federates, in  order  to  vindicate  their  rigour  towards  the  queen.  But 
Throkmorton,  who,  by  his  residence  in  Edinburgh,  and  by  his  intercourse 
with  the  queen's  partisans,  as  well  as  with  her  enemies,  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  discovering  whether  or  not  Mary  had  expressed  herself  in  such 
terms,  and  who  was  disposed  to  view  her  actions  in  lie  most  favourable 
light,  appears,  by  the  passage  which  I  have  quoted  ir«rn  his  >e'ter  of  the 
14th  of  July,  to  be  persuaded  that  the  confederates  hsd  n<>:  misrepresented 
her  sentiments.  He  had  soon  an  opportunity  of  lenf  ;<uifjrmed  with 
greater  certainly  in  this  opinion.  Although  the  conffdei'.\re«i  had  refused 
him  access  to  the  captive  queen,  he  found  means  oi"  holding  d  secret  cor- 
respondence with  her,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  her  to  giv>  her  consent 
to  have  her  marriage  with  Bothwell  dissolved  by  a  Jence.'ice  o*  divorce,  as 
the  most  probable  means  of  regaining  her  liberty  ''  She  hath  sent  me 
word  that  she  will  in  nowise  consent  unto  that,  but  rather  die  "  Appen- 
dix, No.  XXII.  There  is  evidence  of  the  continuance  of  Mary's  attach- 
ment still  more  explicit.  Lord  Herries,  in  the  parliament  held  the 
15th  of  December,  1567,  acknowledged  the  queen's  inordinate  affection  co 
that  wicked  man,  and  that  she  could  not  be  induced  by  persuasion  to  leave 
him  ;  and  that  in  sequestering  her  within  Lochlevin,  ihe  confederates  had 
done  the  duty  of  noblemen.  Appendix,  No.  XXIV.  In  the  year  1571, 
a  conference  was  held  by  some  deputies  from  a  convention  of  cJergy, 
with  the  duke  of  Chatelherault,  secretaiy  Maitland,  sir  Jam<-,-  B?Jlbur,  and 
Kirkaldy ;  and  an  account  of  it  written  by  Mr.  Craig,  one  of  the  ministers 
of  Edinburgh,  is  extant  in  Calderwood  MSS.  Hist.  ii.  244.  In  presence 
of  all  these  persons,  most  of  whom  were  in  Edinburgh  when  the  queen  was 
taken  at  Carberry,  Maitland,  who  was  now  an  avowed  partisan  of  Mary, 
declares,  that  on  the  same  night  she  was  brought  to  Edinburgh,  he  himseli 
had  offered,  that  if  she  would  abandon  Bothwell,  she  should  have  as  thank- 
ful obedience  as  ever  she  had  since  she  came  to  Scotland.  But  in  n> 
wise  would  she  consent  to  leave  Bothwell.  According  to  sir  James  Melvii 
the  queen  found  means  of  writing  a  letter  to  Bothwell,  on  tne  evening  ot 
that  day,  when  she  was  conducted  as  a  prisoner  to  Edinburgh,  in  which 
she  declared  her  affection  to  him  in  the  most  tender  expressions,  and  her 
resolution  never  to  abandon  him.  This  letter,  he  says,  was  intercepted  by 
the  confederates,  and  determined  them  to  confine  Mary  in  the  castle  of 
Lochlevin.  But  as  neither  Buchanan  nor  Knox,  both  abundantly  disposed 
to  avail  themselves  of  every  fact  and  report  that  could  be  employed  in 
order  to  represent  Mary's  conduct  as  improper  and  criminal,  mentions  this 
letter  ;  and  as  the  confederates  themselves  in  their  negotiation  with  Throk- 
morton, as  well  as  in  their  accusations  of  the  queen,  before  the  English  com- 
missioners at  York  and  Westminster,  maintain  the  same  silence  with  regard 
to  it,  I  am  satisfied  that  Melvii,  who  wrote  his  memoirs  for  the  information 
of  his  son  in  his  old  age,  ani  long  after  the  events  which  he  records  hao- 


K.    UENR  rS   MURDER.  333 

pened,  has  beeu  mistaken  with  regard  to  this  {articular.  Fronn  this  long 
enumeration  of  circumstances,  we  may,  without  violence,  draw  the  follow- 
ing conclusion  :  had  Mary  really  been  accessary  to  the  murder  of  her  hus- 
band ;  had  Bothwell  perpetrated  the  crime  with  her  consent,  or  at  her 
command  ;  and  had  she  intended  to  stifle  the  evidence  against  him,  and  tc 
prevent  the  discovery  of  his  guilt,  she  could  scarcely  have  taken  any  other 
steps  than  those  which  she  took,  nor  could  her  conduct  have  been  more 
repugnant  to  all  the  maxims  of  prudence  and  of  decency. 

The  positive  evidence  produced  against  Mary  may  be  classed  under 
two  heads. 

1.  The  depositions  of  some  persons  who  were  employed  in  committing 
the  murder,  particularly  of  Nicholas  Hubert,  who  in  the  writings  of  that 
age  is  called  French  raris.  This  person,  who  was  Bothwell's  servant, 
and  much  trusted  by  him,  was  twice  examined,  and  the  original  of  one  oi 
his  depositions,  and  a  copy  of  the  other,  are  still  extant.  It  is  pretended 
that  both  these  are  notorious  forgeries.  But  they  are  remarkable  for  a 
simplicity  and  naivete  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  imitate  ;  they  abound 
with  a  number  of  minute  facts  and  particularities,  which  the  most  dexterous 
forger  could  not  have  easily  assembled  and  connected  together  with  any 
appearance  of  probability;  and  they  are  filled  with  circumstances  which 
can  scarcely  be  supposed  to  have  entered  the  imagination  of  any  man  but 
one  of  Paris's  rank  and  character.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  his  depositions  contain  some  improbable  circumstances. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  foolish  talkative  fellow  ;  the  fear  of  death,  the 
violence  of  torture,  and  the  desire  of  pleasing  those  in  whose  power  he 
was,  tempted  him,  perhaps,  to  feign  some  circumstances  and  to  exaggerate 
others.  To  say  that  some  circumstances  in  an  affidavit  are  improbable  or 
false,  is  very  different  from  saying  that  the  whole  is  forged.  I  suspect  the 
former  to  be  the  case  here  ;  but  I  see  no  appearance  of  the  latter.  Be  that 
as  it  will,  some  of  the  most  material  facts  in  iJaris's  affidavits  rest  upon  his 
single  testimony ;  and  for  that  reason  I  have  not  in  the  history,  nor  shall  I 
in  this  place,  lay  any  stress  upon  thern. 

2.  The  letters  said  to  be  written  by  Mary  to  Bothwell.  These 
have  been  frequently  published.  The  accident  by  which  the  queen's 
enemies  got  them  into  their  possession  is  related  in  Book  V.  When  the 
authenticity  of  any  ancient  paper  is  dubious  or  contested,  it  may  le  ascer- 
tained either  by  external  or  internal  evidence.  Both  these  have  been  pro- 
duced in  the  present  case. 

I.  External  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  Mary's  letters.  1.  Murray  and 
the  nobles  who  adhered  to  him  affirm,  upon  their  woid  and  honour,  that  the 
letters  were  written  with  the  queen's  own  hand,  with  which  they  were 
well  acquainted.  Good.  ii.  64.  92.  2.  The  letters  were  publicly  pro- 
duced in  the  parliament  of  Scotland,  December  1567  ;  and  were  so  far  con- 
sidered as  genuine  that  they  are  mentioned  in  the  act  against  Mary,  as  one 
■  hief  argument  of  her  guilt.  Good.  ii.  66,  67.  3.  They  were  shown  pri- 
vately to  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  the  earl  of  Sussex,  and  sir  Ralph  Sadler, 
Elizabeth's  commissioners  at  York.  In  the  account  which  they  gave  oi 
this  matter  to  their  mistress,  they  seem  to  consider  the  letters  as  genuine, 
and  express  no  suspicion  of  any  forgery ;  they  particularly  observe,  "  that 
the  matter  contained  in  them  is  such,  that  it  could  hardly  be  invented 
and  devised  by  any  other  than  herself;  for  that  they  discourse  of  some 
things  which  were  unknown  to  any  other  than  to  herself  and  Bothwell ; 
and  as  it  is  hard  to  counterfeit  so  many,  so  the  matter  of  them,  and  the 
manner  how  these  men  came  by  them,  is  such,  as  it  secmeth  that  God, 
in  whose  sight  murder  and  bloodshed  of  the  innocent  is  abominable, 
would  not  permit  the  same  to  be  hid  or  concealed."  Good.  ii.  142. 
They  seem  to  have  made  such  an  impression  on  the  duke  of  Norfolk  that, 
ui  a  subseauent  letter  to   Pembroke,  Leicester,  and  Cecil,  he  has  these 


334  DISSERTATION    ON 

words:  "If  the  matter  shall  be  thought  as  detestable  and  manifest  to  you 
as,  for  aught  we  can  perceive,  it  seemcth  nere  to  us."  Good.  ii.  154.  Nor 
did  Norfolk  declare  these  to  be  his  sentiments  only  in  public  official  letters  ; 
he  expressed  himself  in  the  same  manner  to  his  most  conr.  Jential  friends. 
In  a  secret  conference  with  the  bishop  of  Ross  at  York,  '.he  Duke  inform 
ed  him  that  he  had  seen  the  letters,  &c.  which  the  regent  had  to  produce 
against  the  queen,  whereby  there  would  b€  such  matter  proved  against 
her  as  would  dishonour  her  for  ever.  State  Trials,  edition  of  Hargrave,  i. 
91.  Murdin,  52.  The  bishop  of  Ross,  if  he  had  known  the  letters  to  be  a 
notorious  forgery,  must  have  been  naturally  led,  in  consequence  of  this 
declaration,  to  undeceive  the  duke,  and  to  expose  the  imposture.  But 
instead  of  this,  the  duke,  and  he,  and  Lethington,  after  consulting  together, 
agreed,  that  the  bishop  should  write  to  Mary,  then  at  Bolton,  and  instruct 
her  to  make  such  a  proposal  to  Elizabeth  as  might  prevent  the  public  pro 
ductionof  the  letters  and  other  evidence.  State  Trials,  i.  94.  Murdin,  45 
Indeed,  the  whole  of  this  secret  conference  seems  to  imply  that  Lething 
ton,  Ross,  and  Norfolk,  were  conscious  of  some  defect  in  Mary's  cause,  and 
therefore  exerted  all  their  ingenuity  in  order  to  avoid  a  public  accusation. 
Murdin,  52,  53.  To  Banister,  whom  the  duke  seems  to  have  trusted  more 
entirely  than  any  other  of  his  servants,  he  expressed  himself  in  similar 
terms  with  resy°cf  to  the  queen  of  Scots.  State  Trials,  i.  93.  The  words 
of  Banister's  .-videnoe  are  remarkable  :  "I  confess  that  I,  waiting  of  my 
lord  and  ma*rer,  whe.>  the  earl  of  Sussex,  and  Mr.  Chancellor  of  the  duchy 
that  now  is,  w*re  m  commission  at  York,  did  hear  his  grace  say,  that  upon 
examination  of  the  matter  of  the  murder,  it  did  appear  that  the  queen  of 
Scots  waf  guilty  and  privy  to  the  murder  of  lord  Darnly,  whereby  I  verily 
thought  that  his  grace  would  never  join  in  marriage  with  her."  Murdin, 
134.  Elizabeth,  in  her  instructions  to  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury  and  Beale. 
m  1533,  asserts,  that  both  the  duke  and  earl  of  Arundel  did  declare  to 
herself,  tbai  the  proof,  by  the  view  of  her  letters,  did  fall  out  sufficient 
ngairsr  the  queen  of  Scots ;  however  they  were  after  drawn  to  cover  hei 
faults  and  pronounce  her  innocency.  MS.  Advoc.  Library.  A.  iii.  28.  p 
314.  from  Cot.  Lib.  Calig.  9.  4.  A  similar  impression  was  made  upon 
other  contemporaries  of  Mary  by  the  production  of  the  letters,  which 
implies  a  iull  belief  of  their  being  genuine.  Cecil,  in  his  correspondence 
with  Sir  Hem}  Norris,  the  English  ambassador  in  France,  relates  this  trans- 
action in  t»rms  which  leave  no  room  to  doubt  with  respect  to  his  own 
private  opinion.  In  his  letter,  December  14th,  1568,  the  very  day  on 
which  the  letters,  &.c.  were  laid  before  the  meeting  of  privy  counsellors 
and  peers,  he  informs  him,  "  That  the  regent  was  driven,  from  his  defence, 
to  disclose  a  full  fardel  of  the  naughty  matter,  tending  to  convince  the 
queen  as  adviser  of  the  murther,  and  the  earl  of  Bothwell  as  her  execu- 
tour  ;  and  now  the  queen's  party,  so  great,  refuse  to  make  any  answer,  and 
press  that  their  mistress  may  come  in  person  to  answer  the  matter  herself 
before  the  queen's  majesty ;  which  is  thought  not  fit  to  be  granted  until 
the  great  blot  of  the  marriage  with  her  husband's  murtherer,  and  the 
evident  charges,  by  letters  of  her  own,  to  be  deviser  of  the  murther,  he 
somewhat  razed  out  or  recovered  ;  for  that,  as  the  matters  are  exhibited 
against  her,  it  is  far  unseemly  for  any  prince,  or  for  chaste  ears,  to  be 
annoyed  with  the  filthy  noise  thereof;  and  yet,  as  being  a  commissioner, 
I  must  and  will  forbear  to  pronounce  any  thing  herein  certainly,  though  as 
a  private  person  I  cannot  but  with  horrour  and  trembling  think  thereof." 
Cabala,  156.  5.  From  the  correspondence  of  Bowes,  the  English  resident 
in  Scotland,  with  Walsingham,  in  the  year  1582,  published  towards  the 
close  of  this  dissertation,  it  is  manifest  that  both  in  England  and  Scotland. 
both  by  Elizabeth  and  James,  both  by  the  duke  of  Lennox  and  earl  of 
Gowrie,  the  letters  were  deemed  to  be  genuine.  The  eagerness  on  one 
side  to  obtain,  and  on  the  other  to  keep  possession  of  the  casket  and  letters 


K.  H  E  N  R  Y '  S    MURDER.  336 

implies  that  this  was  the  belief  of  both.  These  sentiments  of  contempo- 
raries, who  were  in  a  situation  to  be  thoroughly  informed,  and  who  had 
abilities  to  judge  with  discernment,  will,  in  the  opinion  of  many  of  my 
readers,  far  outweigh  theories,  suppositions,  and  conjectures,  formed  at  the 
distance  of  two  centuries.  6.  The  letters  were  subjected  to  a  solemn  and 
judicial  examination  with  respect  to  their  authenticity,  as  far  as  that  could 
be  ascertained  by  resemblance  of  character  and  fashion  of  writing  ;  for, 
after  the  conferences  at  York  and  Westminster  were  finished,  Elizabeth, 
as  I  have  related,  assembled  her  privy  counsellors,  and  joining  to  them 
several  of  the  most  eminent  noblemen  in  her  kingdom,  laid  before  them  all 
the  proceedings  against  the  Scottish  queen,  and  particularly  ordered,  that 
"the  letters  and  writing  exhibited  by  the  regent,  as  the  queen  of  Scots' 
letters  and  writings,  should  aiso  be  shewed,  and  conference  [i.  e.  compa- 
rison] thereof  made  in  their  sight,  with  the  letters  of  the  said  queen's,  being 
extant,  and  heretofore  written  with  her  own  hand,  and  sent  to  the  queen's 
majesty  ;  whereby  may  be  searched  and  examined  what  difference  is 
betwixt  them."  Good.  ii.  252.  They  assembled,  accordingly,  at  Hampton 
Court,  December  14  and  15,  1568;  and,  "The  originals  of  the  letter- 
supposed  to  be  written  with  the  queen  of  Scots'  own  hand  were  then  also 
presently  produced  and  perused ;  and,  being  read,  were  duly  conferred 
and  compared,  for  the  manner  of  writing,  and  fashion  of  orthography,  with 
sundry  other  letters  long  since  heretofore  written,  and  sent  by  the  said 
queen  of  Scots  to  the  queen's  majesty.  In  collation  whereof  no  difference 
was  found."  Good.  ii.  256.  7.  Mary  having  written  an  apologetical  letter 
for  her  conduct  to  the  countess  of  Lennox,  July  10,  1570,*  she  transmitted 
it  to  her  husband  then  in  Scotland  ;  and  he  returned  to  the  countess  the 
following  answer:  "Seeing  you  have  remittit  to  me,  to  answer  the  queen 
the  king's  mother's  letters  sent  to  you,  what  can  I  say  but  that  I  do  not 
marvell  to  see  hir  writ  the  best  can  for  hirself,  to  seame  to  purge  her  of 
that,  quhairof  many  besyde  me  are  certainly  persuadit  of  the  contrary,  and 
I  not  only  assurit  by  my  awin  knawledge,  but  by  her  handwrit,  the  confes- 
sionis  of  men  gone  to  the  death,  and  uther  infallibil  experience.  It  wull 
be  lang  tyme  that  is  hable  to  put  a  mattir  so  notorious  in  oblivioun,  to  mak 
black  quhyte,  or  innocency  to  appear  quhair  the  contrary  is  sa  weill 
knawin.  The  maist  indifferent,  I  trust,  doubtis  not  of  the  equitie  of  zoure 
and  my  cause,  and  of  the  just  occasioun  of  our  mislyking.  Hir  richt  dewtie 
to  zow  and  me,  being  the  parteis  interest,  were  hir  trew  confessioun  and 
unfeyned  repentance  of  that  lamentable  fact,  odious  for  hir  to  be  reportit. 
and  sorrowfull  for  us  to  think  of.  God  is  just,  and  will  not  in  the  end  be 
abused  ;  but  as  he  has  manifested  the  trewth,  so  will  he  puneise  the  iniqui- 
ty." Lennox's  Orig.  Regist.  of  Letters.    In  their  public  papers,  the  queen's 

*  Mary's  letter  has  never  been  published,  and  ought  to  have  a  place  here,  where  evidence  on  all 
sides  is  fairly  produced  "  Madam,  if  the  wrang  and  false  reportis  of  rebellis,  enemeis  weill  knawin 
fortraitouris  to  zow,  and  alace  to  muche  trusted  of  me  by  zoure  advice,  had  not  so  far  sturred  you 
aganis  my  innocency  (and  I  must  say  aganis  all  kyndness,  that  zow  have  not  onelie  as  it  were  con- 
dempnit  me  wrangfullie,  bot  so  hated  me,  as  some  wordis  and  open  deideis  hes  testifeit  to  all  th< 
warlde,  a  manyfest  mislyking  in  zow  aganis  zowr  awn  blude),  I  wold  not  have  omittit  thus  lang  mj 
dewtie  in  wryting  to  zow  excusing  me  of  those  untrew  reporties  made  of  me.  But  hoping  with 
Godis  grace  and  tyme  to  have  my  innocency  knawin  to  zow,  as  I  trusl  it  is  already  to  the  maist  pairt 
of  all  indifferent  personis,  I  thochl  it  best  not  to  trouble  zow  for  a  tyme  till  that  such  a  matter  is 
moved  that  tuichis  us  bayth,  quhilk  is  the  transporting  zoure  littil  son,  and  my  onelie  child  in  this 
contrey.  To  the  quhilk  albeit  1  be  never  sa  willing,  I  wald  be  glaid  to  have  zoure  advyse  thetein, 
as  in  all  uther  thingis  tuiching  him.  I  have  born  him,  and  God  knawis  with  quhat  daunger  to  him 
and  me  boilh ;  and  of  zow  he  is  descendit.  So  I  meane  not  to  forzet  my  dewtie  to  zow,  in  schewin 
herein  any  unkyndness  to  zow,  how  unkvndlie  that  ever  ze  have  delt  with  me,  bot  will  love  zow  as 
my  awnt,  and  respect  zow  as  my  moder  in  law.  And  gif  ye  pies  to  knaw  farther  of  my  mynde  in 
that  and  all  uther  thingis  betwixt  us,  my  ambassador  the  bishop  of  Ross  sail  be  ready  to  confer  with 
zow.  And  so  after  my  hairtlie  commendationis,  remitting  me  to  my  saide  ambassador,  and  zour 
better  consideratioun,  I  commit  zow  to  the  protectioun  of  Alnivghty  God,  quhom  I  pray  to  preserve 
zow  and  my  brother  Charles,  and  caus  zow  to  knaw  my  pairt  better  nor  ze  do.  From  Chutisworth 
this  x  of  July  1570. 

To  my  ladie  Lennox  Your  natural  gude  nice 

my  moder  in  law  and  lovynge  dochter." 


336  DISSERTATION    ON 

enemies  may  be  suspected  of  advancing  what  would  be  most  subservient 
to  their  cause,  not  wnat  was  agreeable  to  truth,  or  what  flowed  from  their 
own  inward  conviction.  But  in  a  private  letter  to  his  own  wife,  Lennox 
had  no  occasion  to  dissemble  ;  and  it  is  plain,  that  he  not  only  thought  the 
queen  guilty,  but  believed  the  authenticity  of  her  letters  to  Bothwell.  8. 
In  opposition  to  ail  these  reasons  for  believing  the  letters,  &,c.  to  be  authen- 
tic, the  conduct  of  the  nobles  confederated  against  Mary,  in  not  producing 
them  directly  as  evidence  against  her,  has  been  represented  as  an  irrefra- 
gable proof  of  their  being  forged.  According  to  the  account  of  the 
confederates  themselves,  the  casket  containing  the  letters  was  seized  by 
them  on  the  twentieth  of  June,  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-seven  ; 
but  the  first  time  that  they  were  judicially  stated  as  evidence  against  tne 
queen  was  in  a  meeting  of  the  regent's  privy  council,  December  fourth, 
and  they  afterwards  served  as  the  foundation  of  the  acts  made  against  her 
in  the  parliament  held  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  same  month.  If  the  letters 
had  been  genuine,  it  is  contended,  that  the  obtaining  possession  of  them 
must  have  afforded  such  matter  of  triumph  to  the  confederates  that  they 
would  instantly  have  pioclaimed  it  to  the  whole  world  ;  and  in  their  nego- 
tiations with  the  English  and  French  ministers,  or  with  such  of  their  fellow 
subjects  as  condemned  their  proceedings,  they  would  have  silenced  at  once 
every  advocate  for  the  queen,  by  exhibiting  this  convincing  proof  of  her 
guilt.  But  in  this  reasoning  sufficient  attention  is  not  paid  to  the  delicate 
and  perilous  situation  of  the  confederates  at  that  juncture.  They  had  taken 
arms  against  their  sovereign,  had  seized  her  person  at  Carberry  Hill,  and 
had  confined  her  a  prisoner  at  Lochlevin.  A  considerable  number,  how- 
ever, of  their  fellow  subjects,  headed  by  some  of  the  most  powerful  noble 
men  in  the  kingdom,  was  combined  against  them.  This  combination,  they 
soon  perceived,  they  could  not  hope  to  break  or  to  vanquish  without  aid 
either  from  France  or  England.  In  the  former  kingdom,  Mary's  uncles, 
the  duke  of  Guise  and  cardinal  of  Lorrain,  were  at  that  period  all  powerful, 
and  the  king  himself  was  devotedly  attached  to  her.  If  the  confederates 
confined  their  views  to  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage  of  the  queen  with 
Bothwell,  and  to  the  exclusion  of  him  for  ever  from  her  presence,  they 
might  hope,  perhaps,  to  be  countenanced  by  Charles  IX.  and  his  ministers, 
who  had  sent  an  ervoy  into  Scotland  of  purpose  to  dissuade  Mary  from 
that  ill-fated  match  ;  Append.  No.  XXII  ;  whereas  the  loading  her  pub- 
licly with  the  imputation  of  being  accessary  to  the  murder  of  her  husband 
would  be  deemed  such  an  inexpiable  crime  by  the  court  of  France,  as 
must  cut  off  every  hope  of  countenance  or  aid  from  that  quarter.  From 
England,  with  which  the  principal  confederates  had  been  Jong  and  inti- 
mately connected,  they  had  many  reasons  to  expect  more  effectual  support  : 
but,  to  their  astonishment,  Elizabeth  condemned  their  proceedings  with 
asperity,  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  captive  queen,  and  was  extreme- 
ly solicitous  to  obtain  her  release  and  restoration.  Nor  was  this  merely 
the  only  one  of  the  artifices  which  Elizabeth  often  employed  in  her  trans- 
actions with  Scotland.  Though  her  most  sagacious  ministers  considered 
it  as  the  wisest  policy  to  support  the  confederate  lords  rather  than  the 
queen  of  Scots,  Elizabeth  disregarded  their  counsel.*  Her  high  notions 
of  royal  authority,  and  of  the  submission  due  by  subjects,  induced  her,  on 
this  occasion,  to  exert  herself  in  behalf  of  Mary,  not  only  with  sincerity 

*  This  was  the  opinion  of  Throkmorton,  as  appears  from  an  extract  of  his  letter  of  July  11th, 
published  in  the  Append.  No.  XXII.  The  same  were  the  sentiments  of  Cecil,  in  his  letter  of  Aug. 
19th,  1565,  to  sir  Henry  Norris,  Elizabeth's  ambassador  to  France:  "You  shall  perceive,"  says  he, 
"by  the  queen's  letter  to  you,  at  this  present,  how  earnestly  she  is  bent  in  favour  of  the  >jueen  of 
Scots,  and  truly  since  the  beginning  she  hath  been  greatly  offended  with  the  lords;  arid,  howsoever 
her  Majesty  might  make  her  profit  by  bearing  with  the  lords  in  this  action,  yet  no  counsel  i. an  stay 
her  Majesty  from  manifesting  her  misliking  of  them."  Cabala,  140.  And  in  his  letter  of  Hept.  3d, 
"The  queen's  Majesty,  our  sovereign,  rerr.aineth  still  offended  with  the  lords  for  tbe  queep;  tit* 
txample  moveth  her."     lb.  141.  Digges  Comp.  Amb.  14. 


K.  H  E  N  R  Y '  S    MURDE  R.  33? 

but  with  zeal ;  she  negotiated, she  solicited,  she  threatened.  Finding  the 
confederates  inflexible,  she  endeavoured  to  procure  Mary's  release  by  means 
of  that  party  in  Scotland  which  continued  faithful  to  her,  and  instructed 
Throkmorton  to  correspond  with  the  leaders  of  it,  and  to  make  overtures 
to  that  effect.  Keith,  451.  App.  No.  XXIII.  She  even  went  so  far  as  to 
direct  her  ambassador  at  Paris  to  concert  measures  with  the  French  king 
how  they,  by  their  joint  efforts,  might  persuade  or  compel  the  Scots  to 
*  acknowledge  the  queen  her  good  sister  to  be  their  sovereign  lady  and 
queen,  and  renounce  their  obedience  to  her  son."  Keith,  462,  3,  4.  From 
all  these  circumstances,  the  confederates  had  every  reason  to  apprehend 
that  Mary  would  soon  obtain  liberty,  and  by  some  accommodation  be 
restored  to  the  whole,  or  at  least  to  a  considerable  portion  of  her  authority 
as  sovereign.  In  that  event  they  foresaw,  that  if  they  should  venture  to 
accuse  her  publicly  of  a  crime  so  atrocious  as  the  murder  of  her  husband, 
they  must  not  only  be  excluded  for  ever  from  power  and  favour,  but  from 
any  hope  of  personal  safety.  On  this  account  they  long  confined  themselves 
to  that  which  was  originally  declared  to  be  the  reason  of  their  taking  arms  ; 
the  avenging  the  king's  death,  the  dissolving  the  marriage  with  Bothwell, 
the  inflicting  on  him  condign  punishment,  or  banishing  him  for  ever  from 
the  queen's  presence.  It  appears  from  the  letters  of  Throkmorton,  pub 
fished  by  bishop  Keith,  and  in  my  Appendix,  that  his  sagacity  early 
discovered  that  this  would  be  the  tenor  of  their  conduct.  In  his  letter 
from  Edinburgh,  dated  July  14th,  he  observes,  that  "  They  do  not  forget 
their  own  peril  conjoined  with  the  danger  of  the  prince,  but,  as  far  as  I 
perceive,  they  intend  not  to  touch  the  queen,  either  in  surety  or  in  honour  ; 
for  they  speak  of  her  with  respect  and  reverence,  and  do  affirm,  as  I  do 
learn,  that,  the  condition  aforesaid  accomplished  [i.  e.  the  separation  from 
Bothwell],  they  will  both  put  her  to  liberty,  and  restore  her  to  her  estate." 
Append.  No.  XXII.  His  letter  of  August  22d  contains  a  declaration  made 
to  him  by  Lethington,  in  name  and  in  presence  of  his  associates,  "  That 
they  never  meant  harm  neither  to  the  queen's  person  nor  to  her  honour- 
that  they  have  been  contented  hitherto  lo  be  condemned,  as  it  were,  of  all 
princes,  strangers,  and,  namely,  of  the  queen  of  England,  being  charged  of 
grievous  and  infamous  tiib-s,  as  to  be  noted  rebels,  traitors,  seditious,  ingrate, 
and  cruel,  all  which  they  suffer  and  bear  upon  their  backs,  because  they 
will  not  justify  themselves,  nor  proceed  in  any  thing  that  may  touch  their 
sovereign's  honour.  But  in  case  they  be  with  these  defamations  continually 
oppressed,  or  with  the  force,  aid,  and  practices  of  other  princes,  and  namely 
of  the  queen  ot  England,  put  in  danger,  or  to  an  extremity,  they  shall  be 
compelled  to  deal  otherwise  with  the  queen  than  they  intend,  or  than  they 
desire  ;  for,  added  he,  you  may  be  sure  we  will  not  lose  our  lives,  have  our 
lands  forfeited,  and  be  reputed  rebels  through  the  world,  seeing  we  have 
the  means  to  justify  ourselves."  Keith,  448.  From  this  view  of  the  slip- 
pery ground  on  which  they  stood  at  that  time,  their  conduct,  in  not  pro- 
ducing the  letters  for  several  months,  appears  not  only  to  have  been  prudent, 
but  essential  to  their  own  safety. 

But,  at  a  subsequent  period,  when  the  confederates  found  it  necessary 
to  have  the  form  of  government  which  they  had  established  confirmed  by 
authority  of  parliament,  a  different  mode  of  proceeding  became  requisite. 
All  that  had  hitherto  been  done  with  respect  to  the  queen's  dismission,  the 
seating  the  young  king  noon  the  throne,  and  the  appointment  of  a  regent, 
was  in  reality  nothing  more  than  the  deed  of  private  men.  It  required 
'he  exhibition  of  some  legal  evidence  to  procure  a  constitutional  act  giving 
he  sanction  of  its  approbation  to  such  violent  measures,  and  to  obtain  "a 
perfect  law  and  security  for  all  them  that  either  by  deed,  counsel,  or  sub- 
scription, had  entered  into  that  cause  since  the  beginning."  Haynes,  453. 
This  prevailed  with  the  regent  arid  his  secret  council,  after  long  delibe- 
ration, to  agree  to  produce  all  the  evidence  of  which  they  were  possessed. 

Vol.  III.— 43 


338  DISSEK  l  AT  I  ON    ON 

and  upon  that  production  parliament  passed  the  acts  which  were  required 
Such  a  change  had  happened  in  the  state  of  the  kingdom  as  induced  the 
con'°derates  to  venture  upon   this  change   in  'heir  conduct.     In  June,  a 

fiowerful  combination  was  forming  against  them,  under  the  leading  of  the 
lamiltons.  In  December  that  combination  was  broken;  most  of  the 
members  of  it  had  acknowledged  the  ki.ig  as  their  lawful  sovereign,  and 
trad  submitted  to  the  regent's  government.  Huntly,  Argyll,  Herries,  the 
most  powerful  noblemen  of  that  party,  were  present  in  the  parliament,  and 
concurred  in  all  its  acts.  Edinburgh,  Dunbar,  Dunbarton,  and  all  the  chief 
strongholds  in  the  kingdom  wer»  now  in  the  hands  of  the  regent;  the 
arms  of  France  had  full  occupation  in  its  civil  war  with  the  Hugonots. 
The  ardour  of  Elizabeth's  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  captive  queen  seems  to 
have  abated.  A  step  that  would  have  been  followed  with  ruin  to  the  con- 
federates in  June  was  attended  with  little  danger  in  December.  From 
this  long  deduction  it  appears,  that  no  proof  of  the  letters  being  forged  can 
be  drawn  from  the  circumstance  of  their  not  having  been  produced  imme- 
diately after  the  twentieth  of  June;  but  though  no  public  accusation  was 
brought  instantly  against  the  queen,  in  cor  "sequence  of  seizing  the  casket, 
Vnts  were  given  by  the  confederates,  that  they  possessed  evidence  suffi- 
cient to  convict  her.  This  is  plainly  implied  in  a  letter  of  Throkmorton, 
fuly  21st,  Keith,  Pref.  p.  xii.  and  more  clearly  in  the  passage  which  I 
uave  quoted  from  his  letter  of  August  22.  In  his  letter  of  July  25  the 
papers  contained  in  the  casket  are  still  more  plainly  pointed  out  "They 
ii-  e.  the  confederates],  say,  that  they  have  as  apparent  proof  against  hei 
.«  may  be,  as  well  by  the  testimony  of  her  own  handwriting,  which  they 
hive  recovered,  as  also  by  sufficient  witnesses."  Keith,  4-26 

II.  With  regard  to  the  internal  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  the  queen's 
fetters  to  Both  well,  we  may  observe,  1.  That  whenever  a  paper  is  forged 
with  a  particular  intention,  the  eagerness  of  the  former  to  establish  the 
point  in  view,  his  solicitude  to  cut  off  all  doubts  and  cavils,  and  to  avoid 
any  appearance  of  uncertainty,  seldom  fail  of  prompting  him  to  use  expres- 
sions the  most  explicit  and  full  to  his  purpose.  The  passages  foisted  into 
ancient  authors  by  heretics  in  different  ages  ;  the  legendary  miracles  of  the 
Romish  saints;  the  supposititious  deeds  in  their  own  favour  produced  by 
monasteries;  the  false  charters  of  homage  mentioned  p.  210,  are  so 
/nany  proofs  of  this  assertion.  No  maxim  seems  to  be  more  certain  than 
this,  That  a  forger  is  often  apt  to  prove  too  much,  but  seldom  falls  into  the 
error  of  proving  too  little.  The  point  which  the  queen's  enemies  had  to 
establish  was,  "that  as  the  earl  of  Bothwell  was  chief  executor  of  the 
norrible  and  unworthy  murder  perpetrated,  &c.  so  was  she  of  the  fore- 
Knowledge,  counsel,  devise,  persuader,  and  commander  of  the  said  murder 
o  be  done."  Good.  ii.  207.  But  of  this  there  are  only  imperfect  hints, 
obscure  intimations,  and  dark  expressions  in  the  letters,  which,  however 
convincing  evidence  they  might  furnish  if  found  in  real  letters,  bear  no 
resemblance  to  that  glare  and  superfluity  of  evidence  which  forgeries  com- 
monly contain.  All  the  advocates  for  Mary's  innocence  in  her  own  age, 
contend  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  letters  which  can  serve  as  a  proof  of 
ner  guilt.  Lesly,  Blackwood,  Turner,  &c  abound  with  passages  to  this 
purpose;  nor  are  the  sentiments  of  thost  in  the  present  age  different. 
"Yet  still  it  might  have  been  expected  (says  one  ot  her  ablest  defenders) 
that  some  one  cr  other  of  the  points  or  articles  of  the  accusation  should  he 
made  out  clearly  by  the  proof.  But  nothing  of  that  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
present  case.  There  is  nothing  in  the  letters  that  could  plainly  show  the 
writer  to  have  been  in  the  foreknowledge,  counsel,  or  device  of  any  murder, 
far  less  to  have  persuaded  or  commanded  it :  and  as  little  is  there  about 
maintaining  or  justifying  any  murders."  Guod.  l.  76.  How  ill  advised 
were  Mary's  adversaries,  to  contract  so  much  guilt,  and  to  practise  so  many 
artifices,  in  order  to  forge  letters,  which  are  so  ill-contrived  for  establishing 


K.  HKNRY'S   MURDER  339 

the  conclusion  they  had  in  view  !     Had  they  been  so  base  as  to  have  recourse 
♦o  forgery,  is  it  not  natural  to  think  that  they  would  have  produced  some 
thing  more  explicit  and  decisive?     2.   It  is  almost  impossible  to  invent  a 
long  narration  of  fictitious  events,  consisting  of  various  minute  particulars, 
and  to  connect  thtse  in  such  a  manner  with  real  facts  that  no  mark  of  fraud 
shall  appear.     For  this  reason,  skilful  forgers  avoid  any  long  detail  of  cir- 
cumstances, especially  of  foreign  and  superfluous  ones,  well  knowing  tha' 
the   more  these  are   multiplied,  the  more  are  the  chances  of  detection 
increased.     Now  Mary's  letters,  especially  the  first,  are  filled  with  a  mul- 
tiplicity of  circumstances,  extremely  natural  in  a  real  correspondence,  but 
altogether  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  the  queen's  enemies,  and  which  i! 
would  have  been  extreme  folly  to  have  inserted,  if  they  had  been  alUr 
gether  imaginary,  and  without  foundation.     3.  The  truth  and  reality  or 
several  circumstances  in  the  letters,  and  these  too  of  no  very  publicnature, 
are  confirmed  by  undoubted  collateral  evidence.    Lett.  i.  Good.  ii.  p.  1. 
The  queen  is  said  to  have  met  one  of  Lennox's  gentlemen,  and  to  have  had 
some  conversation  with  him.     Thomas  Crawford,  who  was  the  person, 
appeared  before  Elizabeth's  commissioners,  and  confirmed  upon  oath,  the 
truth  of  this  circumstance.     He  likewise  declared,  that  during  the  queen's 
stay  at  Glasgow,  the  king  repeated  to  him,  every  night,  whatever  had 
passed  through  the  day  between  her  Majesty  and  him  ;  and  that  the  account 
given  of  these  conversations  in  the  first  letter,  is  nearly  the  same  with  what 
the  king  communicated  to  him.   Good.  ii.  245.     According  to  the  same 
letter  there  was  much  discourse  between  the  king  and  queen  concerning 
Mynto,  Hiegait,  and  Walcar.   Good.  ii.  8.  10,  11.     What  this  might  be, 
was  altogether  unknown,  until  a  letter  of  Mary's  preserved  in  the  Scottish 
college  at   Paris,  and   published,  Keith,  Pref.  vii.  discovered  it  to  be  an 
affair  of  so  much  importance  as  merited  all  the  attention  she  paid  to  it  at 
that  time.     It  appears  by  a  letter  from  the  French  ambassador,  that  Mary 
was  subject  to  a  violent  pain  in  her  side.  Keith,  Ibid.     This  circumstance 
is  mentioned,  Lett.  i.  p.  30.  in  a  manner  so  natural  as  can  scarcely  belong 
to  any  but  a  genuine  production.     4.  If  we  shall  still  think  it  probable  to 
suppose  that  so  many  real  circumstances  were  artfully  introduced  into  the 
letters  by  the  forgers,  in  order  to  give  an  air  of  authenticity  to  their  pro- 
duction ;  it  will  hardly  be  possible  to  hold  the  same  opinion  concerning  the 
following  particular.     Before  the  queen  began  her  first  letter  to  Bothwell, 
she,  as  usual  among  those  who  write  long  letters  containing  a  variety  of 
subjects,  made  notes  or  memorandums  of  the  particulars  which  she  wished 
to  remember ;  but  as  she  sat  up  writing  during  a  great  part  of  the  night, 
and  after  her  attendants  fell  asleep,  her  paper  failed  her,  and  she  con- 
tinued her  letter  upon  the  same  sheet  on  which  she  had  formerly  made 
ner  memorandums.     This  she  herself  takes  notice  of,  and  makes  an  apology 
for  it:     "It  is  late;  I  desire   never  to  cease  from  writing  unto  you,  yet 
now,  after  the  kissing  of  your  hands,  I  will  end  my  letter.     Excuse  my 
evil  writing,  and  read  it  twice  over.     Excuse  that  thing  that  is  scriblit,  for 
I  had  na  paper  zesterday,  quhen  I  wraite  that  of  the  memorial."  Good.  ii. 
28.     These  memorandums  still  appear  in  the  middle  of  the  letter ;  and 
what  we  have  said  seems  naturally  to  account  for  the  manner  how  they 
might  find  their  way  into  a  real  letter.     It  is  scarce  to  be  supposed,  how 
ever,  that  any  forger  would  think  of  placing  memorandums  in  the  middle 
of  a  letter,  where,  at  first  sight,  they  make  so  absurd  and  so  unnatural  ar. 
appearance.     But  if  any  shall  still  carry  their  refinement  to  such  a  length* 
as  to  suppose  that  the  forgers  were  so  artful  as  to  throw  in  this  circum- 
stance, in  order  to  preserve  the  appearance  of  genuineness,  they  must  a 
least  allow  that  the  queen's  enemies,  who  employed  these  forgers,  c  ould 
not  be  ignorant  of  the  design  and  meaning  of  these  short  notes  and  memo- 
randums; but  we  find  them  mistaking  them  so  far  as.  to  imagine  that  they 
were  the  credit  of  the  bearer,  i.  e.  points  concerning  ^vhich  the  qi'f-eD  haa 


140  DISSERTATION   ON 

,?iven  him  verbal  instructions.  Good.  ii.  152.  This  they  cannot  possibly 
be ;  for  the  queen  herself  writes  with  so  much  exactness  concerning  the 
different  points  in  the  memorandums  that  there  was  no  need  of  giving  any 
credit  or  instructions  to  the  bearer  concerning  them.  The  memorandums 
are  indeed  the  contents  of  the  letter.  5.  Mary  mentioning  her  conversation 
with  the  king,  about  the  affair  of  Mynto,  Hiegait,  &x.  says,  "The  morne, 
[i.  e.  to-morrow,]  I  will  speik  to  him  upon  that  point ;'  and  then  adds, 
"As  to  the  rest  of  Willie  Hiegait's,  he  confessit  it;  but  it  was  the  morne 
[i.  e.  the  morning]  after  my  coming  or  he  did  it.'"'  Good.  ii.  9.  This 
addition,  which  could  not  have  been  made  till  after  the  conversation  hap- 
pened, seems  either  to  have  been  inserted  by  the  queen  into  the  body  ot 
the  letter,  or,  perhaps,  she  having  written  it  on  the  margin,  it  was  taken 
thence  into  the  text.  If  we  suppose  the  letter  to  be  a  real  one,  and  written 
at  different  times,  as  it  plainly  bears,  this  circumstance  appears  to  be  very 
natural :  but  no  reason  could  have  induced  a  forger  to  have  ventured  upon 
such  an  anachronism,  for  which  there  was  no  necessity.  An  addition 
perfectly  similar  to  this,  made  to  a  genuine  paper,  may  be  found,  Good, 
ii.  282. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  Mary  herself  and  the  advocates  of  her  innocence 
have  contended,  that  these  letters  were  forged  by  her  enemies,  on  purpose 
to  blast  her  reputation,  and  to  justify  their  own  rebellion.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  take  notice  of  the  arguments  which  were  produced,  in  her  own 
age,  in  support  of  this  opinion ;  the  observations  which  we  have  already 
made,  contain  a  full  reply  to  them.  An  author,  who  has  inquired  into  the 
affairs  of  that  period  with  great  industry,  and  who  has  acquired  much 
knowledge  of  them,  has  published  (as  he  affirms)  a  demonstration  of  the 
forgery  of  Mary's  letters.  This  demonstration  he  founds  upon  evidence 
both  internal  and  external.  With  regard  to  the  former,  he  observes  that 
the  French  copy  of  the  queen's  letters  is  plainly  a  translation  of  Buchanan's 
Latin  copy:  which  Latin  copy  is  only  a  translation  of  the  Scottish  copy; 
and,  by  consequence,  the  assertion  of  the  queen's  enemies,  that  she  wrote 
them  originally  in  French,  is  altogether  groundless,  and  the  wThole  letters 
are  gross  forgeries.  He  accounts  for  this  strange  succession  of  transla- 
tions, by  supposing  that  when  the  forgery  was  projected,  no  person  could 
be  found  capable  of  writing  originally  in  the  French  language  letters 
which  would  pass  for  the  queen's ;  for  that  reason  they  were  first  com- 
posed in  Scottish  ;  but  unluckily  the  French  interpreter,  as  he  conjectures, 
did  not  understand  that  language  :  and  therefore  Buchanan  translated  them 
into  Latin,  and  from  his  Latin  they  were  rendered  into  French.  Good.  i. 
79,  80 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe,  that  no  proofwhatever  is  produced  ot 
any  of  these  suppositions.  The  manner  of  the  Scots  in  that  age,  when 
almost  every  man  of  rank  spent  a  part  of  his  youth  in  France,  and  the 
intercourse  between  the  two  nations  was  great,  renders  it  altogether  im- 
probable that  so  many  complicated  operations  should  be  necessary  in  order 
to  procure  a  few  letters  to  be  written  in  the  French  language. 

But  without  insisting  further  on  this,  we  may  observe,  that  all  this 
author's  premises  may  be  granted,  and  yet  his  conclusion  will  not  follow, 
unless  he  likewise  prove  that  the  French  letters,  as  we  now  have  them,  are 
a  true  copy  of  those  which  were  produced  by  Murray  and  his  party  in  the 
Scottish  Parliament,  and  at  York  and  Westminster.  But  this  he  nas  not 
attempted  ;  and  if  we  attend  to  the  history  of  the  letters,  such  an  attempt, 
it  is  obvious,  must  have  been  unsuccessful.  The  letters  were  first  pub- 
lished at  the  end  of  Buchanan's  Detection.  The  first  edition  of  this  trea- 
tise was  in  Latin,  in  which  language  three  of  the  queen's  letters  were 
subj  )ined  to  it ;  this  Latin  edition  was  printed  A.  D.  1571.  Soon  after,  a 
Scottish  translation  of  it  was  published,  and  at  the  end  of  it  were  printed, 
likewise  in  Scottish,  the  three  letters  which  had  formerly  appeared  in 


K.  H  E  N  R  Y '  S  M  U  R  D  E  R  341 

Latin,  and  five  other  letters  in  Scottish,  which  were  not  in  the  Latin  edi- 
tion. Next  appeared  a  French  translation  of  the  Detection,  and  of  seven 
of  the  letters;  this  bears  to  have  been  printed  at  Edinburgh  by  Thomas 
Waltem,  1572.  The  name  of  the  place,  as  well  as  the  printer,  is  allowed 
by  all  parties  to  be  a  manifest  imposture.  Our  author,  from  observing 
the  day  of  the  month  from  which  the  printing  is  said  to  have  been  finished, 
has  asserted  that  this  edition  was  printed  at  London  ;  but  no  stress  can  be 
laid  upon  a  date  found  in  a  book,  where  every  other  circumstance  with 
regard  to  the  printing  is  allowed  to  be  false.  Blackwood,  who  (next  to 
LesIyN  was  the  best  informed  of  all  Mary's  advocates  in  that  age,  affirms, 
that  the  French  edition  of  the  Detection  was  published  in  France  ;  "  II 
[Buchanan]  a  depuis  adiouste  a  ceste  declamation  un  petit  libelle  du  pre- 
tendu  manage  du  Due  de  Norfolk,  et  de  la  facon  de  son  proces,  et  la  tout 
envoye  aux  freres  a  la  Rochelle,  lesquels  voyants  qu'il  pouvoit  servir  a  la 
cause,  Ton  traduit  en  Francois,  et  iceluy  fut  imprimee  a  Edinbourg,  e'est  a 
dire  a  la  Rochelle,  par  Thomas  Waltem,  nom  aposte  et  fait  a  plaisir." 
Martyre  de  Marie.  Jebb,  ii.  256.  The  author  of  the  Innocence  de  Marie 
goes  further,  and  names  the  French  translator  of  the  Detection.  "  Et  icelui 
premierement  compose  (comme  il  semble)  par  George  Buchanan  Escos- 
soys,  et  depuis  traduit  en  langue  Franchise  par  un  Hugonot,  Poitevin  (advo- 
cat  de  vocation)  Camuz,  soy  disant  gentilhomme,  et  un  de  plus  remarquez 
sediteuz  de  France."  Jebb,  i.  425.  443.  The  concurring  testimony  of 
two  contemporary  authors,  whose  residence  in  France  afforded  them  suffi- 
cient means  of  information,  must  outweigh  a  slight  conjecture.  The 
French  translator  does  not  pretend  to  publish  the  original  French  letters  as 
written  by  the  queen  herself;  he  expressly  declares  that  he  translated 
them  from  the  Latin.  Good.  i.  103.  Had  our  author  attended  to  all  these 
circumstances,  he  might  have  saved  himself  the  labour  of  so  many  criti- 
cisms to  prove  that  the  present  French  copy  of  the  letters  is  a  translation 
from  the  Latin.  The  French  editor  himself  acknowledges  it,  and,  so  far 
as  I  know,  no  person  ever  denied  it. 

We  may  observe  that  the  French  translator  was  so  ignorant  as  to  affirm 
that  Mary  had  written  these  letters,  partly  in  French,  partly  in  Scottish. 
Good.  i.  103.  Had  this  translation  been  published  at  London  by  Cecil,  or 
had  it  been  made  by  his  direction,  so  gross  an  error  would  not  have  been 
admitted  into  it.  This  error,  however,  was  owing  to  an  odd  circumstance. 
In  the  Scottish  translation  of  the  Detection,  two  or  three  sentences  of  the 
original  French  were  prefixed  to  each  letter,  which  breaking  off  with  an 
&c.  the  Scottish  translation  of  the  whole  letter  followed.  This  method  of 
printing  translations  was  not  uncommon  in  that  age.  The  French  editor, 
observing  this,  foolishly  concluded  that  the  letters  had  been  written  partly 
in  French,  partly  in  Scottish. 

If  we  carefully  consider  those  few  French  sentences  of  each  letter,  which 
still  remain,  ana  apply  to  them  that  species  of  criticism  by  which  our 
author  has  examined  the  whole,  a  clear  proof  will  arise,  that  there  was  a 
French  copy  not  translated  from  the  Latin,  but  which  was  itself  the  origi- 
nal from  which  both  the  Latin  and  Scottish  have  been  translated.  This 
minute  criticism  must  necessarily  be  disagreeable  to  many  readers ;  but 
luckily  a  few  sentences  only  are  to  be  examined,  which  will  render  it 
extremely  short. 

In  the  first  letter,  the  French  sentence  prefixed  to  it  ends  with  these 
words,  yfaisoit  bon.  It  is  plain  this  expression,  veu  ce  que  pent  un  corps 
sans  cozur,  is  by  no  means  a  translation  of  cum  plane  perinde  essem  atque 
corpus  sine  corde.  The  whole  sentence  has  a  spirit  and  elegance  in  the 
French,  which  neither  the  Latin  nor  Scottish  has  retained.  Jusques  a, 
la  din6e  is  not  a  translation  ot  tola  prandii  tempore;  the  Scottish  transla- 
tion, quhile  denner  time,  expresses  the  sense  of  the  French  more  properly; 
to?  anciently  quhile  signified  until    <   wr»H  as  during.    Je  n'ay  pas  tenu 


342  DISSERTATION   ON 

grand  propos  is  not  justly  rendered  neque  contulerim  sermonem  cum  quo- 
quam;  the  phrase  used  in  the  French  copy  is  one  peculiar  to  that  language, 
and  gives  a  more  probable  account  oi  her  behaviour  than  the  other. 
Jugeant  bien  qu'il  rCy  faisoit  bon  is  not  a  translation  of  ut  qui  judicarent  id 
nnn  esse  ex  usu.  The  French  sentence  prefixed  to  lett.  2.  ends  with 
upprendre.  It  is  evident  that  both  the  Latin  and  Scottish  translations 
have  omitted  altogether  these  words,  et  toutefois  je  ne  puis  apprendre. 
The  French  sentence  prefixed  to  lett.  3.  ends  with  presenter.  Tay  veill4 
plus  tard  let  haut  is  plainly  no  translation  of  diutius  illic  morata  sum ;  the 
sense  oi  tne  French  is  better  expressed  by  the  Scottish,  I  have  walkit  later 
there  up.  Again,  Pour  excuser  vostre  affaire  is  very  different  from  ad  excusan- 
duia  nostra  negotia  The  five  remaining  letters  never  appeared  in  Latin; 
nor  is  there  any  proof  of  their  being  ever  translated  into  that  language 
Four  of  them,  however,  are  published  in  French.  This  entirely  overturns 
our  author's  hypothesis  concerning  the  necessity  of  a  translation  into  Latin. 
In  the  Scottish  edition  of  the  Detection,  the  whole  sonnet  is  printed  in 
French  as  well  as  in  Scottish.  It  is  not  possible  to  believe  that  this  Scot- 
tish copy  could  be  the  original  from  which  the  French  was  translated. 
The  French  consists  of  verses  which  have  both  measure  and  rhyme,  and 
which,  in  many  places,  are  far  from  being  inelegant.  The  Scottish  con- 
sists of  an  equal  number  of  lines,  but  without  measure  or  rhyme.  Now  no 
man  could  ever  think  of  a  thing  so  absurd  and  impracticable  as  to  require 
one  to  translate  a  certain  given  number  of  lines  in  prose,  into  an  equal 
number  of  verses  where  both  measure  and  rhyme  were  to  be  observed 
The  Scottish,  on  the  contrary,  appears  manifestly  to  be  a  translation  of  the 
French  ;  the  phrases,  the  idioms,  and  many  of  the  words  are  French,  and 
not  Scottish.  Besides,  the  Scottish  translator  has,  in  several  instances, 
mistaken  the  sense  of  the  French,  and  in  many  more  expresses  the  sense 
imperfectly.  Had  the  sonnet  been  forged,  this  could  not  have  happened. 
The  directors  of  the  fraud  would  have  understood  their  own  work.  I 
shall  satisfy  myself  with  one  example,  in  which  there  is  a  proof  of  both 
my  assertions.     Stanza  viii.  ver.  9. 

Pour  luy  j'attendz  toute  bonne  fortune, 
Pour  luy  je  veux  garder  sante  et  vie, 
Pour  luy  tout  vertu  de  suivre  j'ay  envie. 

For  him  I  attend  all  good  fortune, 

For  him  I  will  conserve  helthe  and  lyfe, 

For  him  I  desire  to  ensue  courage. 

Attend  in  the  first  line  is  not  a  Scottish,  but  a  French  phrase  ;  the  two 
other  lines  do  not  express  the  sense  of  the  French,  and  the  last  is  absolute 
nonsense. 

The  eighth  letter  was  never  translated  into  French.  It  contains  much 
refined  mysticism  about  devices,  a  folly  of  that  age,  of  which  Mary  was 
very  fond,  as  appears  from  several  other  circumstances,  particularly  from 
a  letter  concerning  impresas,  by  Drummond  of  Hawthornden.  If  Mary's 
adversaries  forged  her  letters,  they  vveie  certainly  employed  very  idly 
when  they  produced  this. 

From  these  observations  it  seems  to  be  evident  that  there  was  a  French 
copy  of  Mary's  letters,  of  which  the  Latin  and  Scottish  were  only  transla- 
tions. Nothing  now  remains  of  this  copy  but  those  few  sentences,  which 
are  prefixed  to  the  Scottish  translation.  The  French  editor  laid  hold  ol 
these  sentences,  and  tacked  his  own  translation  to  them,  which  so  far  as  it 
is  his  work,  is  a  servile  and  a  very  wretched  translation  of  Buchanan's 
Latin ;  whereas,  in  those  introductory  sentences,  we  have  discovered 
strong  marks  of  their  being  originals,  and  certain  proofs  that  they  are  no' 
translated  from  the  Latin. 


K.  H  K  N  K  Y  '  S   M  U  R  D  E  R.  343 

It  is  apparent,  too,  from  comparing-  the  Latin  and  Scottish  translations 
with  these  sentences,  that  the  Scottish  translator  has  more  perfectly  attained 
the  sense  and  spiri  of  the  French  than  the  Latin.  And  as  it  appears  that 
the  letters  were  very  early  translated  into  Scottish,  Good.  ii.  76,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  Buchanan  made  his  translation,  not  from  the  French  but  trom 
the  Scottish  copy.  Were  it  necessary,  several  critical  proofs  of  this  might 
be  produced.  One  that  has  been  already  mentioned  seems  decisive. 
I 'Hitiius  illic  morata  sum  bears  not  the  least  resemblance  to  j' 'ay  veille plus 
tard  la  haut;  but  if,  instead  of  /  walkil  [i.  e.  watched]  laiter  there  up,  we 
suppose  that  Buchanan  read  I  waitit,  &c.  this  mistake,  into  which  he  might 
so  easily  have  fallen,  accounts  for  the  error  in  his  translation. 

These  criticisms,  however  minute,  appear  to  be  well  founded.  Bui 
whatever  opinion  may  be  formed  concerning-  them,  the  other  arguments, 
with  regard  to  the  internal  evidence,  remain  in  full  force. 

The  external  proofs  of  the  forgery  of  the  queen's  letters,  which  our 
author  has  produced,  appear  at  first  sight  to  be  specious,  but  are  not  more 
.solid  than  that  which  we  have  already  examined.  These  proofs  may  be 
classed  under  two  heads.  1.  The  erroneous  and  contradictory  accounts 
which  are  said  to  be  given  of  the  letters,  upon  the  first  judicial  production 
of  them.  In  the  secret  council  held  Decern.  4, 1567,  they  are  described  as 
'•her  privie  letters  written  and  subscrivit  with  herawin  hand."  Haynes, 
454  Good.  ii.  64.  In  the  act  of  parliament,  passed  on  the  15th  of  the 
same  month,  they  are  described  as  "  her  privie  letters  written  halelie  with 
her  awin  hand.'  Good.  ib.  67.  This  diversity  of  description  has  been 
considered  as  a  strong  presumption  of  forgery.  The  manner  in  which  Mr 
!  lume  accounts  for  this  is  natural  and  plausible,  vol.  v.  p.  498.  And  seve 
ral  ingenious  remarks,  tending  to  confirm  his  observations,  are  made  in  a 
pamphlet  lately  published,  entitled,  Miscellaneous  Remarks  on  the  Inquiry 
into  the  Evidence  against  Mary  queen  of  Scots.  To  what  they  have  ob- 
served it  may  be  added,  that  the  original  act  of  secret  council  does  not 
now  exist ;  we  have  only  a  copy  of  it  found  among  Cecil's  papers,  and  the 
transcriber  has  been  manifestly  so  ignorant,  or  so  careless,  that  an  argument 
founded  entirely  upon  the  supposition  of  his  accuracy  is  of  little  force. 
Several  errors  into  which  he  has  fallen,  we  are  enabled  to  point  out,  by 
comparing  his  copy  of  the  act  of  secret  council  with  the  act  of  parliament 
passed  in  consequence  of  it.  The  former  contains  a  petition  to  parlia- 
ment; in  the  latter  the  real  petition  is  resumed  verbatim,  and  converted 
into  a  law.  In  the  copy, the  queen's  marriage  with  Bothwell  is  called  "a 
priveit  marriage,"  which  it  certainly  was  not ;  for  it  was  celebrated,  after 
proclamation  of  banns,  in  St.  Giles's  church,  three  several  days,  and  with 
public  solemnity  ;  but  in  the  act  it  is  denominated  "  ane  pretendit  mar- 
riage," which  is  the  proper  description  of  it,  according  to  the  ideas  of  the 
party.  In  the  copy,  the  queen  is  said  to  be  "  so  thrall  and  bludy  affec- 
tionat  to  the  privat  appetite  of  that  tyran,"  which  is  nonsense,  but  in  the 
act  it  is  "  blindly  afFectionat."  In  the  copy  it  is  said,  "  all  nobill  and  vir- 
tuous men  abhorring  their  traine  and  company."  In  the  act,  ';  their  tyran- 
nie  and  company,"  which  is  evidently  the  true  reading,  as  the  other  has 
either  no  meaning,  or  is  a  mere  tautology.  2.  The  other  proof  of  the 
forgery  of  the  letters  is  founded  upon  the  impossibility  of  reconciling  the 
account,  given  of  the  time  when,  and  the  places  from  which,  the  letteis 
are  supposed  to  have  been  written,  with  what  is  certainly  known  concern- 
ing the  queen's  motions.  According  to  the  paper  published,  Anders,  "i. 
269,  which  has  been  called  Murray  s  Diary,  and  which  is  formed  upon  the 
authority  of  the  letters,  Mary  set  out  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow,  January 
21,  1567  ;  she  arrived  there  on  the  23d  ;  left  that  place  in  the  27th  ;  she, 
together  with  the  king,  reached  Linlithgow  on  the  28th,  staid  in  that  town 
only  one  night,  and  retui  ~ed  to  Edinburgh  before  the  end  of  the  month 
But,  according  to  Mr.  Goodall,  the  queen  did  not  leave  Edinburgh  until 


344  DISSERTATION    ON 

Friday,  Jan.  24th  ,  as  she  staid  a  night  at  Callendar,  she  could  not  reach 
Glasgow  sooner  than  the  evening  of  Saturday  the  25th  ;  and  she  returned 
to  Linlithgow  on  Tuesday  the  28th.  By  consequence,  the  first  letter, 
which  supposes  the  queen  to  have  been  at  least  four  days  in  Glasgow,  as 
well  as  the  second  letter,  which  hears  date  at  Glasgow,, Saturday  morning, 
whereas  she  did  not  arrive  there  until  the  evening,  must  be  forgeries. 
That  the  queen  did  not  set  out  from  Edinburgh  sooner  than  the  24th  of 
January,  is  evident  (as  he  contends)  from  the  public  records,  which  contain 
a  Precept  of  a  confirmation  of  a  life-rent  by  James  Boyd  to  Margare* 
Chalmers,  granted  by  the  queen,  on  the  24th  of  January,  at  Edinburgh 
wid  likewise  a  letter  of  the  queen's  dated  at  Edinburgh  on  the  same  day, 
appointing  James  Inglis  tailor  to  the  prince  her  son.  That  the  king  and 
queen  had  returned  to  Linlithgow  on  the  28th  appears  from  a  deed,  in  which 
they  appoint  Andrew  Ferrier  keeper  of  their  palace  there,  dated  at  Lin 
iithaow,  January  28.     Good.  i.  118. 

This  has  been  represented  to  be  not  only  a  convincing,  but  a  legal  prool 
of  the  forgery  of  the  letters  said  to  be  written  by  Mary  ;  but  how  far  it 
falls  short  of  this  will  appear  from  the  following  considerations. 

1.  It  is  evident,  from  a  declaration  or  confession  made  by  tb^  bishop  of 
Ross,  that  before  the  conferences  at  York,  which  were  opened  in  the  begin- 
ning of  October,  1568,  Mary  had,  by  an  artifice  of  Maitland's,  got  into  ner 
hands  a  copy  of  those  letters  which  her  subjects  accused  her  of  having 
written  to  Bothwell.  Brown's  Trial  of  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  31.  36.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  the  bishop  of  Ross  had  seen  the  letters  before  he 
wrote  the  defence  of  queen  Mary's  honour  in  the  year  1570.  They  were 
published  to  all  the  world,  together  with  Buchanan's  Detection,  A.  D.  1571. 
Now,  if  they  had  contained  an  error  so  gross,  and  at  that  time  so  obvious 
to  discovery,  as  the  supposing  the  queen  to  have  passed  several  days  at 
Glasgow,  while  she  was  really  at  Edinburgh;  had  they  contained  a  fetter 
dated  at  Glasgow,  Saturday  morning,  though  she  did  not  arrive  there  till 
the  evening  ;  is  it  possible  that  she  herself,  who  knew  her  own  motions,  or 
the  able  and  zealous  advocates  who  appeared  for  her  in  that  age,  should 
not  have  published  and  exposed  this  contradiction,  and,  by  so  doing,  have 
blasted  at  once  the  credit  of  such  an  imposture  ?  In  disquisitions  which  are 
naturally  abstruse  and  intricate,  the  ingenuity  of  the  latest  author  may  dis- 
cover many  things  which  have  escaped  the  attention,  or  baffled  the  saga- 
city, of  those  who  have  formerly  considered  the  same  subject.  But  when 
a  matter  of  fact  lay  so  obvious  to  view,  this  circumstance  of  its  being  un- 
observed by  the  queen  herself,  or  by  any  of  her  adherents,  is  almost  a 
demonstration  that  there  is  some  mistake  or  fallacy  in  our  author's  argu- 
ments. So  far  are  any,  either  of  our  historians,  or  of  Mary's  defenders,  from 
calling  in  question  the  common  account  concerning  the  time  of  the  queen's 
setting  out  to  Glasgow,  and  her  returning  from  it,  that  there  is  not  the  least 
appearance  of  any  difference  among  them  with  regard  to  this  point.  But 
farther, 

2.  Those  papers  in  the  public  records,  on  which  our  author  rests  the 
proof  of  his  assertion  concerning  the  queen's  motions,  are  not  the  originals 
subscribed  by  the  queen,  but  copies  only,  or  translations  of  copies  of  those 
originals.  It  is  not  necessary,  nor  would  it  be  very  easy,  to  render  this 
intelligible  to  persons  unacquainted  with  the  forms  of  law  in  Scotland;  but 
every  Scotsman  conversant  in  business  will  understand  me  when  I  say  that 
the  precept  of  confirmation  of  the  life-rent  to  Boyd  is  only  a  Latin  copy 
or  note  of  a  precept,  which  was  sealed  with  the  privy  seal,  on  a  warrant 
from  the  signet  office,  proceeding  on  a  signature  which  bore  date  at  Edin- 
burgh the  24th  of  January ;  and  that  the  deed  in  favour  of  James  Inglis  is 
the  copy  of  a  letter,  sealed  with  the  privy  seal,  proceeding  on  a  signature 
which  bore  date  at  Edinburgh  January  24.  From  all  this  we  may  argue 
with  some  degree  of  reason,  that  a  proof  founded  on  papers  which  are  ao 


K.  H  E  N  R  Y    S    M  U  R  D  E  R.  345 

many  removes  distant  from  the  originals,  cannot  but  be  very  lame  anc 
uncertain. 

3.  At  that  time  all  public  papers  were  issued  in  the  name  both  of  the 
King  and  queen ;  by  law,  the  king's  subscription  was  no  less  requisite  U; 
any  paper  than  the  queen's ;  and  therefore,  unless  the  original  signatures 
be  produced,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  particular  day  when  each  of  them 
signed,  or  to  prove  that  it  was  signed  only  by  one  ot  them,  the  legal  piool 
arising  from  these  papers  would  be,  that  both  the  king  and  queen  signed 
them  at  Edinburgh  on  the  24th  of  January. 

4.  The  dates  of  the  warrants  or  precepts  issued  by  the  sovereign  in  that 
age  seem  to  have  been  in  a  great  measuie  arbitrary,  and  fixed  at  the  plea- 
sure of  the  writer ;  and  of  consequence,  these  dates  were  seldom  accu- 
rate, are  often  false,  and  can  never  be  relied  upon.  This  abuse  became  so 
frequent,  and  was  found  to  be  so  pernicious,  that  an  act  of  parliament,  A. 
D.  1592,  declared  the  fixing  a  false  date  to  a  signature  to  be  high  treason. 

5.  There  still  remain,  in  the  public  records,  a  great  number  of  papers, 
which  prove  the  necessity  of  this  law,  as  well  as  the  fallacy  of  our  author's 
arguments.  And  though  it  be  no  e?.sy  matter,  at  the  distance  ot  two  cen 
turies,  to  prove  any  particular  date  to  be  false,  yet  surprising  instances  ol 
this  kind  shall  be  produced.  Nothing  is  more  certain  from  history,  than 
that  the  king  was  at  Glasgow  24th  January,  1567  ;  and  yet  the  record  oi 
signatures  from  1565  to  1582,  fol.  16th,  contains  the  copy  of  a  signature  to 
Archibald  Edmonston,  said  to  have  been  subscribed  by  our  sovereigns,  i. 
e.  the  king  and  queen,  at  Edinburgh,  Jan.  24,  1567  ;  so  that  if  we  were 
to  rely  implicitly  upon  the  dates  in  die  records  of  that  age,  or  to  hold  oui 
author's  argument  to  be  good,  it  would  prove  that  not  only  the  queen,  but 
the  king  too  was  at  Edinburgh  on  the  24th  of  January. 

It  appears,  from  an  original  letter  of  the  bishop  of  Ross,  that  on  the  25th 
of  October,  1566,  Mary  lay  at  the  point  of  death  ;  Keith,  App.  134  ;  and 
yet  a  deed  is  to  be  found  in  the  public  records,  which  bears  that  it  waf 
signed  by  the  queen  that  day.     Privy  seal,  lib.  35.  fol.  89.     Ouchterlony.* 

Bothwell  seized  the  queen  as  she  returned  from  Stirling,  April  24,  1567, 
and  (according  to  her  own  account)  conducted  her  to  Dunbar  with  all  dili- 
gence. And.  i.  95.  But  our  author,  relying  on  the  dates  of  some  papers 
which  he  found  in  the  records,  supposes  that  Bothwell  allowed  her  to  stop 
at  Edinburgh,  and  to  transact  business  there.  Nothing  can  be  more  im- 
probable than  this  supposition.  We  may  therefore  rank  the  date  of  tht 
deed  to  Wright,  Privy  seal,  lib.  36.  fol.  43,  and  which  is  mentioned  by  out 
author,  vol.  l.  124,  among  the  instances  of  the  false  dates  of  papers  which 
were  issued  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business  in  that  age.  Our  author  has 
mistaken  the  date  of  the  other  paper  to  Forbes,  ibid. ;  it  is  signed  April  14th, 
nut  April  24th. 

If  there  be  any  point  agreed  upon  in  Mary's  history,  it  is,  that  she  re- 
mained at  Dunbar  from  the  time  that  Bothwell  carried  her  thither,  till  she- 
returned  to  Edinburgh  along  with  him  in  the  beginning  of  May.  Our 
author  himself  allows  that  she  resided  twelve  days  there,  vol.  i.  367.  Now 
though  there  are  deeds  in  the  records  which  bear  that  they  were  signed  by 
the  queen  at  Dunbar  during  that  time,  yet  there  are  others  which  bear  that 
they  were  signed  at  Edinburgh  ;  e.  g.  there  is  one  at  Edinburgh,  April  27th. 
Privy  seal,  lib.  36.  fol.  97.  There  are  others  said  to  be  signed  at  Dunbar 
on  that  day.  Lib.  31.  Chart.  No.  524,  526.  lb.  lib.  32.  No.  154.  157 
There  are  some  signed  at  Dunbar,  April  28th.  Others  at  Edinburgh,  April 
30fc,  lib.  32.     Chart.  No.  492.     Others  at  Dunbar,  May  1st.     Id.  ibid. 

*  W.  B.  In  some  of  the  early  editions  of  this  Dissertation,  another  instance  of  the  same  nature 
Kith  those  which  go  before  and  follow  was  mentioned ;  but  that,  as  has  since  been  discovered,  wa# 
founded  on  a  tnistake  of  the  person  employed  to  search  the  records,  and  is  therefore  omitted  in  this 
edition.  The  reasoning  however,  in  'he  dissertation,  stands  sail  in  t\>.  ce,  notwithstanding  thii 
omission. 

Vol   III.— 44 


346  DISSERTATION    ON 

No.  1 58  These  different  charters  suppose  the  queen  to  have  made  so 
many  unknown,  improbable,  and  inconsistent  journeys,  that  they  afford  the 
clearest  demonstration  thai  the  dates  in  these  records  ought  not  to  be 
depended  on. 

This  becomes  more  evident  from  the  date  of  the  charter  said  to  be  signed 
April  27th,  which  happened  that  year  to  be  a  Sunday,  which  was  not,  at 
that  time,  a  day  of  business  in  Scotland,  a&  appears  from  the  books  ot 
sederunt,  then  kept  by  the  lords  of  session. 

From  this  short  review  of  our  author's  proof  of  the  forgery  of  the  letters 
to  Both  well,  it  is  evident,  that  his  arguments  are  far  from  amounting  to 
demonstration.* 

Another  argument  against  the  genuineness  of  these  letters  is  founded  on 
the  style  and  composition,  which  are  said  to  be  altgether  unworthy  of  the 
queen,  and  unlike  her  real  productions.  It  is  plain,  both  from  the  great 
accuracy  of  composition  in  most  of  Mary's  letters,  and  even  from  her 
solicitude  to  write  them  in  a  fair  hand,  that  she  valued  herself  on  those 
accomplishments,  and  was  desirous  of  being  esteemed  an  elegant  writer. 
But  when  she  wrote  at  any  time  in  a  hurry,  then  many  marks  of  inaccuracy 
appear.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  may  be  found  in  a  paper  published, 
Good.  ii.  301.  Mary's  letters  to  Bothwell  were  written  in  the  utmost  hurry ; 
and  yet  under  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  translation,  they  are  not  destitute 
either  of  spirit  or  of  energy.  '1  he  manner  in  which  she  expresses  her 
love  to  Bothwell  has  been  pronounced  indecent  and  even  shocking.  But 
Mary's  temper  led  her  to  warm  expressions  of  her  regard  ;  those  refine- 
ments of  delicacy,  which  now  appear  in  all  the  commerce  between  the 
sexes,  were  in  that  age  but  little  known,  even  among  persons  of  the  highest 
rank.  Among  the  earl  of  Hardwicke's  papers,  there  is  a  series  of  letters, 
from  Maiy  to  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  copied  from  the  Harleian  library,  p. 
37.  b.  9.  lol.  88,  in  which  Mary  declares  her  love  to  that  nobleman  in  a 
language  which  would  now  be  reckoned  extremely  indelicate ;  Hard.  State 
Papers,  i.  189,  &c. 

Some  of  Mary's  letters  to  Bothwell  were  written  before  the  murder  of 
her  husband  ;  some  of  them  after  that  event,  and  before  her  marriage  to 
Bothwell.  Those  which  are  prior  to  the  death  of  her  husband  abound 
with  the  fondest  expressions  of  her  love  to  Bothwell,  and  excite  something 
more  than  a  suspicion  that  their  familiarity  had  been  extremely  criminal. 
We  find  in  them,  too,  some  dark  expressions,  which  her  enemies  employed 
to  prove  that  she  was  no  stranger  to  the  schemes  which  were  lormed 
against  her  husband's  life.  Ot  this  kind  are  the  following  passages : 
"  Alace  !  I  never  dissavit  ony  body ;  but  I  remit  me  altogidder  to  zour 
will.  Send  me  advertisement  quhat  I  sail  do,  and  quhatsaever  thing  come 
thereof,  I  sail  obey  zow.  Advise  to  with  zourself,  gif  ze  can  find  out 
ony  mair  secret  inventioun  by  medicine,  for  he  suld  tak  medicine,  and  the 
bath  at  Craigmillar."  Good.  ii.  22.  "  See  not  hir  quhais  fenzeit  teiris 
suld  not  be  sa  meikle  praisit  and  estemit,  as  the  trew  and  faithfull  travellis 

*  The  uncertainty  of  any  conclusion  formed  merely  on  the  date  of  public  papers  in  that  age, 
especially  with  respect  to  the  king,  is  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  a  discovery  which  was  made 
lately.  Mr.  Davidson  (to  whom  I  was  indebted  for  much  information  when  I  composed  this  dis- 
sertation thirty-three  years  ago)  has,  in  the  course  of  his  intelligent  researches  into  the  antiquities 
of  his  country,  found  an  original  paper  which  must  appear  curious  to  Scottish  antiquaries.  Bucha- 
nan asserts,  that  on  account  of  the  king's  frequent  absence,  occasioned  by  his  dissipation  and  love 
of  field  sports,  a  cachette,  or  stamp  cut  in  metal,  was  made,  with  which  his  name  was  affixed  to 
public  deeds,  as  if  he  had  been  present.  Hist.  lib.  xvii.  p.  343.  Edit.  Ruddim.  Knox  relates  the 
same  thing,  Hist.  p.  393.  How  much  this  may  have  divested  the  king  of  the  consequence  which  lie 
derived  from  having  his  name  conjoined  with  that  of  the  queen  in  all  public  deeds,  as  the  affixing 
of  his  name  was  thereby  put  entirely  in  the  power  of  the  person  who  had  the  custody  of  the 
cachette.  is  manifest.  The  keeping  of  it,  as  both  Buchanan  and  Knox  affirm,  was  committed  to 
Rizio.  A  late  defender  of  queen  Mary  calls  in  question  what  they  relate,  and  seems  to  consider  it 
as  one  of  the  aspersions.  Goodall,  vol.  i.  p.  238.  The  truth  of  their  assertion,  however,  is  now 
fully  established  by  the  original  deed  which  I  have  mentioned.  This  I  have  seen  and  examined 
wilh  attention.  It  is  now  lodged  by  Mr.  Davidson  in  the  signet  office.  In  il,  the  subscription  of 
he  king  s  name  has  evidently  been  made  by  a  cachette  with  erintera'  ink 


K.  HENRY'S  MURDER.  347 

quhiiii  I  sustene  for  to  merit  hir  place.  For  obtaining  of  the  quhilk, 
againis  my  natural,  1  betrayis  thaine  that  may  impesche  me.  God  forgive 
me,"  &c.  Ibid.  27.  "  I  have  walkit  laiter  thairup,  than  1  wald  have  done, 
gif  it  had  not  been  to  draw  something  out  of  him,  quhilk  this  bearer  will 
shaw  zow,  quhilk  is  the  fairest  commodity  that  can  be  offerit  to  excuse 
zour  affairs."  Ibid.  32.  From  the  letters  posterior  to  the  death  of  her 
husband,  it  is  evident  that  the  scheme  of  Roth  well's  seizing  Mary  by 
force,  and  carrying  her  along  with  him,  was  contrived  in  concert  with 
herself,  and  with  her  approbation.* 

*  Thai  letters  of  so  much  importance  as  those  of  Mary  to  Bothwell  should  have  been  entirely 
lost,  appears  to  many  altogether  unaccountable.  After  being  produced  in  England  before  Elizabeth's 
commissioners,  they  were  delivered  back  by  them  to  the  earl  of  M  urray.  Good.  ii.  235.  He  seems 
to  have  kept  them  in  his  possession  during  life.  After  his  death  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  Lennox 
his  succe.-sor,  who  restored  them  to  the  eari  of  Morton.  Good.  ii.  91.  Though  it  be  not  necessarily 
connected  with  any  of  the  questions  winch  gave  occasion  to  this  dissertation,  it  may  perhaps  satisfy 
the  curiosity  of  some  of  my  readeis  to  inform  them,  that,  after  a  very  diligent  search,  which  has 
lately  been  made,  no  copy  of  Mary's  letters  to  Bothwell  can  be  found  in  any  of  the  public  libraries 
in  Great  Britain.  The  only  certain  intelligence  concerning  them,  since  the  time  of  their  being  de 
livered  to  Morton,  was  communicated  by  the  accurate  Dr.  Birch. 

Extract  of  the  letters  of  Robert  Bowes,  Esq.  ambassador  from  queen  Elizabeth  to  the  king  of 
Scotland,  written  to  sir  Francis  VValsingham,  secretary  of  state,  from  the  origin' '  register  book  of 
Mr.  Bowes's  letters,  from  15th  of  August,  1582,  to  28th  September,  1583,  in  the  possession  of  Chris 
lopher  Hunter,  M.  D.  of  Durham. 

1582,  8th  November,  from  Edinburgh 

Albeit  I  have  been  borne  in  hand,  That  the  coffer  wherein  were  the  originals  of  letters  between 
i.he  Scottish  queen  and  the  earl  of  Bothwell,  had  been  delivered  to  sundry  hands,  and  thereby  was 
at  present  wanting,  and  unknown  where  it  rested,  yet  I  have  learned  certainly  by  the  prior  of  Plus- 
cardyne's  means,  that  both  the  coffer  and  also  the  writings  are  come,  and  now  remain  with  *he  earl 
of  Gowrie,  who,  I  perceive,  will  bu  haidly  intreated  to  make  delivery  to  her  Majesty,  according  to 
her  Majesty's  desire. 

This  time  past  I  have  expended  in  searching  where  the  coffer  and  writing  were,  wher°in,  without 
the  help  of  the  prior,  I  should  have  found  great  difficulty;  now  I  will  essay  Gowrie.  aud  of  my 
success  you  shall  be  shortly  advertised. 

12th  of  November,  1582,  from  Edinburgh. 
Because  I  had  both  learned,  that  the  casket  and  letters  mentioned  in  my  last,  before  these  were 
come  to  the  possession  of  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  and  also  lound  that  no  mean  might  prevail  to  win  the 
same  out  of  his  hands  without  his  own  consent  and  privity  :  in  which  behalf  I  had  employed  fit  in- 
struments, that  nevertheless  profiting  nothing .  therefore  I  attempted  to  essay  himself,  letting  him 
know  that  the  said  casket  and  letters  should  have  been  brought  j  her  Majesty  by  the  offer  and 
good  means  of  good  friends,  promising  to  havedelivered  them  to  her  Majesty  before  they  came  into 
his  hands  and  custody,  and  knowing  that  he  did  bear  the  like  affection,  and  was  ready  to  pleasure 
her  Majesty  in  all  things,  and  chiefly  in  this  that  had  been  thus  far  tendered  to  her  Majesty,  and 
which  thereby  should  be  well  accepted  and  with  princely  thanks  and  gratuity  be  requited  to  his 
omfort  and  contentment ;  I  moved  him  that  they  might  be  a  present  to  be  sent  to  her  Majesty  from 
him,  and  that  I  might  cause  the  same  to  be  conveyed  to  her  Majesty,  adding  hereunto  such  words 
and  arguments  as  might  both  stir  up  a  hope  of  liberality,  and  also  best  effect  the  purpose.  At  the 
first  he  was  loth  to  agree  that  they  were  in  his  possession  :  but  I  let  him  plainly  know  that  I  was 
certainly  informed  that  they  were  delivered  to  him  by  Sanders  Jardin ;  whereupon  he  pressed  to 
know  who  did  so  inform  me.  inquiring  whether  the  sons  of  the  earl  of  Morton  had  done  it,  or  no. 
I  did  not  otherwise  in  plain  terms  deny  or  answer  thereunto,  but  that  he  might  think  that  he  had 
told  me  as  the  prior  is  ready  to  avoi  ',h,  and  well  pleased  that  I  shall  give  him  to  be  the  author 
thereof;  which  he  had  said  [though]  all  these  letters  were  in  his  keeping  (which  he  would  neitha 
grant  nor  deny),  yet  he  might  not  deliver  them  to  any  person  without  the  consents  and  privities,  as 
well  of  the  king,  that  had  interest  therein,  as  also  of  the  rest  of  the  noblemen  enterprisers  of  the 
action,  against  the  king's  mother,  and  thai  would  have  them  kept  as  an  evidence  to  warrant  and 
make  good  that  action.  And  albeit  I  replied,  that  their  action  in  that  part  touching  the  assignation 
iif  the  crown  to  the  king  by  his  mother  had  received  such  establishment,  confirmation  and  strength, 
by  acts  of  parliaments  and  other  public  authority  and  instruments,  as  neither  should  that  case  be 
suffered  to  come  in  debate  or  question,  nor  such  scrolls  and  papers  ought  to  be  showed  for  the 
strengthening  thereof,  so  as  these  might  well  be  left  and  be  rendered  to  the  hands  of  her  Majesty,  to 
whom  they  were  destined  before  they  fell  into  his  keeping:  yet  he  would  not  be  removed  or  satisfied ; 
concluding,  after  much  reasonings,  that  ihe  earl  of  Morton,  nor  any  other  that  had  the  charge  and 
keeping  thereof,  durst  at  any  time  makedeliverv :  and  because  it  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  moved 
him  therein,  and  that  he  would  gladly  both  answer  her  Majesty's  good  expectation  in  him,  and  also 
perform  his  duty  due  to  his  sovereign,  and  associates  in  the  action  aforesaid;  therefore  he  would 
seek  out  the  said  casket  and  letters,  at  his  return  to  his  house,  which  he  thought  should  be  within  a 
short  time ;  and  upon  finding  of  the  same,  and  bettei  advice  and  consideration  had  of  the  cause,  he 
would  give  farther  answer.  This  resolution  I  have  received  as  to  the  thing;  and  for  the  present  1 
could  not  better,  leaving  him  to  give  her  Majesty  such  icstimony  of  his  good  will  towards  her,  by  his 
frank  dealing  herein,  as  she  may  have  cause  to  confirm  her  Highness's  good  opinion  conceived 
already  of  him,  and  be  thereby  drawn  lo  greater  goodness  towards  him  H  still  labour  him 

both  bv  myself  and  also  bv  all  other  ropnns  •  hm  '  >M  herein. 


348  DISSERT ATlON  ON 

With  respect  to  the  sonnets,  sir  David  Dalrymple  has  proved  clearly, 
that  they  must  have  been  written  after  the  murder  of  the  king,  and  prior 
to  Mary's  marriage  with  Both  well.  But  as  hardly  any  part  of  my  narra- 
tive is  founded  upon  what  is  contained  in  the  sonnets,  and  as  in  this  Dis- 
se  ration  I  have  been  constrained  to  dwell  longer  upon  minute  and  verbal 
criticisms  than  may  be  interesting  and  agreeable  to  many  of  my  readers, 
I  shall  rest  satisfied  with  referring,  for  information  concerning  every  parti- 
cular relative  to  the  sonnets,  to  Remarks  on  the  History  of  Scotland, 
Chap.  XI. 

Having  thus  stated  the  proof  on  both  sides  ;  having  examined  at  so  great 
a  length  the  different  systems  with  regard  to  the  facts  in  controversy  ;  it 
may  be  expected  that  I  should  now  pronounce  sentence.  In  my  opinion, 
there  are  only  two  conclusions,  which  can  be  drawn  from  the  facts  which 
have  been  enumerated. 

One,  that  Bothwell,  prompted  by  his  ambition  or  love,  encouraged  by 
the  queen's  known  aversion  to  her  husband,  and  presuming  on  her  attach- 
ment to  himself,  -truck  the  blow  without  having  concerted  with  her  the 
manner  or  circumstances  of  perpetrating  that  crime.  That  Mary,  instead 
of  testifying  much  indignation  at  the  deed,  or  discovering  any  resentment 
against  Bothwell,  who  was  accused  of  having  committed  it,  continued  to 
load  him  with  marks  of  her  regard,  conducted  his  trial  in  such  a  manner 

24th  of  November,  1582,  from  Edinburgh. 

For  the  recovery  of  the  letters  in  the  colfer,  come  to  the  hands  of  the  earl  of  Gowrie,  i  have  lately 
moved  him  earnestly  therein,  letting  him  know  the  purpose  of  the  Scottish  queen,  both  giving  mil 
that  the  letters  are  counterfeited  by  her  rebels,  and  also  seeking  thereon  to  have  them  deiivi  ted  to 
her  or  defaced,  and  that  the  means  which  shewili  make  in  this  behalf  shall  be  so  great  and  effectual, 
as  these  writings  cannot  be  safely  kept  in  that  realm  without  dangerous  offence  of  him  that  hall) 
the  custody  (hereof,  neither  shall  he  thai  is  once  known  to  have  them  be  suffered  to  hold  litem  in 
his  hands.  Herewith  I  have  a:  iarg«:  opened  the  perils  likely  to  fall  to  that  action,  and  the  parties 
therein,  and  parftcilarto  himself 'hat  is  now  openly  known  to  have  the  possession  of  these  writings, 
ind  I  have  leuiu  him  3ee  what  surety  it  shall  bring  to  the  said  cause  and  all  the  parties  therein,  an  ' 
to  himself,  that  these  writings  may  be  with  secrecy  and  good  order  committed  to  the  keeping  of  hi 
Majesty,  that  will  have  them  ready  whensoever  any  use  shall  be  for  them,  and  by  h^i  Highness" 
countenance  defend  them  and  the  parties  from  such  wrongful  objections  as  shall  be  laid  agains 
them,  offering  at  length  to  him,  that  if  lie  be  not  fully  satisfied  herein,  or  doubt  that  the  rest  of  tin 
associate*  shall  not  like  of  the  delivery  of  them  to  her  Majesty  in  this  good  manner,  and  ibr  the  in- 
terest rehearsed,  that  I  shall  readily,  upon  meeting  and  conference  with  them,  procure  their  tisse.it  in 
this  part  (a  matter  more  easy  to  offer  than  to  perform) ;  and  lastly,  moving  him  that  (for  the  secree; 
and  benefit  of  the  cause,  and  that  her  Majesty's  good  opinion  towards  himself  may  be  firmly  settled 
and  confirmed  by  his  acceptable  forwardness  herein)  he  would,  without  needless  scruple,  fra 
commit  these  writings  to  her  Majesty's  good  custody  for  the  good  uses  received  After  long  debate 
he  resolved,  and  said,  that  he  would  unfeignedly  shew  and  do  to  her  Majesty  all  the  pleasure  that 
he  might  without  offence  to  the  king  his  sovereign,  and  prejudice  to  the  associates  in  the  acti.m 
and  therefore  he  would  first  make  search  and  view  the  said  letters,  and  herein  take  advice  what  Ik 
might  do,  and  how  far  he  might  satisfy  and  content  her  Majesty:  promising  thereon  to  give  more 
resolute  answer;  and  he  concluded  flatly  thai  after  he  had  found  and  seen  the  writing-,  that  he 
might  not  make  delivery  of  them  without  the  privity  of  the  king.  Aibeit  I  stood  along  with  him 
against  his  resolution  in  this  point,  to  acquaint  the  king  with  this  matter  before  the  letters  were  in 
the  hands  of  her  Majesty,  letting  him  see  that  his  doinas  there  should  admit  great  danger  to  the 
cause  ;  yet  I  could  not  remove  him  from  it  It  may  be  that  he  meaneth  to  put  over  the  matter  from 
himself  to  the  king,  upon  sight  whereof  I  shall  travel  effectually  to  obtain  the  king's  consent,  that 
the  letters  may  be  committed  to  her  Majesty's  keeping,  thinking  it  more  easy  to  prevail  herein  with 
the  king,  in  the  present  love  and  affection  that  he  beareth  to  her  Highness,  than  to  win  any  thing  at 
the  hands  of  the  associates  in  the  action,  whereof  some  principal  of  them  now  come  and  remain 
at  'he  devotion  of  the  king's  mother;  in  this  I  shall  still  call  on  Gowrie,  to  search  out  the  coffer,  ac- 
cording to  his  promise :  and  as  I  shall  find  him  minded  to  do  therein,  so  shall  1  do  my  best  and  whole 
endeavour  to  effect  the  success  to  her  Majesty's  best  contentment. 

2d  December,  1582,  from  Edinburgh. 
Because  I  saw  good  opportunity  offered  to  renew  the  matter  to  the  earl  of  Gowrie  for  recover;  of 
the  letters  in  the  coffer  in  his  hands,  therefore  I  put  him  in  mind  thereof:  whereupon  he  told  me 
that  the  duke  of  Lennox  had  sought  earnestly  to  have  had  those  letters,  and  that  the  king  did  know 
where  they  were,  so  as  they  cou'd  not  be  delivered  to  her  Majesty  without  the  king's  privity  and 
consent,  and  he  pretended  to  be  still  willing  to  pleasure  her  Majesty  in  the  same,  so  far  as  he  may 
with  his  duty  to  the  king  and  to  the  rest  of  the  associates  in  that  action:  but  I  greatly  distrust  to 
effect  this  to  her  Majesty's  pleasure,  wherein,  nevertheless,  I  shall  do  my  utmost  endea\.mrs. 

Whether  .lames  VI.,  who  put  the  earl  of  flowrie  to  death,  A.  D.  1584,  and  seized  all  his  effects, 
took  care  to  destroy  his  mother's  letters,  for  whose  honour  he  was  at  :hal  time  extremely  zealous; 
whether  they  have  perished  by  some  unknown  a  id'-m,  or  whether  they  may  not  still  remain  un 
•bserved  among  the  archives  of  some  of  our  ute;,;  Hiniilies,  it  is  impossible  to  determine. 


K.    HENRY'S    MURDER.  349 

as  rendered  it  impossible  to  discover  his  guilt,  and  soon  after,  in  opposition 
to  all  the  maxims  of  decency  or  of  prudence,  voluntarily  agreed  to  a  mar- 
riage with  him,  which  every  consider;!:!!)!]  should  have  induced  her  to 
detest.  By  this  verdict,  Mary  is  not  pronounced  guilty  of  having  contrived 
the  murder  of  her  husband,  or  even  of  having-  previously  given  her  con- 
sent to  his  death  ;  but  she  is  not  acquitted  of  having  discovered  her 
approbation  of  the  deed,  by  her  behaviour  towards  him  who  was  the 
author  of  it. 

The  other  conclusion  is  that  which  Murray  and  his  adherents  laboured 
to  establish  :  "That  James,  sometymme  earl  of  Rothwile,  was  the  chiefe 
executor  of  the  horribill  and  unworthy  murder,  perpetrat  in  the  person  ol 
umquhile  king  Henry  of  gude  memory,  fader  to  our  soveraine  lord,  and 
the  queenis  lauchfull  husband  ;  sa  was  she  of  the  foreknowledge,  counsall, 
devise,  perswadar,  and  command  of  the  said  murder  to  be  done."  Good. 
ii.  207. 

Which  of  these  conclusions  is  most  agreeable  to  the  evidence  that  hai 
been  produced,  I  leave  my  readers  to  determine 


APPENDIX. 


No.  I.  (p.  88.) 

A  Memorial  of  certain  Points  meet  for  the  restoring  the  Realm  of  Scotland 

to  the  antient  Weale. 

'5th  August,  1559.    Cotton,  Lib.  Cal.  B.  x.  fol   17.     From  a  copy  in  Secretary  Cecil's  hand.] 

Imprimis,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  best  worldly  felicity  that  Scotland  can 
.iave  is  either  to  continue  in  a  perpetual  peace  with  the  kingdom  of  England,  or 
to  be  made  one  monarchy  with  England,  as  they  both  make  but  one  island, 
divided  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

If  the  first  is  sought,  that  is,  to  be  in  perpetual  peace  with  England,  then 
must  it  necessarily  be  provided  that  Scotland  be  not  so  subject  to  the  appoint- 
ments of  France  as  is  presently,  which,  being  an  ancient  enemy  to  England, 
seeketh  always  to  make  Scotland  an  instrument  to  exercise  thereby  their  malice 
upon  England,  and  to  make  a  footstool  thereof  to  look  over  England  as 
they  may. 

Therefore,  when  Scotland  shall  have  come  into  the  hands  of  a  mere  Scottish 
man  in  blood,  then  may  there  be  hope  of  such  accord  ;  but  as  long  as  it  is  at  the 
commandment  of  the  French,  there  is  no  hope  to  have  accord  long  betwixt  these 
two  realms. 

Therefore,  seeing  it  is  at  the  French  king's  commandment,  by  reason  of  his 
wife,  it  is  to  be  considered  for  the  weale  of  Scotland,  that  until  she  have  chil- 
dren, and  during  her  absence  out  of  the  realm,  the  next  heirs  to  the  crown, 
being  the  house  of  the  Hatniltons,  should  have  regard  hereto,  and  to  see  that 
neither  the  crown  be  imposed  nor  wasted  ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  nobility 
and  commonalty  ought  to  force  that  the  laws  and  the  old  customs  of  the  realm 
be  not  altered,  neither  that  the  country  be  not  impoverished  by  taxes,  imprest, 
or  new  imposts,  after  the  manner  of  France  ;  for  provision  wherein,  both  by  the 
law  of  God  and  man,  the  French  king  and  his  wife  may  be  moved  to  reform 
their  misgovernance  of  the  land. 

And  for  this  purpose,  it  were  good  that  the  nobility  and  commons  joined  with 
the  next  heir  of  the  crown,  do  seek  due  reformation  of  such  great  abuses  as  tent 
to  the  ruin  of  their  country,  which  must  be  done  before  the  French  grow  too 
strong  and  insolent. 

First,  That  it  may  be  provided  by  the  consent  of  the  three  estates  of  the  land, 
that  the  land  may  be  free  from  all  idolatry  like  as  England  is ;  for  justification 
whereof,  if  any  free  general  council  may  be  had,  where  the  Pope  of  Rome  have 
not  the  seat  of  judgment,  they  may  offer  to  show  their  cause  to  be  most  agreea-. 
ble  to  Christ's  religion. 

Next,  To  provide  that  Scotland  might  be  governed,  in  all  rules  and  offices,  by 
the  antient  blood  of  the  realm,  without  either  captains,  lieutenants,  and  soldiers, 
as  all  other  princes  govern  their  countries,  and  especially  that  the  forts  might 
be  in  the  hands  of  mere  Scottish  men. 

Thirdly,  That  they  might  never  be  occasioned  to  enter  into  wars  against 
England,  except  England  should  give  the  first  cause  to  Scotland. 

Fourthly,  That  no  nobleman  of  Scotland  should  receive  pension  of  France, 
except  it  were  whilst  he  did  serve  in  France,  for  otherwise  thereby  the  French 
would  shortly  corrupt  many  to  betray  their  own  country. 

Fifthly,  That  no  office,  abbey,  living,  or  commodity,  be  given  to  any  but  mere 
Scottish  men,  by  the  assent  of  the  three  estates  of  the  realm. 

Sixthly,  That  there  be  a  council  in  Scotland,  appointed  in  the  queen's  absence, 
to  govern  the  whole  realm,  and  in  those  cases  not  to  be  directed  by  the  French. 


APPENDIX,   No.  II.  351 

Seventhly,  That  it  be  by  the  said  three  estates  appointed  how  the  queen's 
revenue  of  the  realm  shall  be  expended,  how  much  the  queen  shall  have  for  her 
portion  and  estate  during  her  absence,  how  much  shall  be  limited  to  the  govern- 
ance and  defence  of  the  realm,  how  much  yearly  appointed  to  be  kept  in 
treasure. 

In  these  and  such  like  points,  if  the  French  king  and  the  queen  o  found 
unwilling,  and  will  withstand  these  provisions  for  the  weale  of  the  land,  then 
hath  the  three  estates  of  the  realm  authority,  forthwith,  to  intimate  to  the  said 
king  and  queen  their  humble  requests ;  and  if  the  same  be  not  effectually 
granted,  then  humbly  they  may  commit  the  governance  thereof  to  the  next  heir 
of  the  crown,  binding  the  same  also  to  observe  the  laws  and  ancient  rights  of 
the  realm. 

Finally,  if  the  queen  shall  be  unwilling  to  this,  as  it  is  likely  she  will,  in  respect 
of  the  greedy  and  tyrannous  affection  of  France,  taen  it  is  apparent  that 
Almighty  God  is  pleased  to  transfer  from  her  the  rule  of  the  kingdom  for  the 
weal  of  it,  and  this  time  must  be  used  with  great  circumspection  to  avoid  the 
decepts  and  tromperies  of  the  French. 

And  then  may  the  realm  of  Scotland  consider,  being  once  made  free,  what 
means  may  be  devised  by  God's  goodness  to  accord  the  two  realms  to  endure, 
for  time  to  come,  at  the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  in  whose  hands  the  hearts  of 
all  princes  be. 

No.  II.  (p.  92.) 

A  Letter  of  Maitland  of  Lethington's,  thus  directed : 

To  my  loving  friend  James.     Be  this  delivered  at  London. 

I20lh  January,  1559-60.     Cotl.  Lib.  Cal.  B.  ix.     From  the  original  in  his  own  hand.] 

I  understand  by  the  last  letter  I  received  from  yow,  that  discoursing  with 
zour  countrymen  upon  the  matter  of  Scotland,  and  comoditeys  may  ensew  to 
that  realm  hereafter,  gift'  ze  presently  assist  ws  with  zour  forces,  ze  find  a  nom- 
bre  of  the  contrary  advise,  douting  that  we  sail  not  at  length  be  found  trusty 
frends,  nor  mean  to  contynew  in  constant  ametye,  albeit  we  promise,  but  only 
for  avoyding  the  present  danger  make  zow  to  serve  our  turne,  and  after  being 
delivered,  becum  enemies  as  of  before.  For  profe  quhareof,  they  alledge  things 
that  have  past  betwixt  ws  heretofore,  and  a  few  presumptiones  tending  to  the 
sam  end,  all  grounded  upon  mistrust ;  quhilks,  at  the  first  sicht,  have  some 
shewe  of  apparence,  gif  men  wey  not  the  circumstances  of  the  matter;  but  gif 
they  will  confer  the  tyme  past  with  the  present,  consider  the  nature  of  this  caus, 
and  estate  of  our  contrey,  I  doubt  not  but  jugement  sal  be  able  to  banish  mis- 
trust. And  first,  I  wad  wish  ze  should  examyne  the  causes  off  the  old  inmitye 
betwixt  the  realms  of  England  and  Scotland,  and  quhat  moved  our  ancestoure 
to  enter  into  ligue  with  the  Frenche  ;  quhilks  by  our  storeys  and  registres  of 
antiquiteys  appear  to  be  these.  The  princes  of  England,  some  tyme,  alledging 
a  certain  kynde  of  soveraintye  over  this  realm  ;  some  tyme  upon  hye  courage. 
or  incited  by  incursions  off  our  bordourares,  and  semblable  occasions,  mony 
tymes  enterprised  the  conquest  of  ws,  and  sa  far  furth  preist  it  by  force  oft 
arms,  that  we  wer  dryven  to  great  extramiteys,  by  loss  of  our  princes,  our 
noblemen,  and  a  good  part  of  our  cuntrey,  sa  that  experience  taught  ws  that  our 
owne  strength  was  scarse  sufficient  to  withstand  the  force  of  England.  The 
Frenche  zour  auncient  enemyes,  considering  well  how  nature  had  sa  placed  ws 
in  a  iland  with  zow,  that  na  nation  was  able  sa  to  annoye  England  as  we  being 
enemyes,  soucht  to  joine  ws  to  theym  in  ligui,  tending  by  that  meane  to 
detourne  zour  armyes  from  the  invasion  of  France,  and  occupy  zow  in  the 
defence  off  zour  country  at  hame,  offering  for  that  effect  to  bestowe  some 
charges  upon  ws,  and  for  compassing  off  theyr  purpos,  choysed  a  tyme  to  pro- 
pone the  matter,  quhen  the  fresche  memory  off  injuris  lately  receaved  at  zoui 
hands,  was  sa  depely  prented  on  our  hartes,  that  all  our  myndes  were  occupied 
how  to  be  revenged,  and  arme  ourselfes  with  the  powar  off  a  forayne  prince 
against  zour  enterprise?  thereafter 


358  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND 

This  wes  the  beginning  of  our  confederacy  with  France.  At  quh.lk  time, 
our  cronicles  make  mention,  that  some  off  the  wysest  foresaw  the  perril,  and 
small  frute  should  redound  to  vvs  thereof  at  lenth  :  zit  had  affection  sa  blinded 
iugement,  that  the  advise  of  the  rnaist  part  overcame  the  best.  The  maistpart 
of  all  quarells  betwixt  ws  since  that  tyme,  at  least  quhen  the  provocation  came 
on  our  syde,  hes  ever  fallen  out  by  theyr  procurement,  rather  than  anyone  caus  off 
our  selfes  :  and  quhensaever  we  brack  the  peace,  it  come  partly  by  theyr  intyse- 
ments,  partly  to  eschew  the  conquest  intended  by  that  realm.  But  now  hes 
God's  providence  sa  altered  the  case,  zea  chunked  it  to  the  plat  contrary,  that 
now  hes  the  Frsnehe  taken  zour  place,  and  we,  off  very  jugement,  becum 
desyrous  to  have  zow  in  theyr  rowme.  Our  eyes  are  opened,  we  espy  how 
uncareful  they  have  been  of  our  weile  at  all  tymes,  how  they  made  ws  ever  to 
serve  theyr  turne,  drew  us  in  maist  dangerous  weys  for  theyr  commodite,  and 
nevertheless  wad  not  styck,  oft  tymes,  against  the  natour  of  the  ligue,  to  con- 
trak  peace,  leaving  ws  in  weyr.  We  see  that  their  support,  off  late  zeres,  was 
not  grantit  for  any  affection  they  bare  to  ws,  for  pytie  they  had  off  our  estate, 
for  recompense  off  the  lyke  friendship  schawin  to  them  in  tyme  off  theyr  affiic- 
tiones,  but  for  ambition,  and  insaciable  cupidite  to  reygne,  and  to  mak  Scotland 
ane  accessory  to  the  crown  of  France.  This  was  na  friendly  office,  but  mer- 
cenary, craving  hyre  farre  exceeding  the  proportion  of  theyr  deserving  ;  a  hale 
realm  for  the  defence  of  a  part.  We  see  theym  manifestly  attempt  the  thing 
we  suspected  off  zow ;  we  feared  ze  ment  the  conquest  off  Scotland,  anc  they 
are  planely  fallen  to  that  work;  we  hated  zow  for  doubt  we  had  ze  ment  evill 
towards  ws,  and  sail  we  love  theym,  quhilks  bearing  the  name  off  frer.ds,  go 
about  to  bring  ws  in  maist  vile  servitude  ?  Gif  by  zour  frendly  support  at  this 
tyme,  ze  sail  declare  that  not  only  seek  ze  not  the  ruyne  off  our  country,  but 
will  preserve  the  libertie  thereof  from  conquest  by  strangeares,  sail  not  the 
occasion  off  all  inimitie  with  zow,  and  ligue  with  theym,  be  taken  away  ?  The 
causes  being  removed,  how  sail  the  effectes  remane  ?  The  fear  of  conquest 
made  ws  to  hate  zow  and  love  theym,  the  cais  changed,  quhen  we  see  theym 
planely  attempt  conquest,  and  zow  schaw  ws  frendship,  sail  we  not  hate  them, 
and  favour  zow  .?  Gif  we  have  schawne  sa  great  Constance,  continuing  sa 
mony  zeares  in  amity  with  theym,  off  quhome  we  had  sa  small  commodite, 
quhat  sail  move  us  to  breake  with  zow,  that  off  all  nationes  may  do  ws  greatest 
plesour  ? 

But  ze  will  say,  this  mater  may  be  reooncyled,  and  then  frends  as  off  before. 
I  think  weill  peace  is  the  end  of  all  weyr,  but  off  this  ze  may  be  assured,  we 
will  never  sa  far  trust  that  reconciliation,  that  we  wil  be  content  to  forgo  the 
ametye  of  England,  nor  do  any  thing  may  bring  ws  in  suspicion  with  zow.  Giff 
we  wold  at  any  tyme  to  please  theym,  break  with  zow,  should  we  not,  besydes 
the  los8e  off  estimation  and  discrediting  of  ourselfes,  perpetually  expone  our 
common  weill  to  a  maist  manifest  danger,  and  becum  a  pray  to  theyr  tyranny? 
Quhais  aid  could  we  implore,  being  destitute  of  zour  friendship,  giff  they  off 
new  wald  attempt  theyr  formar  enterprise  ?  Quhat  nation  myght  help  ws  giff 
they  wald,  or  wald  giff  they  might  ?  and  it  is  lyke  eneuch,  they  will  not  stick 
hereafter  to  tak  theyr  time  off  ws,  quhen  displesour  and  grudge  hes  taken  depe 
rute  on  baith  sydes,  seeing  ambition  has  sa  impyrit  ower  theyr  reason,  that 
before  we  had  ever  done  any  thing  myght  offend  theym,  but  by  the  contrary 
pleased  theym  by  right  and  wrang,  they  did  not  stick  to  attempte  the  subver- 
sion of  our  hale  state.  I  wald  ze  should  not  esteeme  ws  sa  barayne  of  juge- 
ment, that  we  cannot  foresee  our  awne  perril ;  or  sa  foolische,  that  we  will  not 
study  by  all  gode  means  to  entertayne  that  thing  may  be  our  safetye ;  quhilk 
consistes  all  in  the  relaying  of  zour  friendships.  I  pray  zow  consider  in  lyke 
case,  when,  in  the  days  of  zour  princes  off  maist  noble  memory  king  Henry  the 
VIII.  and  king  Edward  the  VI.,  meanes  wer  opened  off  amytye  betwixt  baith 
realms  ;  was  not  at  all  tymes  the  difference  of  religion  the  onley  stay  they  wer 
not  embraced  ?  Did  not  the  craft  of  our  clergy  and  power  of  theyr  adherents 
subvert  the  devises  of  the  better  sort  ?  But  now  has  God  off  his  mercy  removed 
that  block  furth  of  the  way ;  now  is  not  theyr  practise  lyke  to  tak  place  any 
mare,  when  we  ar  comme  to  a  conformity  off  doctrine,  and  profes  the  samo 
religion  with  zow,  quhilk  I  take  to  be  the  straytest  knot  off  amitye  can  be 
Hevised.     Giff  it  may  be  alledged  that  some  off  our  countrymen,  at  ony  tyme 


APPENDIX,  iNo.   11  353 

yiolaied  theyr  promis?  frill"  ze  litl"  to  way  the  circumstances,  zw  sail  f)nd  the 
fcromis  is  rather  brought  on  by  necessite,  alter  a  great  owerthraw  off  our  men 
ton  comme  off  Ire  will,  and  tending  ever  to  our  great  incoinmodite  and  decaj 
ff  our  haill  state,  at  leist  sa  taken.  But  in  this  case,  sail  the  preservation  orl 
our  libertie  be  inseperably  joined  with  the  kepiug  off  promesse,  and  the  viola 
tion  off  our  fayth  cast  ws  in  maist  miserable  servitude.  Sa  that  gift"  neythei 
the  feare  off  Clod,  reverence  of  man,  religion,  olbe,  promise,  nor  warldly  honesty  e 
wes  sufficient  to  bynd  us,  yet  sail  the  zeale  otiour  native  countrey,  the  mainte 
nance  of  our  owne  state,  the  safety  of  our  wyffes  and  childrone  from  slavery 
compell  ws  to  kepe  promisse.  1  am  assured,  it  is  trewly  and  sincerely  incnt  on 
our  part  to  continew  in  perpetual  ametye  with  zow,  it  sail  be  uttered  by  oui 
proceedings.  Giff  ze  be  as  desirous  of  it  as  we  ar,  assurances  may  be  devysed. 
quharby  all  partyes  will  be  out  of  double.  There  be  gode  meanes  to  do  it,  ht 
instruments  for  the  purpos,  tyme  serves  weill,  the  inhabitants  of  baith  realms 
wish  it,  God  lies  wrought  in  the  peoples  hartes  on  bayth  parties  a  certaine  still 
agreement  upon  it,  never  did,  at  any  tyme,  so  mony  things  concurre  at  ones  to 
knyt  it  up,  the  disposition  off  a  few,  quhais  harts  are  in  Godis  hands,  may  mals 
up  the  hale.  I  hope  he  quha  lies  begun  this  /ork,  and  mainteyned  it  quhile 
now,  by  the  expectation  of  man,  sale  perfyte  it. 

1  pray  zow,  let  not  zour  men  dryve  time  in  consultation,  quhether  ze  sail 
support  ws  or  no.  Seying  the  mater  speaketh  for  itself,  that  ze  inon  take  upon 
zow  the  defence  off  our  caus.  giff  ze  have  any  respect  for  zour  awne  weill. 
Their  preparatives  in  France,  and  levying  of  men  in  Germany,  (quheyroff  1  am 
lately  advertised,)  ar  not  allogyder  ordeyned  for  ns,  ze  ar  the  mark  they  shote 
at ;  they  seke  our  realme,  but  for  ane  entrey  to  zours.  Giff  they  should 
directly  schaw  hostilite  to  zow,  they  knaw  zo  wald  mak  redy  for  theyme,  there- 
for they  do,  by  indirect  meanes,  to  blind  zow,  the  thing  they  dare  not  as  zit 
planely  attempte.  They  seme  to  invade  us  to  th'  end,  that  having  assembled 
theyr  hale  forces  sa  nere  zour  bordours,  they  may  unlok  it  to  attack  zow  ;  It  is 
ane  of  their  aid  fetches,  making  a  schew  to  one  place,  to  lyght  on  ane  other. 
Remember  how  covertly  zour  places  about  Boulougne  were  assai/.eit,  and  car- 
ryed  away,  ze  being  in  peace  as  now.  How  the  enterprise  of  Calais  was  fynely 
dissembled,  1  think  ze  have  not  sa  sone  forgotten.  Beware  of  the  third,  prevent 
theyr  policy  by  prudence.  Giff  ze  se  not  the  lyke  disposition  presently  in 
theym,  ze  se  nathing.  It  is  a  grosse  ignorance  to  misknaw,  what  all  nations 
planely  speks  off.  Tak  heed  ze  say  not  hereafter,  "  Had  I  wist ;"  ane  uncomely 
sentence  to  procede  off  a  wyse  man's  mouth.  That  is  onwares  chanced  on  to 
zow,  quhilk  zow  commonly  wissed,  that  this  countrey  might  be  divorsed  from 
the  Frensche,  and  is  sa  comme  to  pass  as  was  maist  expedient  for  zow.  For  giff 
by  your  intysement  we  had  taken  the  mater  in  hand,  ze  rnyght  have  suspected 
we  would  have  been  ontrusty  frends,  had  na  ianger  continued  steadfaste,  then 
perril  had  appeared.  But  now.  quhen  off  our  self,  we  have  conceyved  the  hatred, 
provoked  by  private  injuries,  and  that  theyr  evil  dealing  with  ws  lies  deserved 
our  inimitye,  let  no  man  double  but  they  sail  fynd  ws  ennemyes  in  ernest,  that 
sa  ungentiy  lies  demeyned  our  countrey,  and  at  quhais  hands  we  look  for 
nathing  but  all  extremitye,  giff  ever  they  may  get  the  upper  hand.  Let  not 
this  occasion,  so  happely  offered,  escape  zow  ;  giff  ze  do,  neglecting  the  present 
opportunite,  and  hoping  to  have  ever  gode  luk,  comme  sleeping  upon  zow,  it  is 
to  be  feared  zour  enemye  waxy  so  great,  and  sa  Strang,  that  afterwards  quhen 
ze  wald,  ze  sail  not  be  able  to  put.  him  down  ;  and  then,  to  zour  smart,  after 
the  tyme  ze  will  acknowledge  zour  error.  Ze  have  felt,  by  experience,  quhat 
harme  cometh  off  oversight,  and  trusting  to  zour  enemyes  promesse.  We  offei 
zow  the  occasion,  quheyrby  zour  former  losses  may  be  repayred.  Quhilk  gif 
ze  let  over  slyde,  suffering  ws  to  be  owerrun.  quha  then,  I  pray  zow,  sail  stay 
the  Frensche,  that  they  sail  not  invade  zow  in  zour  own  boundes,  sic  is  their 
tust  to  reygne,  that  they  can  neyther  be  content  with  theyr  fortune  present,  nor 
rest  and  be  satisfied  when  they  have  gode  luck,  but  ^ill  still  follow  on  having 
in  theyr  awne  brayne  conceaved  the  image  of  sa  grea  t  a  conquest,  quhat  think 
ye  sal  be  the  end  ?  Is  ther  any  of  sa  small  jugement,  that  he  doth  not  foresee 
already,  that  theyr  hail  force  sail  then  be  bent  against  zow  ? 

It  sal  not  be  amis,  to  consider  in  quhat  case  the  Frensche  be  presently.  Theyr 
estate  is  not  always  sa  calme  at  hame  as  everv  man  thinketh.     And  trewly 

Vol.  111.-45 


3f-4  HISTORY    OK    SCOTLAND. 

it  wes  not  theyr  great  redines  for  weyr  made  theym  to  tak  this  mater  on  liana, 
at  this  tyme,  but  rather  a  vayne  trust  in  their  awne  policy,  thinking  to  have 
found  na  resistance,  theyr  opinion  hes  deceaved  theym,  and  that  makes  them 
now  amased.  The  estates  off  the  empire  (as  I  heare)  has  suted  restitution  off 
th'  imperial  towns  Metz,  Toull,  and  Verdun,  quhilk  may  grow  to  some  besynes; 
and  all  thing  is  not  a  calme  within  theyr  awne  countrey,  the  les  fit  they  be  pre- 
sently for  weyr,  the  mare  oportune  esteme  ye  the  tyme  for  zow.  Giff  the  lyke 
occasion  wer  offered  to  the  Frensche  against  zow,  wey,  how  gladly  would  they 
embrace  it.  Are  ze  not  eschamed  of  zour  sleuth,  to  spare  theym  that  hes 
already  compassed  zour  destruction,  giff  they  wer  able?  Consider  with  zour 
self  quhilk  is  to  be  choysed  ?  To  weyr  against  them  out  with  zour  realme  or 
within  ?  Giff  quhill  ze  sleape,  we  sal  be  overthrowne,  then  sail  they  not  fayle 
to  fute  zow  in  zour  owne  countrey,  and  use  ws  as  a  fote  stole  to  overloke  zow. 
But  some  will  say,  perhaps,  they  meane  it  not.  It  is  foly  to  think  they  wald 
not  giff  they  wer  able,  quhen  before  hand  they  stick  not  to  giff  zour  armes,  and 
usurpe  the  style  of  zour  crown.  Then  quhat  difference  there  is  to  camp  within 
zowr  awne  bounds  or  without,  it  is  manifest.  Giff  twa  armyes  should  camp  in 
your  countrey,  but  a  moneth  ;  albeit  ye  receaved  na  other  harme,  zit  should 
zowr  losse  be  greatar,  nor  all  the  charge  ■ze  will  nede  to  bestow  on  our  support 
will  draw  to,  besydes  the  dishonour. 

Let  not  men,  that  eytber  lack  gode  advise,  or  ar  not  for  perticular  respects 
weill  affected  to  the  cans,  move  zow  to  subtract  zour  helping  hand,  by  alleging 
things  not  apparent,  for  that  they  be  possible.  It  is  not,  I  grant,  unpossible 
that  we  may  rectave  conditiones  of  peace;  but  I  see  little  likelyhode  that  our 
ennemyes  will  offer  we  sik  as  will  remove  all  mistrust,  and  giff  we  wald  have 
accepted  others,  the  mater  had  bene  lang  or  now  compounded.  Let  zow  not 
be  moved  for  that  they  terme  ws  rebelles,  and  diffames  our  just  querell  with 
the  name  of  conspiracy  against  our  soverayne.  It  is  Kir  Hyenes  ryght  we 
manetavne.  It  is  the  liberty  off  hir  realme  we  study  to  preserve  with  the 
hazard  of  our  lyves.  We  are  not  (God  knaweth)  come  to  this  poynte  for 
wantones,  as  men  impacient  of  rewll,  or  willing  to  schake  off  the  zoke  of 
government,  but  ar  drawne  to  it  by  necessite,  to  avoyde  the  tyranny  of  stran- 
geares,  seaking  to  defraude  ws  off  lawful  government.  Giff  we  should  suffer 
strangeares  to  plant  themselffes  peaceably  in  all  the  strenthes  of  our  realme, 
fortify  the  sey-portes,  and  maist  important  places,  as  ane  entrc  to  a  plain  con- 
quest, now  in  the  minorite  of  our  soverane,  beyng  furth  of  the  realme,  should 
we  not  be  thought  oncareful  off  the  common  weill,  betrayares  of  our  native 
countrey,  and  evill  subjects  to  Her  Majeste  ?  Quhat  other  opinion  could  sche 
have  off  ws  ?  Might  she  not  justly  hereafter  call  ws  to  accompt,  as  negligent 
ministeres?  Giff  strangeares  should  be  thus  suffered  to  broke  the  chefe  offices 
heare  the  hail  rewll,  alter  and  pervert  our  lawes  and  liberty  at  theyr  pleasour ; 
myght  not  the  people  esteem  our  noblemen  unworthy  the  place  of  counsalours  ? 
We  mean  na  wyse  to  suttrak  our  obedience  from  our  soverane,  to  defraud 
Hir  Hyenes  off  her  dew  reverence,  rents  ana  revenues  off  hir  crown.     We  scke 

jathing  but  that  Scotland  may  remane,  as  of  before,  a  fre  realme,  rewlit  bv 
Hir  Hyenes  and  hir  ministeres,  borne  men  of  the  sam  ;  and  that  the  succession 
iff  the  crown  may  remane  with  the  lawful  blode. 

I  wald  not  ze  sould  not  sa  lyttill  esteme  the  friendship  of  Scotland,  that  ze 
juged  it  not  worthy  to  be  embraced.  It  sail  be  na  small  commodite  for  zow  to 
be  delivered  off  the  annoyance  of  so  neir  a  nyghtbour,  quhais  inimitye  may 
more  trouble  zow,  then  off  any  other  nation  albeit  twyss  as  puissant,  not  lyeng 
dry  marche  with  zow.  Besydes  that  ze  sail  not  nede  to  feare  the  invasion  of 
any  prince  lackyng  the  commodite  to  invade  zow  by  land,  on  our  hand.  Con- 
sider quhat  superfluous  charges  ze  bestowe  on  the  fortification  and  keping  of 
Barwick  :  quhilk  ze  may  reduce  to  a  mean  sowme,  having  ws  to  frendes.  The 
vealme  of  Ireland  being  of  natour  a  gode  and  fertill  countrey,  by  reason  of  the 

tontinewalld  unquietnes  tnd  lak  of  policy,  ze  knaw  to  be  rather  a  burthen  unto 

ow  than  great  advantage  ;  and  giff  it  were  peaceable  may  be  very  commodious. 
For  pacification  quhayrotf",  it  is  not  onknowne  to  zow  quhat  service  we  ar  abill 
to  do.  Refuse  not  theyr  commoditeys.  besides  mony  ma  quhen  they  are  offred. 
Quhill, h  albeit  I  study  not  to  amplify  and  dilate,  yet  is  na  other  countrey  able 

o  otier  zow  the  lyke,  and  are  the  rather  to  be  embraced,  for  that  zour  aunccs- 


APPENDIX,    No.  III.  IV.  35& 

torn,  by  all  meanes,  maist  earnestly  suted  our  amity,  and  yet  it  wan  not  theyr 
hap  to  come  by  it.  The  matter  lies  almaist  carryed  me  beyond  the  boundes 
off  a  lettre,  quharfor  1  will  leave  to  trouble  zow  afler  1  have  gevcn  you  this 
note.  1  wald  wisa  that  ze,  and  they  that  ar  learned,  sould  redo  the  twa  form*  / 
orations  of  Demosthenes,  called  Olynlhiaca),  and  considere  quhat  counsall  Uiat 
wyso  oratour  gave  to  the  Athenians,  his  countrymen,  in  a  lyke  ease;  quhilk 
hes  so  great  affinite  with  this  cause  of  ours,  that  every  word  thereoff  myght  be 
applyed  to  our  purpos.  There  may  ze  learne  of  him  quhat  advise  is  to  be  fol 
lowed,  when  your  nyghbours  hous  is  on  fyre.  Thus  1  bid  zow  hartely  fareweill. 
From  Saul  Andrews,  the  20th  of  January,  1559. 

No.  111.  (p.  95.) 

Fa.t  of  a  Letter  from  Tho.  Randolph  to  Sir  William  Cecil,  from  the  Camp  before 

Leilh,  29th  of  April,  1560. 

[An  original  in  tlic  Paper  Office.  | 

1  will  only  for  this  time,  discharge  myself  of  my  promise  to  the  Earl  of 
llunlly,  who  so  desyrcth  to  be  recommended  to  you,  as  one  who,  with  all 
his  heart,  favoureth  this  cause,  to  the  uttermost  of  his  power.  Half  the  words 
that  come  out  of  his  mouth  were  able  to  persuade  an  unexperienced  man  to 
sneak  farther  in  his  behalf,  than  I  dare  be  bold  to  write.  I  leave  it  to  Your 
Honour  to  judge  of  him,  as  of  a  man  not  unknown  to  you,  and  will  myself 
always  measure  my  thoughts  as  he  shall  deserve,  to  be  spoken  of.  With  much 
difficulty,  and  great  persuasion,  he  hath  subscribed  with  the  rest  of  the  lords  to 
join  with  them  in  this  action  ;  whatsomever  he  can  invent  to  the  furtherance 
of  this  cause,  he  hath  promised  to  do  with  solemn  protestation  and  many 
words  ;  he  trusteth  to  adjoin  many  to  this  cause  ;  and  saith.  sureiy  mat  no  man 
shall  lie  where  he  taketh  part.  He  hath  this  day  subscribed  a  bond  between 
England  and  this  nation ;  he  saith,  that  there  was  never  thing  that  liked  him 
better. 

No.  IV.  (p.  100.) 

Randolph  to  Cecil,  10th  August,  1560.     From  FAifdmrgh. 

I  An  original  in  tile  Paper  Office.] 

Winch  the  29th  of  July,  at  what  time  I  wrote  last  to  Your  Honour,  1  have 
heard  of  nothing  worth  the  reporting.  At  this  present  it  may  please  you  to 
know,  that  the  most  part  of  the  nobles  are  here  arrived,  as  Your  Honour  shall 
receive  their  names  in  writing.  The  Earl  of  Huntly  excuscth  himself  by  an 
infirmity  in  his  leg.  His  lieutenant  for  this  time  is  the  Lord  of  Lidington, 
chosen  speaker  of  the  parliament,  or  harangue-maker  ab  these  men  term  it. 
The  first  day  of  their  sitting  in  parliament  will  be  <  n  Thursday  next.  Hitherto 
as  many  as  have  been  present  of  the  lords  have  communed  and  devised  of  cer- 
tain heads  then  to  be  propounded,  as,  who  shall  be  sent  into  France,  who  into 
England.  It  is  much  easier  tu  rend  them  than  the  other.  It  seemeth  almost 
to  be  resolved  upon  thai  'or  England  the  Master  of  Maxwell  and  Laird  oi 
Lidington.  for  France,  Pittarow  and  the  justice  clerk.  Also  they  have  con 
suited  whom  thev  think  meetest  to  name  for  the  XXIV.;  of  the  which  the  XII. 
counsellors  must  be  chosen.  They  intend  very  shortly  to  send  away  Dingwall 
the  herald  into  France,  with  the  names  of  those  they  shall  chuse  ;  and  also  to 
require  the  King  and  Queen's  consent  unto  this  parliament.  They  have  de- 
mised how  to  have  the  contract  with  England  confirmed  by  authority  of  parlia- 
ment ;  how  also  to  have  the  articles  of  the  agreement  between  them  and  their 
King  and  Queen  ratified.  These  things  yei  have  only  been  had  in  communica- 
tion. For  the  confirmation  of  the  contract  with  England  I  have  no  doubt  • 
for  that  I  hear  many  men  very  well  like  the  same,  as  the  Earl  of  Athol,  the 
Farl  of  Sutherland,  the  L.  Glamis,  who  dined  yesterday  with  tire  L.  James. 
The  Lord  j Ames  requested  me  this  present  day  to  bring  the  contract  unto  him. 


356  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

1  intend,  also,  this  day,  to  speak  unto  tne  L.  Gray,  in  our  L.  Gray's  name,  for 
that  ho  promised  in  niy  hearing  lo  ssubsr.tibe,  and  then  presently  would  have 
done  it,  if  the  contract  could  have  boon  had.  For  the  more  assurance  against 
all  ineonvenients.  ;  would,  besides  thai,  that  I  trust  it  shall  be  ratified  in  par- 
liament, that  every  nobleman  in  Scotland  had  put  his  hand  and  set  his  seal, 
which  may  always  remain  as  a  notable  monument,  tho'  the  act  of  parliament 
be  hereafter  disannulled.  If  it  might,  therefore,  stand  with  your  advice,  that 
the  Lords  might  be  written  unto,  now  that  they  are  here  present,  to  that  effect, 
or  that  1  might  receive  from  Your  Hon',  some  earnest  charge  to  travel  herein,  I 
doubt  not  but  it  would  serve  to  good  purpose.  If  it  might  be  also  known  with 
what  substantial  and  efFectious  words  or  charge  you  desire  to  have  it  confirmed, 
I  think  no  great  difficulty  would  be  made.  The  Earl  Marshal  has  often  been 
moved  to  subscribe,  he  useth  mo  delays  than  men  judged  he  would.  His  son 
told  rne  yesterday,  that  he  would  speak  with  me  at  leisure,  so  did  also  Drum 
lanrick  ;  I  know  not  to  what  purpose  :  I  have  caused  L.  James  to  be  the  ear 
nester  with  the  L.  Marshal,  for  his  authority's  sake,  when  of  late  it  was  in 
consultation  by  what  means  it  might  be  wrought,  that  the  amity  between  these 
two  realms  might  be  perpetual ;  and  p.mong  diverse  men's  opinion,  one  said 
that  he  knew  of  no  other,  but  by  making  them  both  one,  and  that  in  hope  of 
that  mo  things  were  done  than  would  otherwise  have  ever  been  granted  :  the 
Earl  of  Argyll  advised  him  earnestly  to  stick  unto  that,  that  he  had  promised 
that  it  should  pass  his  power  and  all  the  crafty  knaves  of  his  counsel  (I  am 
bold  to  use  unto  Your  H.  his  own  words)  to  break  so  godly  a  purpose.  This 
talk  liked  well  the  assisters,  howsomever  it  pleased  him  to  whom  it  was  spoken 
unto.  The  barons,  who  in  time  past  have  been  of  the  parliament,  had  yester- 
day a  convention  among  themselves  in  the  church,  in  very  honest  and  quiet 
sort ;  they  thought  it  good  to  require  to  be  restored  unto  their  ancient  liberty, 
to  have  voice  in  parliament.  They  presented  that  day  a  bill  unto  the  lords  to 
that  effect,  a  copy  whereof  shall  be  sent  as  soon  as  it  can  be  had.  It  was 
answered  unto  gently,  and  taken  in  good  part.     It  was  referred  unto  the  Lords 

of  the  Articles,  when  they  are  chosen,  to  resolve  thereupon. Hire  follows  a 

long  paragraph  concerning   the  fortifications  of  Dunbar,  Sec. This   present 

morning,  viz.  the  9th,  1  understood  that  the  lords  intended  to  be  at  the  Parlia- 
ment, which  caused  me  somewhat  to  stay  my  letter,  to  see  what  I  could  h^ar 
or  learn  worth  the  reporting  unto  Your  Hon1.  The  lords,  at  ten  of  the  clock, 
assembled  themselves  at  the  palace,  where  the  Duke  lieth  ;  from  whence  they 
departed  towards  the  Tolbooth,  as  they  were  in  dignity.  Each  one  being  set 
in  his  seat,  in  such  order  as  Your  H.  shall  receive  them  in  this  scroll.  The 
crown,  the  mace,  the  sword,  were  laid  in  the  queen's  seat.  Silence  being  com- 
manded, the  L.  of  Lidington  began  his  oration.  He  excused  his  insufficiency 
ta  occupy  that  place.  He  made  a  brief  discourse  of  things  past,  and  of  what 
necessity  men  were  forced  unto  for  the  defence  of  their  country,  what  remed)1 
and  support  it  pleased  God  to  send  them  in  the  time  of  their  necessity,  how 
much  they  were  bound  heartily  to  acknowledge  it,  and  to  require  it.  He  took 
away  the  persuasion  that  was  in  many  men's  minds  that  lay  back,  that  mis- 
Seemed  other  things  to  be  meant  than  was  attempted.  He  advised  all  estates 
to  lay  all  particulars  apart,  and  to  bend  themselves  wholly  to  the  true  service 
of  God  and  of  their  country.  He  willed  them  to  remember  in  what  state  it 
bad  been  of  long  time  for  lack  of  government  and  exercise  of  justice.  In  the 
and,  he  exhorted  them  to  mutual  amity  and  hearty  friendship,  and  to  live  with 

one  another  as  members  all  of  one  body. He  prayed  God  long  to  maintain 

this  peace  and  amity  with  all  princes,  especially  betwixt  the  realms  of  England 
and  Scotland,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  so  ended.  The  clerk  of  register  im- 
mediately stood  up,  and  asked  them  to  what  matter  they  would  proceed:  it 
was  thought  necessary  that  the  articles  of  the  peace  should  be  confirmed  with 
the  common  consent,  for  that  it  was  thought  necessary  to  send  them  away 
with  speed  into  France,  and  to  receive  the  ratification  of  them  as  soon  an 
might  be.  The  articles  being  read,  were  immediately  agreed  unto  :  a  daj  was 
appointed  to  have  certain  of  the  nobles  subscribe  unto  them,  and  to  but  to 
their  seals,  to  be  sent  away  by  a  herald,  who  shall  also  bring  the  ratification 
again  with  him.  The  barons,  of  whom  I  have  above  written,  required  ax 
answer  to  their  request;  somewhat  wu  said  unto  the  contrary.    Toe  baron 


APPENDI  X,  No.  IV. 


357 


alleged  for  them  custom  and  authority.  It  was  in  the  end  resolved,  that  there 
should  be  chosen  six  to  join  with  the  Lords  of  the  Articles,  and  thai  if  they, 
after  good  advisement,  should  find  it  right  and  necessary  for  the  commonwealth, 
it  should  be  ratified  at  this  parliament  for  a  perpetual  law.  The  lords  pro- 
ceeded immediately  hereupon  to  the  chusing  of  the  Lords  of  the  Articles 
The  order  is,  that  the  lords  spiritual  chuse  the  temporal,  and  the  temporal  the 
spiritual,  and  the  burgesses  their  own.  There  were  chosen  as  in  this  other 
paper  I  have  written.  This  being  done,  the  lords  departed  and  accompanied 
the  Duke,  all  as  far  as  the  Bow  (which  is  the  gate  going  out  of  the  high  street), 
and  many  down  into  the  palace  where  he  lieth.  The  town  all  in  armour,  the 
trumpets  sounding,  and  other  music  such  as  they  have.  Thus  much  I  report 
unto  Your  Honour  of  that  I  did  both  hear  and  see.  Other  solemnities  have  not 
been  used,  saving  in  times  long  past  the  lords  have  had  parliament  robes,  which 
are  now  with  them  wholly  out  of  use. 

The  names  of  as  many  Earls  and  Lords  spiritual  and  temporal  as  are  assembled 
at  this  parliament : 

The  Duke  of  Chatelherault. 


Earls. 

Arran. 

Argyll 

A  thole. 

Crawford* 

Cassils. 

Marshall 

Morton. 

Glencairn. 

Sutherland* 

( 'aithness. 

Rothes. 

Monteith. 


Lords. 

Erekine. 

Ruthven. 

Lindsey. 

Somerville. 

Cathcart. 

Hume. 

Livingston. 

Innermeth. 

Boyd. 

OgUvy. 

Fleming. 

Glamis. 

Gray. 

Ochiltree. 

Gordon. 


Lords  SptrthtaL 
St.  Andrews. 
Dunkell. 
Athens. 

The  Bishop  of  the  Isles. 
Abbots  and  Prion,  I  know 
how  many. 


not 


The  Lords  of  the  Articles. 


Spiritual. 
Athens. 
Isles. 

Lord  James. 
Arbroath. 
Newbottle, 
Lindoris. 
Cowpar. 
Kinross. 
Lil  winning. 


Temporal. 
The  Duke. 
Argyll. 
Marshall. 
Athole. 
Morton , 
Glencairn. 
Ruthven. 
Erskine. 
Boyd. 
Lindsay. 


Barons  elected  to  be  of  the  Articles 

Maxwell. 
Tillibardine. 
Cunninghamhead. 
Lochenvar. 
Pittarow. 
Lundy. 

Ten  Provosts  of  the  chief  towns, 
which  also  are  of  the  Articles. 


So  that,  with  the  Subprior  of  St.  Ar.drew's,  the  whole  is  36. 

It  were  too  long  for  me  to  rehearse  particularly  the  disposition,  and  chiefly 
the  affections  of  these  men,  that  are  at  this  time  chosen  Lords  of  the  Articles. 
May  it  satisfy  Your  Hon"",  for  this  time  to  know  that,  by  the  common  opinion  of 
men,  there  was  not  a  substan*  aller  or  more  sufficient  number  of  all  sorts  of 
men  chosen  in  Scotland  these  many  years,  nor  of  whom  men  had  greater  hope 
of  good  to  ensue.  This  present  morning,  viz.  the  10th,  the  L.  of  Lidington 
made  me  privy  unto  your  letter;  he  intendeth,  as  much  as  may  be,  to  follow 
vour  advice.  Some  hard  points  there  are.  He  himself  is  determined  not  to  go 
into  France.  He  allegeth  many  reasons,  but  speaketh  least  of  that  that  moveth 
him  most,  which  is  the  example  of  the  last,  that  went  on  a  more  grateful  mes 


358  HlbTORY   Of   SCOTLAND. 

sage  than  he  shall  carry,  and  stood  on  other  terms  with  their  Prince  than  lie 
doth,  and  yet  Your  Honour  knoweth  what  the  whole  world  judgeth. 

Petition  of  the  Lesser  Barons  to  the  Parliament  held  August,  1560. 
[Inclosed  in  Randolph's  letter  to  Cecil,  15th  August,  1560.] 

My  Lords,  unto  Your  Lordships,  humbly  means  and  shows,  we  the  Barons  and 
Freeholders  of  this  realm,  your  brethren  in  Christ,  That  whereas  the  causes  oi 
true  religion  and  common  well  of  this  realm,  are,  in  this  present  parliament  to 
be  treated,  ordered,  and  established  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  maintenance  oi 
the  commonwealth ;  and  we  being  the  greatest  number  in  proportion  where 
the  said  causes  concern,  and  has  been,  and  yet  are  ready  to  bear  the  greattst 
part  of  the  charge  thereuntil,  as  well  in  peace  as  in  war,  both  with  our  bodies 
and  with  our  goods  :  and  seeing  there  is  no  place  where  we  may  do  better 
service  now  than  in  general  councils  and  parliaments,  in  giving  our  best  advice 
and  reason,  vote  and  councell  for  the  furtherance  thereof,  for  the  maintenance 
of  virtue  and  punishment  of  vice,  as  use  and  custom  had  been  of  old  by  ancient 
acts  of  parliament  observed  in  this  realm  ;  and  whereby  we  understand  that 
we  ought  to  be  heard  to  reason  and  vote  in  all  causes  concerning  the  common 
wealth,  as  well  in  councils  as  in  parliament ;  otherwise  we  think  that  what 
somever  ordinances  and  statutes  be  made  concerning  us  and  our  estate,  we  not 
being  required  and  suffered  to  reason  and  vote  at  the  making  thereof,  that  the 
same  should  not  oblige  us  to  stand  thereto.  Tliereforc  it  will  please  Your 
Lordships  to  take  consideration  thereof,  and  of  the  charge  born  and  to  be  born 
by  us,  since  we  are  willing  to  serve  truly  to  the  common  well  of  this  realm, 
after  our  estate,  that  ye  will,  in  this  present  parliament,  and  all  counsells  where 
the  common  well  of  the  realm  is  to  be  treated,  take  our  advice,  counsell  and 
vote,  so  that,  without  the  same,  Your  Lordships  would  suffer  nothing  to  be 
passed  and  concluded  in  parliament  or  councils  aforesaid  ;  and  that  all  acts  ol 
parliament,  made  in  times  past,  concerning  us,  for  our  place  and  estate,  and  in 
our  favour,  be  at  this  present  parliament  confirmed,  approved,  and  ratified,  and 
act  of  parliament  made  thereupon.  And  Your  Lordships'  answer  humbly 
beseeches. 

Of  the  success  of  this  petition,  the  following  account  is  given  by  Randolph , 
Lett,  to  Cecil,  19  Aug.  1560.  The  matters  concluded  and  past  by  common  con- 
sent on  Saturday  last,  in  such  solemn  sort  as  the  first  day  that  they  assembled, 
are  these  :  First,  that  the  barons,  according  to  an  old  act  of  parliament,  made 
in  the  time  of  James  I.,  in  the  year  of  God,  1427,  shall  have  free  voice  in  parlia 
ment ;  this  act  passed  without  any  contradiction. 

No.  V.  (p.  104.) 

A  Letter  of  Thomas  Randolph,  the  English  Resident,  to  the  Right  Worshipful  Sti 
William  Cecil,  Knt.,  Principal  Secretary  to  the  Queen's  Majesty. 

[9  Aug.  1561.    Cott.  Lib.  B.  10.  fo.  33.] 

1  have  received  Your  Honour's  letters  of  the  first  of  this  month,  written  at 
Osyes  in  Essex  :  and  also  a  letter  unto  the  Lord  James,  from  his  kinsman  St. 
Come  out  of  France  :  in  this  they  agree  both  that  the  Queen  of  Scotland  is 
nothing  changed  of  her  purpose  in  home  coming.  1  assure  Your  Honour  that 
will  t  u  stout  adventure  for  a  sick  erased  woman,  that  may  be  doubted  as  well 
what  ir.ay  happen  unto  her  upon  the  seas,  as  also  how  heartily  she  may  be 
received  when  she  cometh  to  land  of  a  great  number,  who  are  utterly  persuaded 
that  she  intendeth  their  utter  ruin,  come  when  she  will  ;  the  preparance  is  very 
small  whensoever  that  she  arrive,  scarcely  any  man  can  be  persuaded  thatshe  hath 
any  such  thought  in  her  head.  I  have  shown  Your  Honour's  letter  unto  the  Lord 
James,  Lord  Morton,  Lord  Lidington  ;  they  wish  as  Your  Honour  doth,  that  she 
might  be  stayed  yet  for  a  space,  and  if  it  were  not  for  their  obedience  sake,  fome 
of  them  care  not  tho'  they  never  saw  her  face.  They  travel  what  they  c*n  tc 
preven    the  wicked  divices  of  these  mischievous  purposes  of  her  ministers,  but 


1PPENDIX,   No.  V.  U<i 

fear  that  that  will  always  be  found  thntyHg  huhu  secuh,  they  do  what  thty  can 
to  stand  with  the  roligion,  and  to  /n-nntaiTt  arthf  with  their  neighbourr  ;  tl'OV 
have  also  need  to  look  unto  themselves,  i\</  their  ^>.y  a  ril  is  great,  and  that  the . 
see  there  is  no  remedy  nor  safety  for  themselves,  but  to  repose  themselves  upoi- 
the  Queen's  Majesty  our  sovereign's  favour  and  support.  Friends  abroad  ruin 
have  none,  nor  many  in  whom  they  may  trusi  at  home  TherH  are  in  rain1! 
shortly  to  try  what  they  may  be  assured  at  o^ihti  Qutien's  Majesty,  and  whal 
they  may  assuredly  perform  of  that  they  intern*  t,  'jffer  Co-  'hen  parties.  This 
the  Queen  of  Scotland  above  all  other  tilings  doubteth  .  tiny  sin  seek  ;ih  by  all 
means  to  prevent ;  and  hath  caused  St.  Come,  in  her  name,  earnestly  to  write  to 
charge  him  that  no  such  things  be  attempted  before  her  coming  home  ;  for  that 
it  is  said  that  they  too  already  arrived  here  out  of  England  for  the  purpose,  what 
semblance  soniever  the  noblemen  do  make  that  they  are  grieved  with  their 
Queen's  refusal,  that  cometh  far  from  their  hearts.  They  intend  to  expostulate 
with  me  hereupon.  1  have  my  answer  ready  enough  for  them.  If  she  thrust 
Englishmen  all  out  of  this  country,  1  doubt  not  but  there  will  be  some  of  her 
own  that  will  bear  us  some  kindness.  Of  me  she  shall  be  quit,  so  soon  as  it 
pleaseth  the  Queen's  Majesty,  my  mistress,  no  longer  to  use  my  service  in  this 
place.  By  such  talk  as  1  have  of  late  had  with  the  Lord  James  and  Lord  of 
Lidi.igton,  I  perceive  that  they  are  of  mind  that  immediately  of  the  next  con- 
vention, I  shall  repair  towards  you  with  their  determinations  and  resolutions,  in 
all  purposes,  wherein  Your  Honour's  advise  is  earnestly  required,  and  shortly 
locked  for.  Whatsomever  I  desire  myself,  1  know  my  will  ought  to  be  subject 
unto  the  Queen  my  sovereign's  pleasure,  but  to  content  myself,  would  God  1 
were  so  happy  as  to  serve  Her  Majesty  in  as  mean  a  state  as  ever  poor  gentle- 
man did  to  be  quit  of  this  place  ;  not  that  1  do  in  my  heart  wax  weary  of  Her 
Majesty's  service,  but  because  my  time  and  years  require  some  place  of  more 
repose  and  quietness  than  I  find  in  this  country.  1  doubt  also  my  insuificience 
when  other  troubles  in  this  country  arise,  or  ought  shall  be  required  of  me  to 
the  advancement  of  Her  Majesty's  service,  that  either  my  will  is  not  able  to 
compass,  or  my  credit  sufficient  to  work  to  that  effect,  as  perchance  shall  be  looked 
for  at  my  hands.  As  Your  Honour  hath  been  a  means  of  my  continuance  in 
this  room,  so  I  trust  that  I  shall  find  that  continual  favour  at  your  hands,  that 
so  soon  as  it  shall  stand  with  the  Queen's  Majesty's  pleasure,  I  may  give  this 
place  unto  some  far  worthier  than  1  am  myself,  and  in  the  mean  season  have 
my  course  directed  by  your  good  advice  how  I  may  by  my  contrivance  do  some 
such  service  as  may  be  agreeable  to  Her  Majesty's  will  and  pleasure. 

These  few  words  I  am  bold  to  write  unto  Your  Honour  of  myself.  For  the 
rest  wr.eie  that  is  wished  that  the  lords  will  stoutly  continue  yet  for  one  month, 
[  wf'.:e  Your  Honour  that  there  is  yet  nothing  omitted  of  their  old  and  accus- 
tomed manner  of  doing,  and  seeing  that  they  have  brought  that  unto  this  point, 
and  iji!>u!'l  now  prevail,  they  were  unworthy  of  their  lives. 

i  ana  Aot  that  they  are  purposed  so  to  leave  the  matter.  I  doubt  more  her 
money  than  I  do  her  fair  words  ;  and  yet  can  I  not  conceive  what  great  things 
can  be  wrought  with  forty  thousand  crowns,  and  treasure  of  her  own  here  I  know 
there  is  no  sure  or  ready  means  to  get  it.  The  Lord  of  Lidington  leaveth 
nothing  at  this  time  unwritten,  that  he  thinketh  may  be  able  to  satisfye  your 
desire,  in  knowledge  of  the  present  state  of  things  here.  Whatsomever  cometh 
of  that,  he  findeth  it  ever  best  that  she  come  not ;  but  if  she  do  come  to  let  her 
know,  at  the  first,  what  she  shall  find,  which  is  due  obedience  and  willing  ser 
vice,  if  she  embrace  Christ,  and  desire  to  live  in  peace  with  her  neighbours.  By 
such  letters  as  you  have  last  received,  Your  Honour  somewhat  understandeth 
of  Mr.  Knox  himself,  and  also  of  others,  what  is  determined,  he  himself  to  abide 
the  uttermost,  and  other  never  to  leave  him  until  God  have  taken  his  life,  and 
thus  together  with  what  comfort  somever  it  will  please  you  to  give  him  by  your 
letters,  that  the  Queen's  Majesty  doth  not  utterly  condemn  him,  or  at  the  least 
in  that  point,  that  he  is  so  sore  charged  with  by  his  own  Queen,  that  Her 
Majesty  will  not  allow  her  doing.  I  doubt  not  but  it  will  be  a  great  comfort 
jnto  him,  and  will  content  many  others  ;  his  daily  prayer  is  for  the  maintenance 
or"  unity  with  England,  and  that  God  will  never  suffer  men  to  be  so  ungrate,  as 
bv  any  persuasion  to  run  headlong  unto  the  destruction  of  them  that  have  saved 
their  lives  and  lestored  their  country  to  liberty.     I  leave  farther,  at  this  time. 


360  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

to  trouble  Your  Honour,  desiring  God  to  send  such  an  amity  between  these  two 
realms,  that  God  may  be  glorified  to  them  of  this  world. — At  Edenbourgh,  the 
9th  of  August,  1561. 

No.  VI.  (p.  108.) 
A  Letter  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  Queen  Mary.* 

[16th  of  Aug.  1561.    Paper  Office,  from  a  copy.] 

To  the  right  excellent,  right  high,  and  mighty  Princesse,  our  right  dear 

and  well-beloved  sister  and  cousin  the  Queen  of  Scotland. 

Right  excellent,  right  high,  and  mighty  Princesse,  our  right  dear  and  right 
well-beloved  sister  and  cousin,  we  greet  you  well.  The  Lord  of  St.  Cosme 
brought  to  us  your  letters,  dated  the  8th  of  this  present  at  Abbeville,  whereby  ye 
signify  that  although  by  the  answer  brought  to  you  by  Monsieur  Doyzell,  ye 
might  have  had  occasion  to  have  entered  into  some  doubt  of  our  amity,  jet 
after  certain  purposes,  passed  betwixt  you  and  our  ambassador,  you  would 
assure  us  of  your  good  meaning  to  live  with  us  in  amity,  and  for  your  purpose 
therein  ye  require  us  to  give  credit  to  the  said  St.  Cosme.  We  have  thereunto 
thought  good  to  answer  as  follovveth :  The  same  St.  Cosme  hath  made  like 
declaration  unto  us  on  your  part,  for  your  excuse  in  not  ratifying  the  treaty,  as 
yourself  made  to  our  ambassador,  and  we  have  briefly  answered  to  every  the 
same  points,  as  he  can  show  you  :  and  if  he  shall  not  so  do,  yet  least  in  the 
mean  season  you  might  be  induced  to  think  that  your  reasons  had  satisfied  us, 
soinerally  we  assure  you,  that  to  our  requests  your  answer  cannot  be  reputed  for 
a  satisfaction.  For  we  require  no  benefit  of  you,  but  that  you  will  perform  your 
promise,  whereunto  you  are  bound  by  your  seal  and  your  hand,  for  the  refusal 
whereof  we  see  no  reason  alledged  can  serve.  Neither  covet  we  any  thing,  but 
that  which  is  in  vojr  own  power  as  Queen  of  Scotland,  that  which  yourself  in 
words  and  speech  dotli  confess,  that  which  your  late  husband's  our  good 
brothers  s.mV,».»s».do?«  and  you  concluded,  that  which  your  own  nobility  and 
people  ware  matfe  P'ivy  unto,  that  which  indeed  made  peace  and  quietness 
betwai  b»,  yna,  that  without  which  no  perfect  amity  can  continue  betwixt  us, 
as.  if  it  be  inoiff«:'fcntly  weighed,  we  doubt  not  but  ye  will  perceive,  allow,  and 
accomplish.  Nevertheless,  perceiving,  by  the  report  of  the  bringer,  that  you 
mean  furthwtth  up&n  your  coming  home,  to  follow  herein  the  advice  of  your 
council  in  Scotland,  we  are  content  to  suspend  our  conceipt  of  all  unkindness, 
.ind  do  assure  you  tat.'  we  be  fully  resolved,  upon  this  being  performed,  to  unite 
n  sure  band  of  amity  snd  to  live  in  neighbourhood  with  you  as  quietly,  friendly, 
yea.  as  assuredly  is  t';*  knot  of  friendship,  as  we  be  in  the  knot  of  nature  and 
blood.  And  herein  ft  M  so  earnestly  determined,  that  the  world  should  see 
if  the  contrary  shou1".  follow  (which  God  forbid)  the  very  occasion  to  be  in 
vou  and  not  in  u*  :  a*  the  story  witnesseth  the  like  of  the  King  your  rather, 
our  uncle,  with  wh'T  our  father  sought  to  have  knitt  a  perpetual  bond  by 
inviting  to  come  m  tb'9  raalm  to  York,  of  which  matter  we  know  there  remain 
with  us,  and  we  tbmk  with  you,  sundry  witnesses  of  our  father's  earnest  good 
rueaninsj,  and  of  the  error  whereunto  divers  evil  councillors  induced  j^our  father; 
or,  finally,  where  it  seemeth  that  report  hath  been  made  unto  you,  that  we  had 
nent  our  admiral  to  the  seas  with  our  navy  to  empeache  your  passage,  both 
your  servants  do  vtail  understand  how  false  that  is,  knowing  for  a  truth  that 
we  have  not  any  more  than  two  or  three  small  barks  upon  the  seas,  to  appre- 
hend certain  pirttftS,  being  thereto  entreated,  and  almost  compelled  by  the 
earnest  complaint  of  the  ambassador  of  our  good  brother  the  King  of  Spain, 
made  of  certains  Scottish  men  haunting  our  seas  as  pirates,  under  pretence  of 
letters  of  marqufe,  of  which  matter  also  we  earnestly  require  you,  at  your  com- 
ing to  your  realme,  to  have  some  good  consideration,  and  the  rather  for  respect 
that  ought  to  bn  Vtwly.t  ycur  realme  and  the  countries  of  us,  of  France,  oi 

"  This  is  thp  complete  paper  of  which  that  industrious  and  impartial  collector,  Bishop  Kotth,  ha* 
published  a  fragment,  from  what  he  calls  his  shattered  MS.  154,  note  (si  181, 


APPENDIX,  No.   VII  361 

Spain,  and  of  the  house  of  Burgundy.  And  so,  right  excellent,  right  high,  an  J 
mighty  Princess,  we  recommend  us  to  you  with  most  earnest  request,  not  to 
neglect  these  our  friendly  and  sisterly  offers  of  friendship,  which,  beforo  God, 
wo  mean  and  intend  to  accomplish.  Given  under  our  signet  at  Henyugham, 
the  16th  of  August,  in  the  third  year  of  our  roign. 

No.  VII.  (p.  121.) 

A  Letter  of  Randolph  to  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  William  Cecil,  Knight, 
Principal  Secretary  to  lite  Queens  Majesty. 

[I5th  of  May,   1563.     Paper  Office,  from  the  original] 

Of  late,  until  the  arrival  of  Monsieur  Le  Croch,  I  had  nothing  worth  the 
writing  unto  Your  Honour.  Before  his  coming  we  had  so  little  to  hint  upoo 
that  we  did  nothing  but  pass  our  time  in  feasts,  banquetting,  masking,  and  run 
ning  at  the  ring,  and  such  like.  He  brought  with  him  such  a  number  of  letters, 
and  such  abundance  of  news,  that,  for  the  space  of  three  days,  we  gave  our- 
selves to  nothing  else  but  to  reading  of  writings  and  hearings  of  tales,  many  so 
truly  reported,  that  they  might  be  compared  to  any  that  ever  Luciane  did  write 
de  verts  narrationibus.  Among  all  his  tidings,  for  the  most  assured,  I  send  this 
unto  Your  Honour  as  an  undoubted  truth,  which  is,  that  the  Cardinal  of  Lor- 
raine, at  his  being  with  the  Emperor,  moved  a  marriage  between  his  youngest 
son,  the  Duke  of  Astruche,  and  this  Queen  ;  wherein  he  hath  so  far  travailed 
that  it  hath  already  come  unto  this  point,  that  if  she  find  it  good,  the  said  Duke 
will  out  of  hand  send  hither  his  ambassador,  and  farther  proceed  to  the  con- 
summation hereof,  with  as  convenient  speed  as  may  be  ;  and  to  the  intent  her 
mind  may  be  the  better  known,  Le  Croch  is  sent  unto  her  with  this  message 
from  the  Cardinal,  who  hath  promised  unto  the  Emperor  to  have  word  again 
before  the  end  of  May  ;  and  for  this  cause  Le  Croch  is  ready  for  his  departure, 
and  his  letters  writing  both  day  and  night.  This  Queen  being  before  adver- 
tised of  his  towardness,  by  means  hath  sought  far  off  to  know  My  Lord  of 
Murray's  mind  herein,  but  would  never  so  plainly  deal  with  him  that  he  could 
iearn  what  her  meaning  is  or  how  she  is  bent.  She  useth  no  man's  council  but 
only  this  man's  that  last  arrived,  and  assuredly  until  the  L.  of  Lidington's 
return,  she  will  do  what  she  can  to  keep  that  secret ;  and  because  resolution  in 
his  absence  cannot  be  taken,  she  will,  for  this  time,  return  Le  Croch  with  request 
«,o  have  longer  time  to  devise  ;  and  after,  with  the  most  speed  she  can,  she  fully 
pnrpnsetli  io  advertise  him,  I  mean  her  uncle  the  Cardinal,  of  her  mind.  Of 
thib  hiauei  Uie  L.  of  Lidington  is  made  privy.  I  know  not  whether  by  some 
intelligence  that  he  had  before  his  departure,  or  since  his  arrival  in  France, 
divers  letters  have  passed  between  Her  Grace  and  him,  whereof  as  much  as  it 
imported  not  greatly  the  knowledge  of  was  communicated  to  some,  as  much  as 
was  written  in  cypher  is  kept  unto  themselves.  Whether  also  the  L.  of  Lid- 
ington hath  had  conference  with  the  Spanish  ambassador  in  England  of  this 
matter  or  any  like,  I  leave  it  unto  Your  Honour's  good  means  to  gel  true  know- 
ledge thereof.  Guesses  or  surmises  in  so  grave  matters  I  would  be  loth  to 
write  for  verities.  This  also  Your  Honour  may  take  for  truth,  thai  the  Emperor 
hath  offered  with  his  son,  for  this  Queen's  dower,  the  county  of  Tyroll,  which 
is  said  to  be  worth  30,000  franks  by  year.  Of  this  matter  also  the  rhingrave 
wrote  a  letter  unto  this  Queen,  out  of  France  not  long  since.  This  is  all  that 
presently  I  can  write  unto  Your  Honour  hereof;  as  I  can  come  by  farthet 
knowledge  Your  Honour  shall  be  informed. 

I  have  received  Your  Honour's  writings  by  the  Scottish  man  that  last  came 
into  these  parts  ;  he  brought  also  letters  unto  this  Queen  from  the  L.  of  Liding- 
ton ;  their  date  was  old,  and  contained  only  the  news  of  F ranee.  I  perceive 
divers  ways,  that  Newhaven  is  sorre  closed,  but  I  am  not  so  ignorant  of  their 
nature  but  that  I  know  they  will  say  as  much  as  they  dare  do,  I  vviJl  not  say  a* 
the  proverb  doth,  '  cants  timidus  fortius  lalrat.'  From  hence  I  dare  assure  lh«wi, 
what  means  somever  they  make,  or  how  pitiful  somever  their  mone  be.  they  are 
Uke  to  receive  but  small  comfort  for  all  their  long  allie      We  stand  daily  in 

Voi-  III.— 46 


362  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND. 

doubt  what  friendship  we  shall  need  ourself,  except  we  put  better  order  into 
our  misruled  Papists  than  yet  we  do,  or  know  how  to  bring  to  pass  that  we 
may  be  void  of  their  comber. 

To-morrow,  the  15th  of  this  instant,  the  Queen  departeth  of  this  town 
towards  Edenborough.  If  my  hap  be  good,  you  shall  thoroughly  hear  some 
merry  tidings  of  the  Bp.  of  St.  Andrews  ;  upon  Wednesday  next  he  shall  be 
arreigned,  and  five  other  priests,  for  their  massing  at  Easter  last.  Thus  mos* 
humbly  I  take  my  leave ;  at  St.  Andrews,  the  15th  of  May,  1563. 

No.  VIII.  (p.  125.) 

Letter  of  Randolph  to  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  William  Cecil,  Knight,  Pnncipa. 
Secretary  to  the  Queen's  Majesty. 

[lOthof  April,  1563.     Paper  Office,  from  the  original  in  his  own  hand.] 

May  it  please  Your  Honour,  the  7th  of  this  instant,  Rowlet,  this  Queen's 
lecretary,  arrived  here  ;  he  reported  very  honestly  of  his  good  usage,  he  brought 
with  him  many  letters  unto  the  Queen  that  came  out  of  France,  full  of  lamen- 
tation and  sorrow.  She  received  from  the  Queen-mother  two  letters ;  the  one 
contained  only  the  rehearsal  of  Iter  griefs,  the  other  signify  the  state  of  France 
as  then  it  was,  as  in  what  sort  things  were  accorded,  and  what  farther  was  in- 
tended for  the  appeasing  of  the  discords  there,  not  mistrusting  but  that  if 
reason  could  not  be  had  at  the  Queen  of  England's  hands,  but  that  the  realm 
of  France  should  find  her  ready  and  willing  to  support  and  defend  the  right 
(.hereof,  as  by  friendship  and  old  alliance  between  the  two  realms  she  is  bound. 

How  well  these  words  do  agree  with  her  doings  Your  Honour  can  well  con- 
sider, and  by  her  writings  in  this  sort  unto  this  Queen  (which  1  assure  Your 
Honour  is  true),  you  may  assuredly  know  that  nothing  shall  be  left  undone  of 
her  part,  that  may  move  debate  or  controversy  between  this  Queen  and  our 
sovereign. 

It  v\  as  much  mused  by  the  Queen  herself,  how  this  new  kindness  came  about, 
but  at  this  time  she  received  two  long  letters  written  all  with  her  own  hand, 
saying,  all  the  time  since  her  return  she  never  received  half  so  many  lines  as 
were  in  one  of  the  letters,  which  I  can  myself  testify  by  the  Queen's  own 
saying,  and  other  good  assurance,  where  hitherto  I  have  not  been  deceived.  I 
can  also  farther  assure  Your  Honour  that  this  Queen  hath  sayed  that  she 
knoweth  now,  that  the  friendship  of  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  sovereign  may 
stand  her  more  in  stead  than  that  of  her  good  mother  in  France,  and  as  she  is 
desirous  of  them  both,  so  will  she  not  lose  the  one  for  the  other.  I  may  also 
farther  assure  Your  Honour  that  whatsonicver  the  occasion  is,  this  Queen  hath 
somewhat  in  her  heart  that  will  burst  out  in  time,  which  will  manifest  that 
some  unkindness  hath  passed  between  them  that  will  not  be  easy  forgotten. 
In  talk  sometimes  with  myself,  she  saith  that  the  Queen-mother  might  have 
used  the  matter  otherwise  than  she  hath  done,  and  doth  much  doubt  what  shall 
be  the  success  of  her  great  desire  to  govern  alone,  in  all  things  to  have  her 
will.  Seeing  then  that  presently  they  stand  in  such  terms  one  with  the  other, 
I  tho't  it  better  to  confirm  her  in  that  mind  (this  Queen  I  mean),  than  to  speak 
any  word  that  might  cause  her  to  conceive  better  of  the  other.  And  yet  I  am 
assured  she  shall  receive  as  friendly  letters,  and  as  many  good  words  from  this 
Queen  as  the  other  did  write  unto  "her.  Whether  the  Queen-mother  will  speak 
any  thing  unto  the  L.  of  Lidington  of  that  purpose  she  did  write  unto  this 
Queen  of,  I  know  not;  but  if  she  do,  1  think  it  hard  if  Your  Honour  can  get 
no  favour  thereof,  at  his  return,  or  i  perchance  by  some  means  here.  It  may 
perchance  be  written  only  by  that  Queen,  to  try  what  answer  this  Queen  wit 
give,  fr  understand  what  mind  she  bearetn  unto  the  Queen's  Majesty  our  sove- 
reign The  Queen  knoweth  now  that  the  Earl  Bothwell  is  sent  for  to  London. 
Sne  caused  a  gentleman  of  hers  to  inquire  the  cause;  I  answered  that  I  knew 
none  other,  but  that  his  takers  were  in  controversy  who  took  him,  and  that  it 
should  be  judged  there.  I  know  that  she  thinketh  much  that  he  is  not  flent 
into   Scotland.     It  is  yet  greatly  doubted  that  if  he  were  here,  he  would  l*« 


A  IM>  E  N  D  1  X,   N  o.    I X.  J63 

reserved  for  an  evil  instrument.  If  tlie  Lord  of  Lidington  have  not  been  plain 
with  Your  Honour  herein,  he  is  in  the  wrong  to  those  who  are  his  friends  here, 
but  most  of  all  to  himself.  There  comes  a  vulture  in  this  realm,  if  ever  that 
man  come  again  into  credit. 

No.  IX.  (p.  128.) 

The  Oration  made  by  William  Maitland  of  Lethington,  younger  Secretary  for  the 
Time,  in  the  Parliament  holden  by  our  Sovereign  the  King's  Mother,  Queen  of 
this  Realm  for  the  Time,  the  Time  of  the  Restitution  of  Umquile  Mattliew  Ear\ 
of  Lenox. 

My  Lords  and  others  here  convened.     Albeit,  be  that  it  has  pleased  Her  Ma 
jesty  most  graciously  to  utter  unto  you,  by  her  own  mouth,  ye  may  have  sum 
niently  conceived  the   cause  of  this  your  present  assembly ;  yet   having   Her 
Majesty's  commandment  to  supply  My  Lord  Chancellor's  place,  being  presently 
as  ye  see  deceased,  I  am  willed  to  express  the  same  somewhat  more  at  large. 

Notour  it  is,  how,  in  Her  Highness's  minority,  a  process  of  forfaltour  was 
decreed  against  My  Lord  of  Lennox,  for  certain  offences  alledged  committed  by 
him ;  specified  in  the  dome  and  censement  of  parliament  given  thereupon ;  by 
reason  whereof  he  lias  this  long  time  been  exiled,  and  absent  forth  of  his  native 
country  ;  how  grievous  the  same  has  been  unto  him,  it  has  well  appeared  by 
divers  his  suites,  sundry  ways  brought  unto  Her  Majesty's  knowledge,  not  only 
containing  most  humble  and  due  submission,  but  always  bearing  witness  of  his 
good  devotion  to  Her  Majesty,  his  natural  Princess,  and  earnest  affection  he 
had  to  Her  Highness  most  humble  service,  if  it  should  please  Her  Majesty  of 
her  clemency  to  make  him  able  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  a  subject ;  many  respects 
might  have  moved  Her  Highness  favourably  to  incline  to  his  request,  as  the 
anciency  of  his  house  and  the  sirname  he  bears,  the  honour  he  has  to  appertain 
to  Her  Majesty  by  affinity,  by  reason  of  My  Lady  Margaret  Her  Highness's 
aunt,  and  divers  other  his  good  considerations,  as  also  the  affectuous  request 
of  her  good  sister  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England,  whose  earnest  commenda- 
tion was  not  of  least  moment,  besides  that  of  her  own  natural,  Her  Majesty 
has  a  certain  inclination  to  pity  the  decay  of  noble  houses,  and  as  we  heard, 
by  her  own  report,  has  a  great  deal  more  pleasure  to  be  the  instrument  of  the 
uphold,  maintenance, and  advancement  of  the  ancient  blood  than  to  have  matter 
ministered  of  the  decay  or  overthrow  of  any  good  race.  Upon  this  occasion 
Her  Majesty  the  more  tenderly  looked  upon  his  request,  and  her  good  sister  the 
Queen  of  England's  favourable  letter,  written  for  recommendation  of  his  cause, 
in  consideration  whereof  not  only  has  she  granted  unto  him  her  letter  of  resti- 
tution, by  way  of  grace,  but  also  licensed  him  to  pursue,  by  way  of  reduction, 
the  remedies  provided  by  the  law  for  such  as  think  themselves  grieved  by  any 
judgment  unorderly  led,  and  to  have  the  process  reversed  ;  for  examination 
whereof,  it  has  pleased  Her  Majesty  presently  to  assemble  you  the  three  estates 
of  this  her  realme,  by  whose  advice,  deliberation,  and  decision  at  Her  Majesty's 
mind,  to  proceed  forward  upon  his  complaints,  as  the  merits  of  the  cause,  laws 
of  the  realm,  and  practice  observed  in  such  cases  will  bear  out.  The  sum  of 
all  your  proceedings  at  this  time,  being  by  that  we  have  heard,  thus  as  it  were 
pointed  out,  I  might  here  end,  if  the  matter  we  have  in  hand  gave  me  not 
occasion  to  say  a  few  more  words,  not  far  different  from  the  same  subject 
wherein  I  would  extend  the  circumstances  more  largely,  if  1  feared  not  to  offend 
Her  Highness,  whose  presence  and  modest  nature  abhors  long  speaking  and 
adulation,  and  so  will  compel  me  to  speak  such  things  as  may  seem  to  tend  to 
any  good  and  perfect  point ;  and  lest  it  should  be  compted  to  me,  as  that  I  were 
oblivious,  if  I  should  omit  to  put  you  in  remembrance,  in  what  part  we  may 
accept  this,  and  the  like  demonstrations  of  her  gentill  nature  ;  whose  gracious 
behaviour  towards  all  her  subjects  in  general  may  serve  for  a  good  proof  ol 
that  felicity  we  may  look  for  under  her  happy  government  so  long  as  it  shall 
please  God  to  grant  her  unto  us  ;  for  a  good  harmony  to  be  had  in  the  common 
weill,  the  offices  between  the  Prince  and  the  subjects  must  be  reciproque,  as  by 
Her  Majesty's  prudence  we  enjoy  this  present  peace  with  all  foreign  nations, 
md  ouietness  among  yourselves,  in  such  sort  that  I  think  justly  it  maybe  affirmed 


364  HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND 

Scotland,  in  no  man's  age,  that  presently  lives,  was  in  greater  tranquillity  ;  •© 
is  it  the  duty  of  all  us  her  loving  subjects  to  acknowledge  the  same  as  a  mo»t 
high  benefit,  proceeding  from  the  good  government  of  Her  Majesty,  declaring 
ourselves  thankful  for  the  same,  and  rendering  to  Her  Majesty  such  due  obe- 
dience, as  a  just  Prince  may  look  for  at  the  hands  of  faithful  and  obedient  sub- 
jects. I  mean  no  forced  nor  unwilling  obedience,  which  I  know  her  nature  does 
detest,  but  such  as  proceeds  from  the  contemplation  of  her  modest  kind  of 
regiment,  will  for  love  and  duty  sake  produce  the  fruits  thereof.  A  good  proof 
have  we  all  in  general  had  of  Her  Majesty's  benignity  these  three  years,  that 
she  has  lived  in  the  government  over  you,  and  many  of  you  have  largely  tasted 
of  her  large  liberality  and  frank  dealing  :  on  the  other  part  Her  Highness  has 
had  large  appearance  of  your  dutiful  obedience,  so  it  becomes  you  to  continue, 
as  we  have  begun,  in  consideration  of  the  many  notable  examples  of  her 
clemency  above  others  her  good  qualities,  and  to  abhor  and  detest  all  false 
bruites  and  rumours,  which  are  the  most  pestilent  evils  that  can  be,  in  any 
common  weill  and  the  sowers  and  inventors  thereof.  Then  may  we  be  well 
assured  to  have  of  her  a  most  gracious  Princesse,  and  she  most  faithful  and 
loving  subjects  ;  and  so  both  the  head  and  the  members,  being  encouraged  to 
maintain  the  harmony  and  accord  of  the  politic  bodies,  whereof  I  made  mention 
before,  as  the  glory  thereof  shall  partly  appertain  to  Her  Majesty,  so  shall  no 
small  praise  and  unspeakable  commodity  redound  therethrough  to  you  all  uni- 
versally her  subjects. 

No.  X.  (p.  132.) 

The  Perth  and  Troubles  that  may  presently  ensue,  and  in  Time  to  come  follow,  to 
the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England  and  State  of  this  Realm,  upon  the  Marriage  of 
the  Queen  of  Scots  to  the  Lord  Darley. 

First,  the  minds  of  such  as  be  affected  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  either  for  her- 
self, or  for  the  opinion  of  her  pretence  to  this  crown,  or  for  the  desire  to  have 
change  of  the  forme  of  religion  in  this  realm,  or  for  the  discontentation  they 
have  of  the  Queen's  Majesty,  or  her  succession,  or  of  the  succession  of  any  other 
beside  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  shall  be,  by  this  marriage  erected,  comforted,  and 
induced  to  devise  and  labour  how  to  bring  their  desires  to  pass  :  and  to  make 
some  estimate  what  persons  those  are,  to  the  intent  the  quantity  of  the  danger 
may  be  weighed  ;  the  same  may  be  compassed  in  those  sorts  either  within  the 
realm  or  without. 

The  first  are  such  as  are  specially  devoted  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  or  to  the 
Lord  Darley,  by  bond  of  blood  and  alliance  :  as  first,  all  the  house  of  Lorrain 
and  Guise  for  her  part,  and  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  his  wife,  all  such  in  Scot- 
land  as  be  of  their  blood,  and  have  received  displeasures  by  the  Duke  of  Ch<i- 
telherault  and  the  Hamiltons.  The  second  are  all  manner  of  persons,  both  in 
this  realm  and  other  countries,  that  are  devoted  to  the  authority  of  Rome,  and 
mislike  of  the  religion  now  received  ;  and  in  these  two  sorts  are  the  substance 
of  them  comprehended,  that  shall  take  comfort  in  this  marriage. 

Next  therefore  to  be  considered,  what  perils  and  troubles  these  kind  of  men 
shall  intend  to  this  realm. 

First,  the  general  scope  and  mark  of  all  their  desires  is,  and  always  shall  be, 
to  bring  the  Queen  of  Scotts  to  have  the  royal  crown  of  this  realm  ;  and  there- 
fore, though  the  devisees  may  vary  among  themselves  for  the  compassing 
hereof,  according  to  the  accidents  of  the  times,  and  according  to  the  impedi- 
ments which  they  shall  find  by  means  of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  actions  and 
governments,  yet  all  their  purposes,  drifts,  devises,  and  practices,  shall  wholly 
and  only  tend  to  make  the  Queen  of  Scotts  Queen  of  this  realm,  and  to 
dtfprive  our  sovereign  lady  thereof;  and  in  their  proceedings,  there  are  two 
manners  to  be  considered,  whereof  the  one  is  far  worse  than  the  other ;  the  one 
is  intended  by  them,  that  either  from  malicious  blindness  in  religion,  or  for 
natural  affection  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  or  the  Lord  Darley,  to  persuade  thsm- 
sulves  that  the  said  Queen  of  Scotts  hath  presently  more  right  to  the  crown 
than  our  sov.ereign  lady  the  Que?  n.  of  !  ■  h  >rt  be  all  their  kindred  on  both 
fcides,  and  all  such  as  art  demoted  to  Poperj ,  either  in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 


APPENDIX,   No.  X  36i 

or  elsew  here  ;  the  other  s  meant  by  thorn,  which,  with  less  mance,  are  per- 
suaded that  the  Queen  of  Scotts  hath  only  right  to  be  the  next  heir  to  succeed 
the  Queen's  Majesty  and  her  issue,  of  which  sort  few  are  without  the  realm, 
but  here  within,  ar.d  yet  of  them,  not  so  many  as  are  of  the  contrary,  and  from 
these  two  Herts  shall  the  peril,  devises,  and  praciices  proceed.  From  the  first, 
whicn  imagine  the  Queen  of  Scotts  to  have  perpetually  right,  are  to  be  looked 
for  thow  penis,  Kirst,  it  is  to  be  doubted  the  devil  will  infect  some  of  them  to 
imagine  the  nu't  or1  the  life  of  our  dear  sovereign  lady,  by  such  means  as  the 
■dev/i  cinaii  supg^nt  to  them,  although  it  is  to  be  assuredly  hoped,  that  Almighty 
God  w:h,  ao  n*  hi*  hitherto,  graciously  protect  and  preserve  her  from  such 
danger?  ?  Secondly,  there  will  be  attempted,  by  persuasions,  by  bruites,  by 
rumours,  and  such  like,  to  alienate  the  minds  of  good  subjects  from  the  Queen's 
SVTajesvy,  ertu  to  conciliate  them  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  and  on  this  behalf  the 
frontiers  and  the  North  will  bo  much  solicited  and  laboured.  Thirdly,  there 
will  be  attempted  causes  of  some  tumults  and  rebellions,  especially  in  the  North 
toward  Scotland,  so  ap  thereupon  may  follow  some  open  enterprise  set  by  vio- 
lence. Fourthly,  there  will  be,  by  the  said  Queen's  council  and  friends,  a  new 
l«aguo  made  with  France  or  Spain,  that  shall  be  offensive  to  this  realm,  and  a 
furtherance  to  thoir  title.  And  as  it  is  also  very  likely,  that  they  will  set  afoot 
».s  many  practices  aw  they  can,  both  upon  the  frontiers  and  in  Ireland,  to  occa 
aion  the  Queen?  Mai'sty  to  increase  and  continue  her  charge  thereby,  to  retain 
li;r  from  being  mighty  or  potent,  and  for  the  attempting  of  all  these  things, 
yninv  fievjsae  will  be  imagined  from  time  to  time,  and  no  negligence  will 
therein  aop'jar. 

*'rom  the  second  sort,  which  mean  no  other  favour  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts, 
but  that  -  •_•  should  succeed  in  title  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  is  not  much  to  be 
fe&rsd,  bu<  thai  they  will  content  themselves  to  see  not  only  the  Queen's 
Majesty,  not  to  marry,  and  so  to  impeach  it,  but  to  hope,  that  the  Queen  of 
Scotts  shall  ha1  e  issue,  which  they  will  think  to  be  more  peaceable  to  all  men, 
because  thereby' the  crewns  of  England  and  Scotland  shall  be  united  in  one,  and 
thereby  the  occasion  of  war  shall  cease  ;  with  which  persuasion  many  people 
may  be  seduced,  and  abused  to  incline  themselves  to  the  part  of  the  Queen  of 
Scotts. 

The  remedies  against  these  perils. 

A  DUPLICAT. 

[4th  of  June,  1565.    Cott.  Lib.  Cal.  B  10.  Col.  390  1 

A  Summary  of  the  Consultation  and  Advice  given  by  the  Lords  and  other*  of  tht 
Privy  Council.  Collected  out  of  the  sundry  and  several  Speeches  of  the  taia 
Counsellors. 

Lord  Keeper,  Mr.  Comptroller, 

Lord  Treasurer,  Mr.  Vice  Chamberlain, 

(  Derby,  Mr.  Secretary, 
Earls  of  <  Bedford,  Cave, 

( Leicester,  Peter, 

Lord  Admiral,  Mason. 

Lord  Chamberlain, 

Questions  propounded  were  these  two. 

1.  First,  what  perils  might  ensue  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  or  this  realm,  jf 
the  marriage  betwixt  the  Queen  of  Scotts  and  the  Lord  Darnley 

2.  What  were  meet  to  be  done,  to  avoid  or  remedy  the  same. 

To  the  First. 

The  perils  being  sundry,  and  very  many,  were  reduced  by  some  counsellors 
into  only  one. 

1.  First,  That  by  this  marriage,  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  (being  not  married,)  a 


366  history  of  Scotland 

great  number  in  this  realm  not  of  the  worst  subjects  might  be  alienated  in  their 
minds  from  their  natural  duties  to  Her  Majesty,  to  depend  upon  the  success  of 
this  marriage  of  Scotland,  as  a  mean  to  establish  the  succession  of  both  the 
crowns  in  the  issue  of  the  same  marriage,  and  so  favour  all  devises  and  prac- 
tices, that  should  tend  to  the  advancement  of  the  Queen  of  Scotts. 

2.  Secondly,  That  considering  the  chief  foundation  of  them,  which  furthered 
the  marriage  of  Lord  Darnley,  was  laid  upon  the  trust  of  such  as  were  Papists, 
as  the  only  means  left  to  restore  the  religion  of  Rome,  it  was  plainly  to  be  seen, 
that  both  in  this  realm  and  Scotland,  the  Papists  would  most  favour,  maintain, 
and  fortify  this  marriage  of  the  Lord  Darnley,  and  would,  for  furtherance  of 
faction  in  religion,  devise  all  means  and  practices  that  could  be  within  this 
realm,  to  disturb  the  estate  of  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  the  peace  of  the  realm, 
and  consequently  to  achieve  their  purposes  by  force  rather  than  fail.  By  some 
other,  these  perils,  having  indeed  many  branches,  were  reduced,  though  some- 
what otherwise,  into  two  sorts,  and  these  were  in  nature  such  as  they  could  not 
be  easily  severed  the  one  from  the  other,  but  were  knit  and  linked  together, 
r.aturally  for  maintaining  the  one  with  the  other.  The  first  of  these  sort  of 
perils  was,  that,  by  this  marriage  with  the  Lord  Darnley,  there  was  a  plain 
intention  to  further  the  pretended  title  of  the  Queen  of  Scotts  not  only  to  suc- 
ceed the  Queen's  Majesty,  as  in  her  best  amity  she  had  professed,  but  that  to 
occupy  the  Queen's  estate,  as  when  she  was  in  power,  she  did  manifestly  declare. 

The  second  was,  that  hereby  the  Romish  religion  should  be  erected,  and 
increased  daily  in  this  realm,  and  these  two  were  thus  knit  together,  that  the 
furtherance  and  maintenance  of  the  title  staid,  in  furthering  of  the  religion  of 
Rome  within  this  realm  ;  and  in  like  manner  the  furtherance  of  the  same  reli- 
gion stood  by  the  title,  for  otherwise  the  title  had  no  foundation. 

Proves  of  the  first.)  And  to  prove  that  the  intention  to  advance  the  title  to 
disturb  the  Queen's  Majesty,  must  needs  ensue,  was  considered  that  always  the 
intention  and  will  of  any  person  is  most  manifest,  when  their  power  is  greatest, 
and  contrary  when  power  is  small,  then  the  intention  and  will  of  every  person  is 
covered  and  less  seen.  So  as  when  the  Queen  of  Scotts  power  was  greatest,  by 
her  marriage  with  the  Dauphin  of  France,  being  afterwards  French  King,  it 
manifestly  appeared  of  what  mind  she  and  all  her  friends  were,  using  then 
manifestly  all  the  means  that  could  be  devised  to  impeach  and  dispossess  the 
Queen's  Majesty,  first  by  writing  and  publishing  herself  in  all  countries  Queen 
of  England  ;  by  granting  charters,  patents,  and  commissions,  with  that  style, 
and  with  the  arms  of  England,  both  the  French  and  Scotts,  which  charter* 
remain  still  undefaced  ;  and  to  prosecute  it  with  effect,  it  is  known  what  pre 
parations  of  war  were  made,  and  sent  into  Scotland  ;  and  what  other  forces 
were  assembled  in  foreign  countries  ;  yea,  in  what  manner  a  shameful  peace 
was  made  by  the  French  with  King  Philip  to  employ  all  the  forces  of  France  to 
pursue  all  the  matters  by  force,  which  by  God's  providence  and  the  Queen's 
Majesty  contrary  power,  were  repelled ;  and  afterwards,  by  her  husband's 
death,  her  fortune  and  power  being  changed,  the  intention  began  to  hide  itself; 
and  although  by  the  Scottish  Queen's  commissaries  an  accord  was  made  at 
Edinburgh,  to  reform  all  those  titles,  and  claims,  and  pretences,  yet  to  this  day, 
by  delays  and  cavillations,  the  ratification  of  that  treaty  has  been  deferred. 
And  so  now,  as  soon  as  she  shall  feel  her  power,  she  will  set  the  same  again 
abroad,  and  by  considering  of  such  errors  as  were  committed  in  the  first,  her 
friends  and  allies  will  amend  the  same,  and  proceed  substantially  to  her  pur- 
pose. By  some  it  was  thought  plainly,  that  the  peril  was  greater  of  this  mar- 
riage with  the  Lord  Darnley,  being  a  subject  of  this  realm,  than  with  the 
mightiest  Prince  abroad,  for  by  this,  he  being  of  this  realm,  and  having  for  the 
cause  of  religion,  and  other  respects,  made  a  party  here,  should  increase  by 
force  with  diminution  of  the  power  of  the  realm  ;  in  that  whatsoever  power  he 
could  make  by  the  faction  of  the  Papist,  and  other  discontented  persons  here, 
should  be  a.s  it  were  deducted  out  of  the  power  of  this  realm  ;  and  by  the  mar- 
riage of  a  stranger,  she  could  not  be  assured  of  any  part  here  ;  so  as  by  thi9 
marriage  she  should  have  a  portion  of  her  own  power  to  serve  her  turn,  and  a 
small  portion  of  adversaries  at  home  in  our  own  bowels,  always  seem  more  dan- 
gerous than  treble  the  like  abroad,  whereof  the  examples  are  in  our  own  stories 
nvuiy,  that  foreign  powers  never  prevailed  in  this  realm,  but  with  the  help  of 


APPENDIX,   No.    X.  367 

Nome  at  home.  It  was  also  remembered,  that  seeing  how  before  this  attempt  of 
marriage,  it  is  found,  and  manifestly  seen,  that  in  every  corner  of  the  realm, 
the  faction  that  most  favoureth  the  Scottish  title,  is  grown  stout  and  bold,  yea 
seen  manifestly  in  this  court,  both  in  hall  and  chamber,  it  could  not  be  but 
(except  good  heed  were  speedily  given  to  it)  by  this  marriage,  and  by  the  prac- 
tice of  the  fautors  thereof,  the  same  faction  would  shortly  increase,  and  grow  so 
great  and  dangerous,  as  the  redress  thereof  would  be  almost  desperate.  And 
to  this  purpose  it  was  remembered,  how  of  late  in  perusing  of  the  substance  of 
the  justices  of  the  peace,  in  all  the  countries  of  the  realm,  scantly  a  third  was 
found  fully  assured  to  be  trusted  in  the  matter  of  religion,  upon  which  only 
string  the  Queen  of  Seotts'  title  doth  hang,  and  some  doubt  might  be,  that  the 
friends  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  and  his,  had  more  knowledge  hereof  than  was 
thought,  and  thereby  made  avant  now  in  Scotland,  and  their  party  was  so  great 
in  England  as  the  Queen's  Majesty  durst  not  attempt  to  contrary  his  marriage. 
And  in  this  sort,  was  the  sum  of  the  perils  declared,  being  notwithstanding 
more  largely  and  plainly  set  out,  and  made  so  apparent  by  many  sure  argu- 
ments, as  no  one  of  the  council  could  deny  them  to  be  but  many  and  very 
dangerous. 

Second  Question. 

The  question  of  this  consultation  was  what  were  meet  to  be  done  to  avoid 
these  perils,  or  else  to  divert  the  force  thereof  from  hurting  the  realm  ;  wherein 
there  were  a  great  number  of  particular  devises  propounded,  and  yet  the  more 
part  of  them  was  reduced  by  some  into  three  heads. 

1.  The  first  thought  necessary  by  all  persons,  as  the  only  thing  of  the  most 
moment  and  efficacy,  to  remedy  all  these  perils,  and  many  others,  and  such  as 
without  it  no  other  remedy  could  be  found  sufficient,  and  that  was  to  obtain 
that  the  Queen's  Majesty  would  marry,  and  make  therein  no  long  delay. 

2.  The  second  was,  to  advance,  establish,  and  fortify  indeed  the  profession  ol 
religion,  both  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  and  to  diminish,  weaken,  and  feeble 
the  contrary. 

3.  The  third  was,  to  proceed  in  sundry  things,  either  to  disapppoint  and 
break  this  intended  marriage,  or,  at  the  least,  thereby  to  procure  the  same  not 
to  be  so  hurtful  to  this  realm  as  otherwise  it  will  be. 

The  first  of  these  three  hath  no  particular  rights  in  it,  but  an  earnest  and 
unfeigned  desire  and  suite,  with  all  humbleness,  by  prayer  to  Almighty  God, 
and  advice  and  council  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  that  she  would  defer  no  more 
time  from  marriage,  whereby  the  good  subjects  of  the  realm  might  stay  their 
hearts,  to  depend  upon  Her  Majesty,  and  the  issue  of  her  body,  without  which 
no  surety  can  be  devised  to  ascertain  any  person  of  continuance  of  their  fami- 
lies or  posterities,  to  enjoy  that  which  otherwise  should  come  to  them. 

Second,  concerning  the  matters  of  religion,  wherein  both  truth  and  policy 
were  joined  together,  had  these  particulars. 

First,  whereas  of  late  the  adversaries  of  religion,  in  the  realm,  have  taken 
occasion  to  comfort  and  increase  their  faction,  both  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
abroad,  with  a  rumour  and  expectation  that  the  religion  shall  be  shortly  changed 
in  this  realm,  by  means  that  the  bishops,  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  command 
ment,  have  of  late  dealt  streightly  with  some  persons  of  good  religion,  because 
they  had  forborn  to  wear  certain  apparel,  and  such  like  things  ;  being  more  of 
form  and  accidents,  than  of  any  substance,  for  that  it  is  well  known  that  Her 
Majesty  had  no  meaning  to  comfort  the  adversaries,  but  only  to  maintain  an 
uniformity  as  well  in  tilings  external  as  in  the  substance,  nor  yet  hath  any 
intention  to  make  any  change  of  the  religion,  as  it  is  established  by  laws.  It 
was  thought  by  all  men  very  necessary  for  the  suppressing  of  the  pride  an  i 
arrogancy  of  the  adversaries,  indirectly  hereby  to  notify,  by  her  special  letters  to 
the  two  archbishops,  that  her  former  commandment  was  only  to  retain  an  uni- 
formity, and  not  to  give  any  occasion  to  anv  person  to  misjudge  of  Her  Majesty, 
in  the  change  of  any  part  of  religion,  but  that  she  did  determine  firmly  to  main- 
tain the  form  of  her  religion,  as  it  was  established,  and  to  punish  such  as  did 
therein  violate  her  laws.  And  in  these  points,  some  also  wished  that  it  might 
please  her  archbishops,  that  if  they  should  see  that  the  adversaries  continued  in 


368  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

taking  occasion  to  fortify  their  faction,  that  in  tkat  case  they  should  use  ft 
moderation  therein,  until  the  next  parliament,  at  which  time,  some  good,  uni 
form,  and  decent  order  might  be  devised,  and  established,  for  such  ceremonies, 
so  as  both  uniformity  and  gravity  might  be  retained  amongst  the  clergy. 

The  second  means  was,  that  the  quondam  bishops,  and  others,  which  h?d 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  Queen's  Majesty's  power  over  them,  according  to 
the  law,  and  were  of  late  dispersed  in  the  plague  time  to  sundry  places  abroad, 
where  it  is  known  they  cease  not  to  advance  their  faction,  might  be  returned  to 
the  Tower,  or  some  other  prison,  where  they  might  not  have  such  liberty  to 
seduce  and  inveigle  the  Queen's  Majesty's  subjects,  as  they  daily  do. 

The  third  means  was,  that  where  the  bishops  do  complain  that  they  dare  not 
execute  the  ecclesiastical  laws,  to  the  furtherance  of  religion,  for  fear  of  the  pre- 
munire  wherewith  the  judges  and  lawyers  of  the  realm,  being  not  best  affected 
in  religion,  do  threaten  them,  and  in  many  cases  lett  not  to  pinch  and  deface 
them,  that  upon  such  cases  opened,  some  convenient  authority  might  be  given 
them,  from  the  Queen's  Majesty,  to  continue  during  her  pleasure. 

The  fourth  was,  that  there  were  daily  lewd,  injudicious,  and  unlawful  books 
in  English  brought  from  beyond  seas,  and  are  boldly  received,  read,  and  ke  t, 
and  especially  in  the  North,  seducing  of  great  numbers  of  good  subjects,  the 
like  boldness  whereof  was  never  suffered  in  any  other  Princess's  time,  that  some 
streight  order  might  be  given  to  avoid  the  same,  and  that  it  might  be  considered 
by  the  judges  what  manner  of  crime  the  same  is,  to  maintain  such  books,  made 
directly  against  Her  Majesty's  authority,  and  maintaining  a  foreign  power,  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  realm. 

The  fifth  was,  that  where  a  great  number  of  monks,  fryars,  and  such  lewd 
persons,  are  fled  out  of  Scotland,  and  do  serve  in  England,  especially  in  the 
North,  as  curates  of  churches,  and  all  such  of  them  as  are  not  found  honest  and 
conformable,  may  be  banished  cut  of  the  realm,  for  that  it  appeareth  they  do 
sow  sedition  in  the  realm,  in  many  places,  and  now  will  increase  their  doings. 

The  sixth,  where  sundry  having  ecclesiastical  livings,  are  on  the  other  side 
the  sea,  and  from  thence  maintain  sedition  in  the  realm  ;  that  livings  may  be 
better  bestowed  to  the  commodity  of  the  realm,  upon  good  subjects. 

The  seventh  is,  that  the  judges  of  the  realm,  having  no  small  authority  in 
this  realm,  in  governance  of  all  property  of  the  realm,  might  be  sworn  to  the 
Queen's  Majesty,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  realm,  and  so  thereby  they  should 
for  conscience'  sake  maintain  the  Queen's  Majesty's  authority. 

The  particulars  of  the  third  intention  to  break  and  avoid  this  marriage,  or 
divert  the  perils. 

First,  to  break  this  marriage,  considering  nothing  can  likely  do  it  but  force,  or 
fear  of  force,  it  is  thought  by  some  that  these  means  following  might  occasion 
the  breach  of  the  marriage. 

1.  That  the  Earl  of  Bedford  repair  to  his  charge. 

2.  That  the  works  of  Berwick  be  more  advanced. 

3.  That  the  garrison  be  there  increased. 

4.  That  all  the  wardens  put  their  frontiers  in  order  with  speed,  to  be  readj 
at  an  hour's  warning. 

5.  That  some  noble  person,  as  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  or  the  Earl  of  Salop,  or 
such  other,  be  sent  into  Yorkshire,  to  be  Lieutenant-general  in  the  North. 

6.  That  preparations  be  made  of  a  power  to  be  in  readiness  to  serve,  either 
at  Berwick,  or  to  invade  Scotland. 

7.  That  presently  Lady  Lennox  be  committed  to  some  place  where  she  may 
be  kept  from  giving  or  receiving  of  intelligence. 

8.  That  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  his  son  may  be  sent  for,  and  required  to  be 
sent  home  by  the  Queen  of  Scotts,  according  to  the  treaty ;  and  if  they  shall 
not  :ome,  then  to  denounce  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts  the  breach  of  the  treaty, 
and  thereupon  to  enter  with  hostility  ;  by  which  proceeding,  hope  is  conceived 
(so  the  same  be  done  in  deeds  and  not  in  shews)  that  the  marriage  will  be  avoided 
or  at  the  least  that  it  may  be  qualified  from  many  perils  ;  and  whatsoever  is  to 
be  done  herein  i?  to  be  executed  with  speed,  whilst  she  has  a  party  in  Scotland 
that  favoureth  not  the  marriage,  and  before  any  league  made  by  the  Queen  oi 
Scotts  with  France  or  Spain. 


APPENDIX,  No.  XI.  369 

9.  Some  other  allows  well  of  all  these  proceedings,  saving  of  pr  >ceeding  to 
hostility,  but  all  do  agree  in  the  rest,  and  also  to  these  particularities  following. 

10.  That  the  Earl's  lands  upon  his  refusal,  or  his  son's  refusing,  should  be 
seized,  and  bestowed  in  gilt  or  custody,  as  shall  please  Her  Majesty,  upon  good 
subjects. 

11.  That  all  manifest  favourers  of  the  Earl,  in  the  North,  or  elsewhere,  be 
inquired  for,  and  that  they  be,  by  sundry  means,  well  looked  to. 

12.  That  inquiry  be  made  in  the  North,  who  have  the  stewardship  of  the 
Queen's  Majesty's  lands  there,  and  that  no  person,  deserving  mistrust,  be  .suffered 
to  have  governance  or  rule  of  any  of  her  subjects  or  lands  in  the  North,  but 
only  to  retain  their  fees,  and  more  trusty  persons  have  rule  of  the  same  per  pie's 
lands. 

13.  That  all  frequent  passages  into  this  realm,  to  and  from  Scotland,  be 
restrained  to  all  Scottish  men,  saving  such  as  have  safe  conduct,  or  be  especially 
recommended  from  Mr.  Randolph,  as  favourers  of  the  realm. 

14.  That  some  intelligence  be  used  with  such  in  Scotland  as  favour  not  the 
marriage,  and  they  comforted  from  time  to  time. 

15.  That  the  Queen's  Majesty's  household,  chamber,  and  pensioners,  be 
better  seen  unto,  to  avoid  broad  and  uncomely  speech  used  by  sundry  against 
the  stat«»  of  the  realm. 

16.  That  the  younger  son  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  Mr.  Charles,  be  removed 
to  some  place  where  he  may  be  forthcoming. 

17.  That  considering  the  faction  and  title  of  the  Queen  of  Scotts  hath  now  of 
long  time  received  great  favour,  and  continued,  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  favour 
herein  to  the  Queen  of  Scotts  and  her  ministers,  and  the  Lady  Catharine,  whom 
the  said  Queen  of  Scotts  accompted  as  a  competitor  unto  her  in  pretence  of 
title,  it  may  please  the  Queen's  Majesty,  by  some  exterior  act,  to  show  some 
remission  of  her  displeasure  to  the  Lady,  and  to  the  Earl  of  Hartford,  that 
the  Queen  of  Scotts  thereby  may  find  some  change,  and  her  friends  put  in 
doubt  of  further  proceeding  therein. 

18.  That  whosoever  shall  be  Lieutenant  in  the  North,  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  may 
accompany  him. 

19.  That  with  speed  the  realm  of  Ireland  may  be  committed  to  a  new 
governor. 

20.  Finally,  that  these  advices  being  considered  by  Her  Majesty,  it  may 
please  her  to  choose  which  of  them  she  liketh,  and  to  put  them  in  execution  in 
deeds,  and  not  to  pass  them  over  in  consultations  and  speeches. 

For  it  is  to  be  assured  that  her  adversaries  will  use  all  means  to  put  their 
intention  in  execution.  Some  by  practice,  some  by  force,  when  time  shall  serve, 
and  no  time  can  serve  so  well  the  Queen's  majesty  to  interrupt  the  perils  a? 
now  at  the  first,  before  the  Queen  of  Scotts  purposes  be  fully  settled. 

No.  XI.  (p.  136.) 
Randolph  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  from  Edinburgh,  the  31*r  of  July,  1665. 
[Cott  Lib.    Cal.  B.  ix.  fol.  916.    An  original.] 
Mat  it  please  your  Lordship,  I  have  received  Your  Lordship's  letter  by  my 


servant,  sufficient  testimony  of  your  Lordship's  favour  towards  me,  whereof  I 
think  myself  always  so  assured,  that,  what  other  mishap  soever  befall  me,  1 
have  enough  to  comfort  myself  with  ;  though  I  have  not  at  this  time  received 
neither  according  to  the  need  I  stand,  nor  the  necessity  of  the  service  that  I 
am  employed  in,  I  will  rather  pass  it,  as  I  may  with  patience,  than  trouble  Your 
Lordship  to  be  further  suiter  for  me,  when  there  is  so  little  hope  that  any  good 
will  be  done  for  me.  I  doubt  not  but  Your  Lordship  hath  heard  by  such  infor- 
mation as  I  have  given  from  hence,  what  the  present  state  of  this  country  is, 
how  this  Queqn  is  now  become  a  married  wife,  and  her  husband,  the  self-same 
day  of  his  marriage,  made  a  King.  In  their  desires,  hitherto,  they  have  found 
so  much  to  their  contentment  that  if  the  rest  succeed  and  prosper  accordingly 
they  may  think  themselves  much  happier  than  there  is  appearance  that  they 
•hall  be,  so  many  discontented  minds,  so  m  u«h  rnisliking  of  the  subject*  t© 
Vjl.  111.— 47 


370  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

have  these  matters  thus  ordered,  and  in  this  sort  to  be  brought  to  pass,  I  never 
heard  of  any  marriage ;  so  little  hope,  so  little  comfort  as  men  do  talk  wat 
never  seen,  at  any  time,  when  men  should  most  have  showed  themselves  to 
rejoice,  if  that  consideration  of  her  own  honour  and  well  of  her  country  had 
been  had  as  appertained  in  so  weighty  a  case.  This  is  now  their  fear,  the  over- 
throw of  religion,  the  breach  of  amitie  with  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  the  de- 
struction of  as  many  of  the  nobility  as  she  hath  misliking  of,  or  that  he  liketh 
to  pitch  a  quarrel  unto.  To  see  all  these  inconveniencys  approaching,  there 
are  a  good  number  that  may  sooner  lament  with  themselves  and  complain  to 
their  neighbours  than  be  able  to  find  remedie  to  help  them  ;  some  attempt  with 
all  the  force  they  have,  but  ate  too  weak  to  do  any  good  ;  what  is  required 
otherways,  or  what  means  there  is  made.  Your  Lordship  knoweth  ;  what  will  be 
answered,  or  what  will  be  done  therein,  we  are  in  great  doubt ;  and  though  your  . 
intent  be  never  so  good  unto  us,  yet  do  we  so  much  fear  your  delay  that  our 
ruin  shall  prevent  your  support.  When  council  is  once  taken,  nothing  so  needful 
as  speedy  execution.  Upon  the  Queen's  Majesty  we  wholly  depend  ;  in  Her 
Majesty's  hands  it  standeth  to  save  our  lives,  or  to  suffer  us  to  perish  ;  greater 
honour  Her  Majesty  cannot  have,  than  in  that  which  lieth  in  Her  Majesty's 
power  to  do  for  us,  the  sums  are  not  great,  the  numbers  of  men  are  not  many 
that  we  desire  ;  many  will  dayly  be  found,  tho'  this  will  be  some  charge;  men 
grow  dayly,  though  at  this  time,  I  think  Her  Majesty  shall  lose  but  few  ;  her 
friends  here  being  once  taken  away,  where  will  Her  Majesty  find  the  like  ?  I 
speak  least  of  that  which  I  think  is  most  earnestly  intended  by  this  Queen  and 
her  husband,  when  by  him  it  was  lately  said  that  he  cared  more  for  the  Papists 
in  England  than  he  did  for  the  Protestants  in  Scotland :  if  therefore  his  hopes 
be  so  great  in  the  Papists  of  England,  what  may  Your  Lorships  believe  that  he 
thinketh  of  the  Protestants  there  ?  for  his  birth,  for  his  nurritour,  for  the  honour 
he  hath  to  be  of  kine  to  the  Queen  my  mistress,  if  in  preferring  those  that  are 
the  Queen's  Majesty's  worst  subjects  to  those  that  are  her  best,  he  declareth  what 
mind  he  beareth  to  the  Queen's  Majesty's  self;  any  man  may  say  it  is  slenderly 
rewarded,  and  his  duty  evil  forgotten  ;  he  would  now  seem  to  be  indifferent  tc 
both  the  religions,  she  to  use  her  mass,  and  he  to  come  sometimes  to  the  preach 
ing:  they  were  married  with  all  the  solemnities  of  the  Popish  time, saving  that  he 
heard  not  the  mass  :  his  speech  and  talk  argueth  his  mind,  and  yet  would  he 
fain  seem  to  the  world  that  he  were  of  some  religion  :  his  words  to  all  men, 
against  whom  he  conceived  any  displeasure  how  unjust  soever  it  be,  so  proud 
and  spiteful  that  rather  he  seemeth  a  monarch  of  the  world  than  he  that,  not 
long  since,  we  have  seen  and  known  the  Lord  Darnley  :  he  looketh  now  for 
reverence  of  many  that  have  little  will  to  give  it  him  ;  and  some  there  are  that 
do  give  it  that  think  him  little  worth  of  it.  All  honour  that  may  be  attributed 
unto  any  man  by  a  wife,  he  hath  it  wholly  and  fully;  all  praises  that  may  be 
epoken  of  him  he  lacketh  not  from  herself:  all  dignities  that  she  can  endue 
him  with,  which  are  already  given  and  granted  :  no  man  pleaseth  her  that 
contenteth  not  him  :  and  what  may  I  say  more,  she  hath  given  over  to  him  her 
whole  will,  to  be  ruled  and  guided  as  himself  best  liketh  ;  she  can  as  much  pre- 
vail with  him  in  any  thing  that  is  against  his  will  as  Your  Lordship  may  with 
me  to  persuade  that  I  should  hang  myself;  this  last  dignity  out  of  hand  to  have 
been  proclaimed  King,  she  would  have  it  deferred  untill  it  were  agreed  by  parlia 
ment,  or  he  had  been  himself  21  years  of  age,  that  things  done  in  his  name 
might  have  the  better  authority.  He  would,  in  no  case,  have  it  deferred  one 
day,  and  either  then  or  never  ;  whereupon  this  doubt  has  arisen  amongst  our 
men  of  law,  whether  she  being  clad  with  a  husband,  and  her  husband  not 
»wenty-one  years,  any  thing  without  parliament  can  be  of  strength  that  is  done 
between  them  ;  upon  Saturday  at  afternoon  these  matters  were  long  debating. 
And  before  they  were  well  resolved  upon,  at  nine  hours  at  night,  by  three  heralds, 
at  sound  of  the  trumpet  he  was  proclaimed  King.  This  was  the  night  before  the 
marriage;  this  day,  Monday  at  twelve  of  the  clock,  the  lords,  all  that  were  in 
the  toun,  were  present  at  the  proclaiming;  of  him  again,  where  no  man  said  so 
much  as  Amen,  saving  his  father,  that  cried  out  aloud  God  save  his  Queen  ' 
The  manner  of  the  marriage  was  in  this  sort :  upon  Sunday  in  the  morning 
between  five  and  six,  she  was  conveyed  by  divers  of  her  nobles  to  the  chapell ; 
she  had  upon  her  back  the  great  mourning  gown  of  black,  with  the  great  wide 


APPENDIX.   No.    XII.  371 

inourning  hood,  not  unlike  unto  tiiat  which  she  wore  thedoulfnlldayof  the  burial 
of  her  husband  ;  sho  was  led  into  the  chapell  by  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  Athol, 

md  there  was  she  left  untill  her  husband  came,  who  also  was  conveyed  by  the 
same  lords;  the  minister  priests,  tuo,  do  there  receive  them,  the  bands  are 
asked  the  third  time,  and  an  instrument  taken  by  a  notour  that  no  man  said 
against  them,  or  alledged  any  cause  why  the  marriage  might  not  proceed.  The 
words  were  spoken,  the  rings  which  were  three,  the  middle  a  rich  diamond, 
were  put  upon  her  finger ;  they  kneel  together,  and  many  prayers  said  over 
them,  she  tarrieth  out  the  mass,  and  he  taketh  a  kiss,  and  leaveth  her  there, 
and  went  to  her  chamber,  whither  within  a  space  she  followeth ;  and  being 
required,  according  to  the  solemnity,  to  cast  olf  her  cares  and  leave  aside  those 
sorrowful  garments,  and  give  herself  to  a  more  pleasant  life,  after  some  pretty 
refusal!,  more  I  believe  from  manner  sake  than  grief  of  heart,  she  suffered  them 
that  stood  by,  every  man  that  could  approach,  to  take  out  a  pin,  and  so  being 
committed  to  her  ladies,  changed  her  garments  but  went  not  to  bed,  to  signify  to 
the  world  that  it  was  not  lust  that  moved  them  to  marry,  but  only  the  necessity 
of  her  country,  not,  if  God  will,  long  to  leave  it  destitute  of  an  heir.  Suspicious 
men,  of  such  as  are  given  of  all  things  to  make  the  worst,  would  that  it  should 
be  believed  that  they  knew  each  other  before  that  they  came  there  ;  I  would 
not  Your  Lordship  should  so  believe  it,  the  likelihoods  are  so  great  to  the  con- 
trary that  if  it  were  possible  to  see  such  an  act  done  I  would  not  believe  it. 
Alter  the  marriage  followeth  commonly  great  cheer  and  dancing  :  to  their 
dinner  they  were  conveyed  by  the  whole  nobility;  the  trumpets  sound  ;  a  largess 
Dried  ;  money  thrown  about  the  house  in  great  abundance,  to  such  as  were 
nappy  to  get  any  part;  they  dine  both  at  one  table,  she  upon  the  upper  hand; 
there  serve  her  these  Earls,  Athole  sewer,  Morton  carver,  Craufoord  cup-bearer; 
these  serve  him  in  like  offices,  Earls  Eglington,  Cassels,  and  Glencairn  ;  after 
dinner  they  danced  awhile,  and  then  retired  themselves  till  the  hour  of  supper ; 
and  as  they  dined  so  do  they  sup,  some  dancing  there  was,  and  so  they  go  to 
bed  ;  of  all  this  1  have  written  to  Your  Lordship  1  am  not  oculatus  testis  to  this, 
'>ut  of  the  verity  Your  Lordship  shall  not  need  to  doubt,  howsoever  I  came  by 
it ;  1  was  sent  for  to  have  been  at  the  supper,  but  like  a  currish  or  uncourtly  carle 
1  refused  to  be  there;  and  yet  that  which  Your  Lordship  may  think  might 
move  me  much,  to  have  had  the  sight  of  my  mistress,  of  whom  these  eighteen 
days  by  just  account  1  got  not  a  sight.  1  am,  my  Lord,  taken  by  all  that  sort 
is  a  very  evil  person,  which  in  my  heart  I  do  well  allow,  and  like  of  myself  the 
better,  for  yet  can  1  not  find  either  honest  or  good  that  liketh  their  doings.  I 
leave  at  this  time  further  to  trouble  Your  Lordship,  craving  pardon  for  my 
long  silence.  I  have  more  ado  than  I  am  able  to  discharge,  I  walk  now  more 
abroad  by  night  than  by  day,  and  the  day  too  little  to  discharge  myself  of  that 
which  1  conceive  or  receive  in  the  night.  As  Your  Lordship,  I  am  sure,  is  par- 
taker of  such  letters  as  1  write  to  Mr.  Secretary,  so  that  I  trust  that  he  shall 

>e  to  this,  to  save  me  of  a  little  labour  to  write  the  same  again,  most  humbly  1 

ake  my  leave  at  Edinburgh,  the  last  day  of  July,  1565. 

No.  XII.  (p.  138.) 

Letter  of  the  Karl  of  Bedford  to  the  Honourable  Sir  William  Cecil,  Knt.,  Her 
Majesty^s  Principal  Secretary,  and  one  of  Her  Highnesses  Privy  Council. 

[2d  of  Sept.  15G5.     Paper  Office,  from  the  original.] 

After  my  hearty  commendations,  this  day  at  noon  Captain  Brickwell  came 
tiither,  who  brought  with  him  the  Queen's  Majesty's  letters,  containing  her  full 
resolution  and  pleasure  for  all  things  he  had  in  charge  to  give  information  of, 
saving  that  for  the  aid  of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  there  is  nothing  deter- 
mined, or  at  the  least  expressed  in  the  same  letters,  and  for  that  purpose 
received  I  this  morning  a  letter,  subscribed  by  the  Duke,  the  Earl  of  Murray, 
Glencarne,  and  others,  craving  to  be  holpen  with  300  harquebusyers  ort  of  this 
garrison  for  their  better  defence.  And  albeit,  I  know  right  well  the  goodness 
of  their  cause,  and  the  Queen's  Majesty  our  sovereign's  good  will,  and  care 
towards  them  ;  and  do  also  understand  that  it  were  very  requisite  to  have  then? 


37*  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

holpen,  for  that  now  their  cause  is  to  be  in  this  manner  decided,  ai  d  that  it 
now  standuth  upon  their  utter  overthrow  and  undoing,  since  the  Queen's  party 
is  at  the  least  5000,  and  they  not  much  above  1000  ;  besides  that  the  Queen  hath 
harquebusyers,  and  they  have  none,  and  do  yet  want  the  power  that  the  Earl 
of  Arguyle  should  bring  to  them,  who  is  not  yet  joined  with  theirs  ;  I  have 
thereupon  thought  good  to  pray  you  to  be  a  means  to  learn  Her  Majesty's 
pleasure  in  this  behalf,  what  and  how  1  shall  answer  them,  or  otherwise  deal  in 
this  matter,  now  at  this  their  extreme  necessity.  For,  on  the  one  side,  lyeth 
thereupon  their  utter  ruin  and  overthrow,  and  the  miserable  subversion  of  reli- 
gion there  ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  to  adventure  so  great  and  weighty  a  matter 
as  this  is  (albeit  it  be  but  of  a  few  soldiers  for  a  small  time),  without  good 
warraunte,  and  thereby  to  bring,  peradventure,  upon  our  heads  some  wilful 
warrs,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  leave  the  place  unfurnished  (having  in  the  whole 
but  800),  without  any  grant  of  new  supply  for  the  same ;  and,  by  that  means 
also,  to  leave  the  marches  here  the  more  subject  to  invasion,  while  in  the  mean 
season  new  helps  are  preparing;  to  this  know  not  I  what  to  say  or  how  to  do. 
And  so  much  more  I  marvel  thereof,  as  that  having  so  many  times  written 
touching  this  matter,  no  resolute  determination  cometh.  And  so  between  the 
writing  and  looking  for  answer,  the  occasion  cannot  pass  but  must  needs  pro- 
ceed and  have  success.  God  turn  it  to  his  glory ;  but  surely  all  men's  reason 
hath  great  cause  to  fear  it.  Such  a  push  it  is  now  come  unto,  as  this  little  supply 
would  do  much  good  to  advance  God's  honour,  to  continue  Her  Majesty's  great 
and  careful  memory  of  them,  and  to  preserve  a  great  many  noblemen  and  gen 
tlemen.  If  it  be  not  now  helpen  it  is  gone  for  ever.  Your  good  will  and  affec- 
tion that  way  1  do  nothing  mistrust,  and  herein  shall  take  such  good  advice  as 
by  any  means  I  can.  I  received  from  these  lords  two  papers  enclosed,  the  effect 
whereof  shall  appear  unto  you.  For  those  matters  that  Captain  Brickwell 
brought,  I  shall  answer  you  by  my  next,  and  herewith  send  you  two  letters 
from  Mr.  Randolph,  both  received  this  day.  By  him  you  shall  hear  thai  the 
Protestants  are  retired  from  Edenborough,  further  off.  So  I  hope  your  resolu- 
tion for  their  aid  shall  come  in  time,  if  it  come  with  speed,  for  that  they  will 
not  now  so  presently  need  them  ;  and  so  with  my  hearty  thanks  commit  you  to 
God.     From  Berwick,  this  2d  of  Sept.  1565. 

No.  XIII.  (p.  138.) 
The  Queen  to  the  Earl  of  Bedford. 
[12th  Sept.  1566.     '  aper  Office.] 

Upon  the  advertizements  lately  received  from  you,  with  such  other  things  ai 
came  also  from  the  Lord  Scrope  and  Thomas  Randolph,  and  upon  the  whole 
matter  well  considered,  we  have  thus  determined.  We  will,  with  all  the  speed 
that  we  can,  send  to  you  3000/.  to  be  thus  used.  If  you  shall  certainly  under- 
stand that  the  Earl  of  Murray  hath  such  want  of  money,  as  the  impresting  <n 
him  of  1000Z.  might  stand  him  in  stead  for  the  help  to  defend  himself,  you  shall 
presently  let  him  secretly  to  understand  that  you  will,  as  of  yourself,  let  him 
have  so  much,  and  so  we  will  that  you  let  him  have,  in  the  most  secret  sort  thai 
you  can,  when  the  said  sum  shall  come  to  you,  or  if  you  can,  by  any  good 
means,  advance  him  some  part  thereof  beforehand. 

The  other  2000/.  you  shall  cause  to  be  kept  whole,  unspent,  if  it  be  not  that 
you  shall  see  necessary  cause  to  imprest  some  part  thereof  to  the  now  numbers 
of  the  600  footmen  and  100  horsemen  ;  or  to  the  casting  out  of  wages  of  snch 
workmen  as  by  sickness  or  otherwise  ought  to  be  discharged.  And  where  we 
perceive,  by  your  sundry  letters,  the  earnest  request  of  the  said  Earl  of  Murray 
and  his  associates,  that  they  might  have,  at  the  least,  300  of  our  soldiers  to  aid 
them.  And  that  you  also  write,  that  though  we  would  not  command  you  to 
give  them  aid,  yet  if  we  would  but  wink  at  your  doing  herein,  and  seem  to 
blame  you  for  attempting  such  things,  as  you  with  the  help  of  others  should 
bring  about,  you  doubt  not  but  things  would  do  well ;  you  shall  understand  for 
a  truth  that  we  have  no  intention,  for  many  respects,  to  maintain  any  othet 
Prince's  BubjecUi  to  take  arms  against  their  sovereign  ;  neither  would  we  will- 


APPENDIX,   No.  XiV.  373 

mgly  do  any  thing  to  give  occasion  to  make  wars  betwixt  us  and  that  Prince, 
which  has  caused  us  to  forbear  hitherto  to  give  you  any  power  to  let  them  be 
aided  with  any  men.  But  now,  considering  we  take  it,  that  they  are  pursued, 
notwithstanding  their  humble  submission  and  oft'er  to  be  ordered  and  tried  by 
law  and  justice,  which  being  refused  to  them,  they  are  retired  to  Dumfrese,  a 
place  noar  our  west  marches,  as  it  seeineth  there  to  defend  themselves,  and 
adding  thereunto  the  good  intention,  that  presently  the  French  King  pre- 
tendeth,  by  sending  one  of  his  to  join  with  some  one  of  ours,  and  jointly  to 
treat  with  that  Queen,  and  to  induce  her  to  forbear  this  manner  of  violent  and 
rigorous  proceeding  against  her  subjects,  for  winch  purpose  the  French  ambas- 
sador here  with  us  has  lately  witten  to  that  Queen,  whereof  answer  is  daily 
looked  for ;  to  the  intent,  in  the  mean  time,  the  said  lords  should  not  be 
oppressed  and  ruined  for  lack  of  some  help  to  defend  them,  we  are  content  and 
do  authorize,  if  you  shall  see  it  necessary  lor  their  defence,  to  let  them  (as  of 
your  own  adventure,  and  without  notifying  that  you  have  any  direction  therein 
from  us)  to  have  the  number  of  300  soldiers,  to  be  taken,  either  in  whole  bands 
or  to  be  drawn  out  of  all  your  bands,  as  you  shall  see  cause  ;  and  to  cover  the 
matter  the  better,  you  shall  send  these  numbers  to  Carlisle,  as  to  be  laid  there 
in  garrison,  to  defend  that  march,  now  in  this  time  that  such  powers  are  on  the 
other  part  drawing  to  those  frontiers,  and  so  from  thence  as  you  shall  see  cause 
to  direct  of,  tho  same  numbers,  or  any  of  them,  may  most  covertly  repair  to  the 
said  lords,  when  you  shall  expressly  advertize,  that  you  send  them  that  aid  only 
for  their  defence,  and  not  therewith  to  make  war  against  the  Queen,  or  to  do 
any  thing  that  may  offend  her  person  ;  wherein  you  shall  so  precisely  deal  with 
them,  that  they  may  perceive  your  care  to  be  such,  as  if  it  should  otherwise 
appear,  your  danger  should  be  so  great  as  all  the  friends  you  have  could  not.  lie 
able  to  save  you,  towards  us.  And  so  we  assure  you  our  conscience  moveth  us 
to  charge  you  so  to  proceed  with  them  ;  for  otherwise  than  to  preserve  them 
from  ruin,  we  do  not  yield  to  give  them  aid  of  money  or  men  :  and  yet  we 
would  not  that  either  of  these  were  known  to  be  our  act,  but  rather  to  be 
ovored  with  your  own  desire  and  attempt. 

No.  XIV.  (p.  141.) 
Randolph  to  Cecil,  from  Edinburgh,  1th  Feb.  1565-6. 

[An  original.] 

My  humble  duty  considered  ;  what  to  write  of  the  present  state  of  the  coun- 
try I  am  so  uncertain,  by  reason  of  the  daily  alterations  of  men's  minds,  that  it 
maketh  me  much  slower  than  otherwise  I  would.  Within  these  few  days  there 
was  some  good  hope  that  this  Queen  would  have  shewed  some  favour  towards 
the  lords,  and  that  Robert  Melvin  should  have  returned  unto  them  with  com- 
fort upon  some  conditions.  Since  that  time  there  are  come  out  of  France, 
Clemau  by  land,  and  Thorneton  by  sea  ;  the  one  from  the  Cardinal,  the  other 
from  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow.  Since  whose  arrival,  neither  can  there  be  good 
word  gotten,  nor  appearance  of  any  good  intended  them,  except  that  they  be 
able  to  perswade  the  Queen's  Majesty,  our  sovereign,  to  make  her  heir  apparent 
to  the  croun  of  England.  I  write  of  this  nothing  less  than  1  know  that  she 
hath  spoken.  And  by  all  means  that  she  thinketh  the  best  doth  travaile  to  bring 
it  to  pass.  There  is  a  band  lately  devised,  in  which  the  late  Pope,  the  Emperor, 
the  King  of  Spain,  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  with  divers  Princes  of  Italy,  and  the 
Queen-mother,  suspected  to  be  of  the  same  confederacy,  to  maintain  Papistry 
throughout  Christiandom  ;  this  band  was  sent  out  of  France  by  Thorneton,  ami 
is  subscribed  by  this  Queen,  the  copy  thereof  remaining  with  her,  and  the  prin 
cipal  to  be  returned  veryshortlie,  as  I  hear,  by  Mr.  Stephen  Willson,a  fit  minister 
for  such  a  devilish  devise  ;  if  the  coppie  hereof  may  be  gotten,  that  shall  be 
sent  as  f  conveniently  may.  Monsieur  Rambollet  came  to  this  toun  upon  Mon- 
day, he  spoke  that  night  to  the  Queen  and  her  husband,  but  not  long  ;  the  next 
day  he  held  long  conferences  with  them  both,  but  nothing  came  to  the  know- 
ledge of  any  whereof  they  intreated.  I  cannot  speak  with  any  that  hath  any 
hope  that  there  will  bo  any  good  done  for  the  lords  by  him,  though  it  is  said  that 


374  H1ST0RV  OF   SCOTLAND. 

he  hath  very  good  will  to  do  so  to  the  uttermost  of  his  power.  He  is  lodged 
near  to  the  court,  and  liveth  upon  the  Queen's  charges.  Upon  Sunday  the 
order  is  given,  whereat  means  made  to  many  to  be  present  that  day  at  the  mass. 
Upon  Candlemas-day  there  carried  their  candles,  with  the  Queen,  her  husband, 
the  Earle  of  Lennox,  and  Earle  Athol  ;  divers  other  lords  have  been  called 
together  and  required  to  be  at  the  mass  that  day,  some  have  promised,  as  Cas- 
sels,  Montgomerie,  Seton,  Cathness.  Others  have  refused,  as  Fleming,  Leving- 
ston,  Lindsay,  Huntly,  and  Bothel  ;  and  of  them  all  Bothel  is  the  stoutest,  but 
worst  thought  of;  it  was  moved  in  council  that  mass  should  have  been  in  Saint 
Giles'  church,  which  1  believe  was  rather  to  tempt  men's  minds  than  intended 
indeed  :  She  was  of  late  minded  again  to  send  Robert  Melvin  to  negociate  with 
such  as  she  trusteth  in  amongst  the  Queen's  Majesty's  subjects,  of  whose  good 
willis  this  way  I  trust  that  the  bruit  is  greater  than  the  truth,  but  in  these  mat- 
ters Her  Majesty  is  too  wise  not  in  time  to  be  ware,  and  provide  for  the  worst ; 
some  in  that  country  are  thought  to  be  privie  unto  the  bands  and  confederacie  of 
which  I  have  written,  whereof  I  am  sure  there  is  some  things,  tho'  perchance  of 
all  I  have  not  heard  the  truth  ;  in  this  court  divers  quarles,  contentions,  and 
debates,  nothing  so  much  sought  as  to  maintain  mischief  and  disorder.  David 
yet  retaineth  still  his  place,  not  without  heart-grief  to  many  that  see  their 
sovereign  guided  chiefly  by  such  a  fellow:  the  Queen  hath  utterly  refused  to  do 
any  good  to  My  Lord  of  Argyll,  and  it  is  said  that  shall  be  the  first  voyage  thai 
she  will  make  after  she  is  delivered  of  being  with  child  ;  the  bruit  is  common 
that  she  is,  but  hardly  believed  of  many,  and  of  this  I  can  assure  you,  that  there 
have  of  late  appeared  some  tokens  to  the  contrary. 

No.  XV.  (p.  145.) 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  the  Earl  of  Bedford  and  Mr.  Thomas  Randolph  to  the  Lords 
of  the  Council  of  England  from  Berwick,  21th  of  March,  1566.  An  Original  in 
the  Cotton  Library,  Caligula,  b.  10.  fol.  372. 

May  it  please  your  honours, 

Herinq  of  so  maynie  matters  as  we  do,  and  fyndinge  such  varietie  in  the 
reports,  we  have  myohe  ado  to  decerne  the  veritie  ;  which  rnaketh  us  the  slower 
and  loother  to  put  any  thing  in  wrytinge  to  the  entente  we  wold  not  that  Your 
Honours,  and  by  you  the  Queen's  Majcstie,  our  soverei^ne,  should  not  be 
advertised  but  of  the  verie  trothe  as  we  can  possible.  To  this  end  we  thought 
good  to  send  up  Captain  Carewe,  who  was  in  Edinbourge  at  the  tyme  of  the 
last  attemptate,  who  spoke  there  with  diverse,  and  after  that  with  the  Queen's 
self  and  her  husband,  conforme  to  that  which  we  have  learned  by  others  and 
know  by  this  reporte,  we  send  the  same,  confirmed  by  the  parties  self,  that  were 
there  present  and  assysters  unto  these  that  were  executors  of  the  acte. 

This  we  fynde  for  certain,  that  the  Queen's  husband  being  entered  into  a 
vehement  suspicion  of  David,  that  by  hym  some  thynge  was  committed,  which 
was  most  agaynste  the  Queen's  honour,  and  not  to  be  borne  of  his  perte,  fyrste 
communicated  his  mynde  to  George  Duglas,  who,  fynding  his  sorrowes  so  great, 
sought  all  the  means  he  coulde  to  put  some  remedie  to  his  grieff ;  and  commu- 
nicating the  same  unto  My  Lord  Ruthen  by  the  King's  commandment,  no  other 
waye  coulde  be  found  then  that  David  should  be  taken  out  of  the  waye. 
Wherein  he  was  so  earnest  and  daylye  pressed  the  same,  that  no  reste  could  be 
had  untyll  it  was  put  in  execution.  To  this  that  was  found  good,  that  the 
Lord  Morton  and  Lord  Lindsaye  should  be  made  privie  to  th'  intente  that  theie 
might  have  their  friends  at  hande,  yf  neade  required  ;  which  caused  them  to 
assemble  so  mayny,  as  theie  thought  sufficient  against  the  tyme,  that  this  deter- 
mination of  theirs  should  be  put  in  executione  ;  which  was  determined  the  ixth 
of  this  instante,  3  daies  afore  the  parliament  should  begyne,  at  which  time  the 
sayde  lordes  were  assured  that  the  Erles  Ar<ryle,  Morraye,  Rothes  and  their 
eomplyces  sholde  have  been  forfeited,  yf  the  King  could  not  be  persuaded 
through  this  means  to  be  their  friends  ;  who  fo:  the  desyre  he  hade  that  this 
intent  should  take  effect,  th'  one  waye  was  contente  to  yielde,  without  all  diffi- 
cultie,  to  t'other,  with  this  condition,  that  theie  should  give  their  consents,  that 
he  might  have  the  .  rowne  matrimonial.     He  was  so  impatient  to  see  these 


APPENDIX,    No.    XV  175 

tilings  he  saw,  and  were  daylye  brought  to  his  eares,  that  he  dayly  pressed  the 
said  Lord  Ruthen,  that  there  might  be  no  longer  delaye  ;  and  to  the  intent  thai 
myght  be  manifeste  unto  the  world  that  he  approved  the  acte,  was  content  to  b& 
at  the  doing  of  that  himself. 

Upon  Saturdaye  at  night  neire  unto  viii  of  the  clock  the  King  conveyeth  him- 
self, the  Lord  Ruthen,  George  Duglass,and  two  others, throwe  his  ownechamber 
by  the  privy  stayers  up  to  the  Queen's  chamber,  going  to  which  there  is  a  cabi- 
net about  xn  foot  square  ;  in  the  same  a  little  low  reposing  bed  and  a  table,  at 
the  which  thcyr  were  sitting  at  the  supper,  the  Queene,  the  Lady  Argile,  and 
David  with  his  capp  upon  his  head.  Into  the  cabinet  there  cometh  in  the  King 
and  Lord  Ruthen,  who  willed  David  to  come  forth,  saying,  that  was  no  place 
for  him.  The  Queen  said,  that  it  was  her  will.  Her  howsband  answerede, 
that  yl  was  against  her  honour.  The  Lord  Ruthen  said,  that  he  should  lerne 
better  his  dutie,  and  offering  to  have  taken  him  by  the  arm,  David  took  the 
Queen  by  the  blychtes  of  her  gown  and  put  himself  behind  the  Queen  who 
wolde  gladlee  have  saved  him  :  But  the  King  having  loosed  his  hand,  and 
holding  her  in  his  arms.  David  was  thrust  out  of  the  cabinet  throw  the  bed 
chamber  into  Lhe  chamber  ol'  presens,  whar  were  the  Lord  Morton,  Lord  Lind- 
sey,  who  intending  that  night  to  have  reserved  him,  and  the  next  day  to  hang 
him,  so  many  being  about  him  that  bore  him  evil  will ;  one  thrust  him  into  the 
boddie  with  a  dagger,  and  after  him  a  great  many  others,  so  that  he  had  in  his 
bodie  above  wonds.  It  is  told  for  certayne,  that  the  Kinges  own  dagger  was 
left  sticking  in  him.  Wheather  he  stuck  him  or  not  we  cannot  here  for  cer- 
tayn.  He  was  not  slayne  in  the  Queen's  presens,  as  was  said,  but  going  down 
the  stayres  out  of  the  chamber  of  presens. 

There  remained  a  long  tyme  with  the  Queen  her  howsband  and  the  Lord 
Ruthen.  She  made,  as  we  here,  great  intercession  that  he  shold  have  no  harm. 
She  blamed  greatlee  her  howsband  that  was  the  actor  of  so  foul  a  deed.  It  is 
said  that  he  did  answer,  that  David  had  more  companie  of  her  boddie  than  he 
for  the  space  of  two  months  ;  and,  therefore,  for  her  honour  and  his  own  con 
tentment  he  gave  his  consent  that  he  should  be  taken  away.  "  It  is  not1'  (saythe 
she)  "  the  woman's  part  to  seek  the  husband,  and  therefore  in  that  the  fault 
was  his  own."  He  said  that  when  he  came,  she  either  wold  not,  or  made  herselt 
sick.  "  Well,"  saythe  she,  "  you  have  taken  your  last  of  me  and  your  fare 
well."  Then  were  pity,  sayth  the  Lord  Ruthen,  he  is  Your  Majesty's  husband, 
and  must  yield  dutie  to  each  other.  "  Why  may  I  not,"  saythe  she,  "  leave 
him  as  well  as  your  wife  did  her  husband  ?"  Other  have  done  the  like.  The 
Lord  Ruthen  said,  that  she  was  lawfully  divorced  from  her  husband,  and  for  no 
such  cause  as  the  King  found  himself  greve.  Besydes,  this  man  was  mean, 
basse,  enemie  to  the  nobility,  shame  to  her,  and  destruction  to  herself  and  coun- 
try. "  Well,"  saith  she,  "  that  shall  be  dear  blude  to  some  of  you,  yf  his  be 
spylt."  God  forbid,  sayth  the  Lord  Ruthen  ;  for  the  more  Your  Grace  showe 
yourself  offended,  the  world  will  judge  the  worse. 

Her  husband  this  tyme  speaketh  litle,  herself  continually  weepeth.  The  Lord 
Ruthen  being  ill  at  ease  and  weak,  calleth  for  a  drink,  and  saythe,  "  This  I 
must  do  with  Your  Majesties  pardon,"  and  persuadeth  her  in  the  best  sort 
he  could,  that  she  would  pacify  herself.  Nothing  that  could  be  said  could 
please  her. 

In  this  mean  time  there  rose  a  nombre  in  the  court ;  to  pacify  which  there 
went  down  the  Lord  Ruthen,  who  went  strayt  to  the  Erles  Huntly,  Bothwell, 
and  Atholl,  to  quiet  them,  and  to  assure  them  for  the  King  that  nothing  was 
intend  against  them.  These  notwithstanding  taking  fear  when  theie  heard  that 
My  Lord  of  Murray  would  be  there  the  next  day,  and  Argile  meet  them,  Huntly 
and  Bothwell  both  get  out  of  a  window  and  so  depart.  Atholl  had  leave  of  the 
King,  with  Flysh  and  Glandores  (who  was  lately  called  Deysley  the  person  of 
Owne)  to  go  where  they  wold,  and  bring  Concorde  out  of  the  court  by  the  Lord 
of  Lidington.  Theie  went  that  night  to  such  places  where  they  thought  them- 
selves in  most  sauftie. 

Before  the  King  leaft  talk  with  the  Queen,  in  the  hering  of  the  Lord  Ruthen, 
she  was  contents  that  he  shold  lie  with  her  that  night.  We  know  not  how  he 
*  *  himself,  but  came  not  at  her,  and  excused  hymself  to  his  friends,  that  he 
was  so  sleepie  that  he  could  not  wake  in  due  season. 


376  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

There  w  ere  in  this  companie  two  that  came  in  with  the  King ;  the  one 
Andrewe  Car  of  Fawdenside,  whom  the  Queen  sayth  would  have  stroken  her 
■vith  a  daggei ,  and  one  Patrick  Balentine,  brother  to  the  justice  clerk,  who  also, 
Her  Grace  sayth,  offered  a  dag  against  her  belly  with  the  cock  dowp.  We 
have  been  earnestly  in  hand  with  the  Lord  Ruthen  to  know  the  varitie  ;  but  he 
assoureth  us  of  the  contrarie.  There  were  in  the  Queen's  chamber  the  Lord 
Robert,  Arthur  Arskin,  one  or  two  others.  They  at  the  first  offering  to  make  a 
defence,  the  Lord  Ruthen  drawd  his  dagger,  and  4  mo  weapons  then,  that  were 
not  drawn  nor  seen  in  her  presens,  as  we  are  by  this  Lord  assured. 

[The  letter  afterwards  gives  an  account  of  the  flight  to  Dunbar  Castle, 
whither  resorted  unto  the  Lords  Huntly  and  Bothwell.  That  the  Earl  of  Mor- 
ton and  Lord  Ruthen  find  themselves  left  by  the  King  for  all  his  fair  promises, 
bonds,  and  subscriptions.  That  he  had  protested  before  the  council  that  he 
was  never  consenting  to  the  death  of  David,  and  that  it  is  sore  against  his  will  : 
"  That  of  the  great  substance  David  had  there  is  much  spoken,  some  say  in 
gold  to  the  value  of  ll"'j£.  His  apparel  was  very  good,  as  it  is  said,  28  pair  of 
velvet  hose.  His  chamber  well  furnished,  armour,  dagger,  pystoletts,  harque- 
Duses,  22  swords.  Of  all  this  nothing  spoyld  or  lacked  saving  2  or  3  dagger. 
He  had  the  custody  of  all  the  Queen's  letters,  which  all  were  delivered  unlooked 
upon.  We  hear  of  a  juill  that  he  had  hanging  about  his  neck  of  some  price 
that  cannot  be  heard  of.  He  had  upon  his  back  when  he  was  slayn,  a  eight 
gown  of  damask  furred,  with  a  satten  dublet,  a  hose  of  russet  velveu"l 

No.  XVI.  (p.  148.) 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Randolph  to  Cecil,  Jan.  16,  1565-6. 

— — —  I  cannot  tell  what  misliking  of  late  there  hath  been  between  Her 
Grace  and  her  husband,  he  presseth  earnestly  for  the  matrimonial  crown, 
which  she  is  loth  hastily  to  grant,  but  willing  to  keep  somewhat  in  store,  until 
she  know  how  well  he  is  worth  to  enjoy  such  a  sovereignty ;  and  thereforo  it  is 
thought  that  the  Parliament  for  a  time  shall  be  deferred,  but  hereof  I  can  write 
no  certainty. 

From  Mr.  Randolph's  Letter  to  Secretary  Cecil. 

[4  April,  1566.    Paper  Office,  from  the  original.] 

The  justice-clerk  in  hard  terms,  more  for  his  brother's  cause  than  any  desert, 
and  as  far  as  I  can  hear  the  King  of  all  other  in  worst,  for  neither  hath  the 
Queen  good  opinion  of  him  for  attempting  of  any  thing  that  was  against  her 
will,  nor  the  people  that  he  hath  denied  so  manifest  a  matter,  being  proved  to 
be  done  by  his  commandment,  and  now  himself  to  be  the  accuser  and  pursuer  of 
them  that  did  as  he  willed  them.  This  Scott,  that  was  executed,  and  Murray 
that  was  yesterday  arreigned,  were  both  accused  by  him.  It  is  written  to  me, 
for  certain,  by  one  that  upon  Monday  last  spok  with  the  Queen,  that  she  is 
determined  that  the  house  of  Lennox  shall  be  as  poor  in  Scotland  as  ever  it 
was.  The  Earl  continueth  sick,  sore  troubled  in  mind  :  he  staith  in  the  abby, 
his  son  has  been  once  with  him,  and  he  once  with  the  Queen,  since  she  came 
to  the  castle.  The  Queen  hath  now  seen  all  the  covenants  and  bands  that 
passed  between  the  King  and  the  lords,  and  now  findeth  that  his  declaration, 
before  her  and  council,  of  his  innocency  of  the  death  of  David,  was  false  ;  and 
grievously  offended  that,  by  their  means,  he  should  seek  to  come  to  the  orown 
matrimonial. 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Randolph  to  Cecil,  from  Berwick,  25th  April,  1566 

There  ii  continually  very  much  speech  of  the  discord  between  th# 
Queen  and  her  husband,  so  far  that,  that  is  commonly  said  and  believed  of  him 
self,  that  Mr.  James  Thornton  is  gone  to  Rome  to  sue  for  a  divorce  betwoen 
them.    It  is  yery  certain  that  Malevasier  had  not  spoken  with  him  within  these 
dire*  days.     He  is  neither  accompany 'd  nor  looked  upon  of  any  nobleman.' 


APPENDIX,    No.    XVII  377 

attend* J  upon  by  certain  of  his  own  servants,  and  six  or  seven  of"  the  guard  , 
ai  liberty  to  do,  and  go  where  and  What  he  will,  they  have  no  hope  yet  among 
themselves  of  quietness. 

David's  brother,  named  Joseph,  who  came  this  way  with  Malevasier, 

unknown  to  any  man  here,  is  become  secretary  in  his  brother's  place. 

No.  XVII.  (p.  150.) 

The  Earl  of  Bedford  to  Cecil,  3d  August,  1566. 

The  Queen  and  her  husband  agree  after  the  old  manner,  or  rather  worse. 
She  eateth  but  very  seldom  with  him,  lieth  not  nor  keepeth  company  with  him, 
nor  loveth  any  such  as  love  him.  lie  is  so  far  out  of  her  books,  as  at  her  going 
out  of  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  to  remove  abroad,  he  knew  nothing  thereof 
It  cannot  for  modesty,  nor  with  the  honour  of  a  Queen,  be  reported  what  she 
■>aid  of  him.  One  Hickman,  an  English  merchant  thore,  having  a  water  spaniel, 
which  was  very  good,  gave  him  to  Mr.  James  Melvil,  who  afterwards,  for  the 
pleasure  which  he  saw  the  King  have  in  such  kind  of  dogs,  gave  him  to  the 
King.  The  Queen  thereupon  fell  marvellously  out  with  Melvil,  and  called  him 
dissembler  and  flatterer,  and  said  she  could  not  trust  one,  who  would  give  any 
thing  to  such  a  one  as  she  loved  not. 

The  Earl  of  Bedford  to  Cecil,  August  8. 

The  disagreement  between  the  Queen  and  her  husband  continueth,  or  rather 
increaseth.  Robert  Melvill  drawing  homewards,  within  twelve  miles  of  Edin- 
burgh, could  not  tell  where  to  find  the  Queen  ;  sith  which  time  she  is  come  to 
Edinburgh,  and  had  not  twelve  horses  attending  on  her.  There  was  not  then, 
nor  that  I  can  hear  of  since,  any  lord,  baron,  or  other  nobleman  in  her  company. 
The  King  her  husband  is  gone  to  Dumfermling,  and  passeth  his  time  as  well 
as  he  may  ;  having  at  his  farewell  such  countenance  as  would  make  a  husband 
heavy  at  the  heart. 

Sir  John  Forster  to  Cecil,  8  Sept.  from  Berwick. 

The  Queen  hath  her  husband  in  small  estimation,  and  the  Earl  of  Lermoj 
came  not  in  the  Queen's  sight  since  the  death  of  Davy. 

Sir  John  Forster  to  Cecil.  Wth  December. 

The  Earl  of  Bothwell  is  appointed  to  receive  the  ambassadors,  and  all  things 
for  the  christening  are  at  His  Lordship's  appointment,  and  the  same  is  scarcely 
well  liked  of  the  nobility,  as  is  said.  The  King  and  Queen  is  presently  at 
Craigmillar,  but  in  little  greater  familiarity  than  he  was  all  the  while  past. 

Advertisements  out  of  Scotland  from  the  Earl  of  Bedford. 
[August  1566.     Paper  Office.    From  the  original] 

That  the  King  and  Queen  agreed  well  together  two  days  after  her  coming 

from ,  and  after  My  Lord  of  Murray's  coming  to  Edinburgh,  some  new 

discord  has  happened.  The  Queen  hath  declared  to  My  Lord  of  Murray  that 
the  King  bears  him  evil  will,  and  has  said  to  her  that  he  is  determined  to  kill 
him,  finding  fault  that  she  doth  bear  him  so  much  company  ;  and  in  like  manner 
hath  willed  My  Lord  of  Murray  to  spiere  it  at  the  King,  which  he  did  a  few 
nights  since  in  the  Queen's  presence,  and  in  the  hearing  of  divers.  The  King 
confessed,  that  reports  were  made  to  him,  that  My  Lord  of  Murray  was  not 
his  friend,  which  made  him  speak  that  thing  he  repented  ;  and  the  Queen 
affirmed,  that  the  King  had  spoken  such  words  unto  her,  and  confessed  before 
the  whole  house,  that  she  could  not  be  content  that  either  he  or  any  other 
should  be  unfriend  to  My  Lord  of  Murray.  My  Lord  of  Murray  enquired  the 
■ame  stoutly,  and  used  his  speech  very  modestly,  in  the  mean  time  the  King 

Vol.  III.— 48 


378  HISTORY    OF  SCOTLAND 

departed  very  grieved  ;  he  cannot  bear  that  the  Queen  should  use  familiarity 
either  with  man  or  woman,  and  especially  the  ladies  of  Arguile,  Murray,  and 
Marre,  who  keep  most  company  with  her.  My  Lord  of  Murray  and  Bothwell 
have  been  at  evil  words  for  the  L.  of  Ledington,  before  the  Queen,  for  he  and 
Sir  James  Balfour  had  new  come  from  Ledington,  with  his  answer  upon  such 
heads  or  articles  as  Bothwell  and  he  should  agree  upon,  which  being  reported 
to  the  said  Earl  in  the  Queen's  presence,  made  answer,  that  ere  he  parted  with 
such  lands  as  was  desired,  he  should  part  with  his  life.  My  Lord  of  Murray 
said  stoutly  to  him,  that  twenty  as  honest  men  as  he  should  lose  their  lives  ere 
he  reai'te  Ledington.  The  Queen  spake  nothing,  but  heard  both  ;  in  these 
terms  they  parted,  and  since,  that  1  hear  of,  have  not  met.  The  Queen  after 
her  hunting  came  to  Edinburgh,  and  carrieth  the  Prince  thence  to  Stirling  with 
her.  This  last  Saturday  was  executed  a  servant  of  the  Lord  Ruthven's,  who 
confessed  that  he  was  in  the  cabinet,  but  not  of  council  of  the  fact.  The  Queen 
hath  also  opened  to  My  Lord  of  Murray,  that  money  was  sent  from  the  Pope, 
how  much  it  was,  and  by  whom,  and  for  what  purpose  it  was  brought. 

No.  XVIII.  (p.  156.) 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Elizabeth  to  Mary,  Feb.  20,  1569.  A  copy  interlined  by 
Cecil.  It  contains  an  answer  to  a  complaining  letter  of  Mary's  upon  the  im- 
prisoning of  the  Bishop  of  Ross. 

After  this  [i.  e.  Mary's  landing  in  Scotland]  how  patiently  did  I  bear 

with  many  vain  delays  in  not  ratifying  the  treaty  accorded  by  your  own  com- 
missioners, whereby  I  received  no  small  unkindness,  besides  the  manifold  causes 
of  suspicion  that  I  might  not  hereafter  trust  to  any  writings.  Then  followed 
a  hard  manner  of  dealing  with  me,  to  intice  my  subject  and  near  kinsman,  the 
Lord  Darnly,  under  colour  of  private  suits  for  land,  to  come  into  the  realm,  to 
proceed  in  treaty  of  marriage  with  him  without  my  knowledge,  yea  to  conclude 
the  same  without  my  assent  or  liking.  And  how  many  unkind  parts  accom- 
pany'd  that  fact,  by  receiving  of  my  subjects  that  were  base  runnagates  and 
offenders  at  home,  and  enhansing  them  to  places  of  credit  against  my  will,  with 
many  such  like,  I  will  leave,  for  that  the  remembrance  of  the  same  cannot  but 
be  noysome  to  you.  And  yet  all  these  did  1  as  it  were  suppress  and  overcome 
with  my  natural  inclination  of  love  to  wards  you  :  and  did  afterwards  gladly,  as 
you  know,  christen  your  son,  the  child  of  my  said  kinsman,  that  had  before  so 
unloyally  offended  me,  both  in  marriage  of  you,  and  in  other  undutiful  usages 
towards  me  his  sovereign.  How  friendly  also  dealt  I  by  messages  to  reconcile 
him,  being  your  husband,  to  you,  when  others  nourished  discord  betwixt  you, 
who  as  it  seemed  had  more  power  to  work  their  purposes,  being  evil  to  you  both, 
than  I  had  to  do  you  good,  in  respect  of  the  evil  I  had  received.  Well  I  will 
overpass  your  hard  accidents  that  followed  for  lack  of  following  my  council. 
And  then  in  your  most  extremity,  when  you  was  a  prisoner  indeed,  and  in 
danger  of  your  life  from  your  notorious  evil  willers,  how  far  from  my  mind 
was  the  remembrance  of  any  former  unkindness  you  had  shewed  me.  Nay, 
•ovv  void  was  I  of  respect  to  the  designs  which  the  world  had  seen  attempted 
by  you  to  my  crown,  and  the  security  that,  might  have  ensued  to  my  state  by 
your  death,  when  I  finding  your  calamity  to  be  great,  that  you  were  at  the 
pit's  brink  to  have  miserably  lost  your  life,  did  not  only  intreat  for  your  life. 
but  so  threatened  some  as  were  irritated  against  you,  that  I  only  may  say  it 
trven  I  was  the  principal  cause  to  save  your  life. 

No.  XIX.  (p.  163.) 

Letter  of  Q.  Elizabeth  to  Q.  of  Scots.  Thus  Marked  on  the  back  with  Ceetc" 
hand. — Copia  Literarum  Regias  Majestatis  ad  Reginarn  Scotorum  VIIIC 
Aprilis. 

[Paper  Office. 1 

Madame,  vous  ayant  trop  moleste  ;>nr  M.  de  Crocq,  je  n'eusse  eu  si  peu  de 
consideration  de  vous  fascher  de  cette  'ettre,  si  les  liens  de  charite  vers  les  ruinevc. 


A  P  PEN  u  IX,   No.   XX.  37* 

el  leu  prieres  des  inise>ables  ne  m'y  eontraignassent.  Je  entens  que  un  ddit  a 
eUS  divulgue'  de  par  vous,  madame,  que  ung  chascun,  que  veult  justifier  que  ons 
este^  les  meurtriers  de  votre  feu  rnari,  et  mon  feu  cousin,  viennent  a  le  faire  le 
xiime  de  ce  mois.  La  quelle  chose,  comme  c'est  plus  honorable  et  necessaire, 
qui  en  tel  cas  se  pourra  faire,  ne  y  estant  cach6  quelque  mistere  ou  finesse,  ainei 
le  pere  et  amis  du  mort  gentelhoinine  m'ont  humblement  requis,  que  je  vous 
priasse  de  prolongue  le  jour,  pource  qu'ilz  cognoissent  que  les  iniques  se  sont 
combines  par  force  de  faire  ce  que  par  droict  ils  ne  pourront  pas  faire  ;  partant. 
je  ne  puis  niais  sinon  pour  l'amour  de  vous  meme,  a  qui  il  touche  le  plus,  et 
pour  la  consolation  des  innocens,  de  vous  exhorter  le  leur  conc^der  cette  re- 
queste,  laquelle,  si  elle  les  seroit  nie\  vous  tourneroit  grandement  en  soup^on, 
o>  plus  que  j'espere  ne  pensez,  et  que  ne  voudriez  volontiers  ouyr.  Pour 
['amour  de  Dieu,  inadame,  usez  de  telle  sinc6rit6  et  prudence  en  ce  cas  qui  vous 
touche  de  si  pres,  que  tout  le  monde  aye  raison,  de  vous  livrer  comme  innocente 
d'urtjf  crime  si  6norme,  chose  que  si  ne  fistes,  seriez  dignement  esbolye  hors  de 
rancr.  ue  Princesses,  et  non  sans  cause  faite  opprobre  de  vulgaire,  et  plutot  que 
cela  vous  avienne,  je  v  ms  souhaiterois  une  sepulture  honorable,  qu'une  vie 
maculee  ;  vous  voiez,  madame,  que  je  vous  traite  cvmme  ma  fille,  et  vous 
promets,  que  si  j'en  eusse,  ne  luy  souhaiterois  mieulx,  que  je  vous  desire,  comme 
le  Seigneur  Dieu  me  porte  tesmoignage,  a  que  je  prie  de  bon  cceur  de  vous 
inspirer  a  faire  ce  qui  vous  sera  plus  a  honneur,  et  a  vos  amis  plus  de  consola- 
tion, avec  mes  tres  cordialles  recommendations  comme  a  icelle  a  qui  se  souhaite 
le  plus  de  bien,  qui  vous  pourra  en  ce  monde  avenir.  Do  West,  ce  8  jour  de 
Janvier*  en  haste. 

No.  XX.  (p.  168.) 

Account  of  the  Sentence  of  Divorce  betiveen  the  Earl  of  Bothwell  and  Lady  Jean 
Gordon,  his  Wife.  From  a  Manuscript  belonging  to  Mr.  David  Falconer, 
Advocate.     Fol.  455. 

Upoun  the  29  of  Apryle,  1567,  before  the  Richt  Hon.  Mr.  Robert  Maitland, 
Dean  of  Aberdene,  Mr.  Edward  Henryson,  doctor  in  the  laws,  two  of  the  sena- 
tors of  the  college  of  justice,  Mr.  Clement  Little,  and  Mr.  Alexander  Syme, 
advocatiis,  commissers  of  Edinr.;  compeered  Mr.  Henry  Kinrosse,  procurator 
for  Jean  Gourdoune,  Countess  of  Bothwell.  constitute  be  her  for  pursewing  of 
ane  proces  of  divorcement  intendit  by  her  contra  James  Erie  Bothwel,  her  hus- 
band, for  adultry  committed  be  him  with  Bessie  Crawfurde,  the  pursuer's  ser- 
vant for  the  time  ;  and  sicklyke,  for  the  said  Erie,  compoared  Mr.  Edmond  Hay, 
who,  efter  he  had  pursued  and  craved  the  pursuer's  procurator's  oath  de  calum- 
nia,  if  he  had  just  cau^  to  pursew  the  said  action,  and  obtained  it,  denyed  the 
libell,  and  the  said  Mr.  Harrie  took  the  morne,  the  last  day  of  Apryle,  to  prove 
the  same  pro  prima.  The  quhilk  day,  having  produced  some  witnesses,  he  took 
the  next  day,  being  the  1  of  May,  to  do  farther  diligence,  upon  the  quhilk  1  of 
May,  he  produced  some  moe  witnesses,  and  renounced  farther  probatioune. 
After  quhilk,  he  desired  a  term  to  be  assigned  to  pronounce  sentence.  To  whom 
the  said  commissars  assigned  Satterday  next,  the  3  of  May,  to  pronounce  sen- 
tence therein,  secundum  alegata  et  probata,  quhilk  accordingly  was  given  that 
day  in  favour  of  the  purse  war. 

At  the  same  time  there  was  another  proces  intendit  be  the  Erl  of  Bothwell 
contr  his  lady,  for  to  have  their  marriage  declared  nul,  as  being  contracted 
against  the  canons,  without  a  dispensation,  and  he  and  his  lady  being  within 
degrees  defendand,  viz.  ferdis  a  kin,  and  that  wyse  for  expeding  of  this  proces, 
there  was  a  commissioune  grantit  to  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Androis  to  cognosce 
and  determine  it,  and  Rot.  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  William,  Bishop  of  Dunblane, 
Mr.  Andro  Craufurd,  chanon  in  Glasgow  and  parson  of  Egelshame,  Mr.  Alex- 
ander Criechtoun,  and  Mr.  George  Cooke,  Chancellor  of  Dunkeld,  and  to  Mr. 
Johne  Manderstoune,  chanon  in  Dunbar  and  prebendar  of  Beltoune,  or  any  ane 
of  them.  This  commissione  is  datit  27th  Aprile,  1567,  was  presented  to  two  of 
the  eaids  commissioners,  viz.  Mr.  Andr.  Crawfurd  and  Mr.  John  Manderstouna 

*  A  mistake  in  the  date  corrected  with  Cecil's  hand  VIH°  Aprili*. 


330  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

on  Satterday,  3  May,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Hepburne,  parson  of  Auldhamstocks,  pro 
rurator  for  the  Erie  of  Bothwell,  who  accepted  the  delegatioune,  and  gave  ou«. 
their  citation  by  precept,  directed  Decano  Christianitatis  de  Hadingtoune,  nee 
non  vicario  seu  curato  eccle.  parochiffl  de  Creichtoune,  seu  cuicunq ;  alteri 
capellano  debiti  requisitis,  fer  summoning,  at  the  said  Erie's  instance,  both  of 
the  lady  personally  if  she  could  be  had,  or  otherways  at  the  parosche  kerk  of 
Creichtoune  the  time  of  service,  or  at  her  dwelling  place  before  witnesses, 
primo,  secundo,  tertio  et  peremptorie,  unico  tainen  contextu  protuplice  edicto. 
And  likeways  to  be  witnesses  in  the  said  matter,  Alex.  Bishop  of  Galloway, 
who  did  marry  the  said  Erie  and  his  lady  in  Halerud-hous  kirk,  in  Feb.  1565, 
Sir  John  Bannatyne  of  Auchnole,  justice  clerk,  Mr.  Robert  Creichtoun  of  Elliok, 
the  Queen's  advocate,  Mr.  David  Chalmers,  provost  of  Creichtoun  and  chan- 
cellor of  Ross,  Michael — Abbot  of  Melross,  and  to  compear  before  the  said 
judges  or  any  one  of  them  in  St.  GeiFs  kirk  in  Ed',  on  Monday,  the  5  of  May, 
be  tharnselves,  or  their  procurators.  Upon  the  said  5  day,  Mr.  John  Mander- 
stoun,  one  of  the  judge's  delegat  only  being  present,  compeared  the  same  pro- 
curators for  both  the  parties  that  were  in  the  former  proces,  Mr.  Edmund  Hay 
(  articulatlie  *)  and  some  of  the  witnesses  summoned  produced, 

and  received  for  proving  the  same.  The  said  procurator  renounced  farder  pro- 
batioune,  and  the  judge  assigned  the  morne,  the  6th  of  May,  ad  publicandum 
producta,  nempe  depositiones  ipsorum  testium.  The  quhilk  day,  post  publi- 
catas,  depositiones  prsedictas,  Mr.  Hen.  Kinrosse,  procurator  for  the  lady 
instanter  objecit  objectiones  juris  generaliter,  contra  producta,  insuper  renun- 
ciavit  ulteriori  defensioni  ;  proinde  conclusa  de  consensu  procuratorum  hinc 
inde  causa  judex  praedictus  statuit  crastinum  diem  pro  termina,  ad  pronuncian- 
dum  suam  sententiam  definitivam,  ex  deductis  coram  eo,  in  prsesenti  causa  et 
processu.  Conform  hereunto,  on  Wednesday,  the  7th  of  May,  the  said  judge 
gave  out  his  sentence  in  favour  of  the  Erie,  declaring  the  marriage  to  be,  and 
to  have  been  null  from  the  beginning,  in  respect  of  their  contingence  in  blood, 
which  hindered  their  lawful  marriage  without  a  dispensation  obtained  of  befoir. 

No.  XXI.  (p.  170.) 

A  Letter  from  England  concerning  the  Murder  of  King  Henry  Darnley. 

[E.  of  Morton's  Archieves.    Bundle  R.  No.  25.] 

Having  the  commodity  of  this  bearer  Mr.  Clark,  I  tho't  good  to  write  a  few 
words  unto  you.  I  have  recd  some  writs  from  you,  and  some  I  have  seen  lately 
Rent  to  others  from  you,  as  namely  to  the  Earl  of  Bedford  of  the  16th  of  May. 
1  have  participat  the  contents  thereof  to  such  as  I  thought  meet,  this  mekle  1 
can  assure  you  ;  the  intelligence  given  hithere  by  the  French  was  untrue,  for 
there  was  not  one  Papist  nor  Protestant  which  did  not  consent  that  justice 
should  be  done,  be  the  Queen  my  sovns  aid  and  support,  against  such  as  had 
committed  that  abominable  ill  murder  in  your  country;  but  to  say  truth,  the 
lack  and  coldness  did  not  rise  from  such  as  were  called  to  council,  but  from  such 
as  should  give  life  and  execution  thereunto.  And  further,  I  assure  you,  I  never 
knew  no  matter  of  estate  proponed  which  had  so  many  favourers  of  all  sorts  of 
nations  as  this  had  :  yea,  I  can  say  unto  you,  no  man  promoted  the  matter  with 
greater  affection,  than  the  Spanish  ambassador.  And  sure  I  am  that  no  man 
dare  openly  be  of  any  other  mind,  but  to  affirm  that  whosoever  is  guilty  of  this 
murder,  hand  fasted  with  advoutre,  is  unworthy  to  live.  I  shall  not  need  to  telJ 
you,  which  be  our  letts,  and  stayes  from  all  good  things  here.  You  are 
acquainted  with  them  as  well  as  I.  Neds  I  must  confess,  that  howsoever  we 
omit  occasions  of  benefit,  honour,  and  surety ;  it  behoveth  your  whole  nobility, 
and  namely  such  as  before  and  after  the  murder  were  deemed  to  allow  of  Bod 
well,  to  prosecute  with  sword  and  justice  the  punishment  of  those  abominable 
acts,  though  we  lend  you  but  a  cold  aid,  and  albeit  you,  and  divers  others,  both 
honourable  and  honest,  be  well  known  to  me,  and  sundry  others  h^re,  to  be  jus- 
Unable  in  all  their  actions  and  doings  ;  yet  think  not  the  contrary  but  your 

•  Two  words  in  the  parenthesis  illegible. 


APPENDIX,   No.  XXII.  33t 

whole  nation  is  blemished  and  infamit  by  these  doings  which  lately  passed 
among  you.  What  we  shall  do  1  know  not,  neither  do  1  write  unto  you 
assuredly,  for  we  be  subject  unto  many  mutations,  and  yet  1  think  we  shall 
either  aid  you,  or  continue  in  the;  defence  and  safeguard  of your  Prince,  so  as  it 
appear  to  us  that  you  mean  his  safeguard  indeed,  and  not  to  run  the  fortune  ol 
France,  which  will  be  your  own  destruction  if  you  be  unadvised.  I  know  not 
one,  no  not  one  of  any  quality  or  estate  in  this  country,  which  does  allow  of  the 
Queen  your  sovereign,  but  would  gladly  the  world  were  rid  of  her,  so  as  »*>e 
same  were  done  without  farther  slander,  that  is  to  say  by  ordinary  justi'~v 
This  I  send  the  23d  of  May. 

No.  XXII.  (p.  173.) 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Sir  Nicolas  Throkmorton  to  Cecil,  llth  of  July,  1567, 

from  Berwick. 

[An  Original.     I'aiier  Office.] 

Sir,  your  letter  of  the  6th  of  July,  I  received  the  10th  at  Berwick.     1 

am  sorry  to  see  that  the  Queen's  Majesty's  disposition  altereth  not  towards  the 
lords,  for  when  all  is  done,  it  is  they  which  must  stand  her  more  in  stead,  than 
the  Queen  her  cousin,  and  will  be  better  instruments  to  work  some  benefite  and 
quietness  to  Her  Majesty  and  her  realm,  than  the  Queen  of  Scotland  which  is 
void  of  good  fame. 

A  Letter  from  Sir  Nicolas  Throkmorton  to  Cecil,  from  Fastcastle, 
\2lh  of  July,  1567. 

[Paper  Office.] 

Sir,  as  yow  might  perceive  by  my  letter  of  the  llth  July,  I  lodged  at  Fast- 
castle  that  night  accompanyed  with  the  Lord  Hume,  the  Lord  of  Ledington, 
and  James  Melvin,  where  I  was  entreated  very  well  according  to  the  state  of 
the  place,  which  is  fitter  to  lodge  prisoners  than  folks  at  liberty,  as  it  is  very 
little,  so  it  is  very  strong.  By  the  conference  I  have  had  with  the  Lord  of 
Ledington  I  find  the  lords  his  associates  and  he  hath  left  nothing  unthought  of, 
which  may  be  either  to  thir  danger  or  work  them  suerty,  wherein  they  do  not 
forget  what  good  and  harme  France  may  do  them,  and  likewise  they  consider 
the  same  of  England ;  but  as  farr  as  I  can  perceive,  to  be  plain  with  yow,  they 
find  more  perril  to  grow  unto  them  through  the  Queen's  Majestys  dealing  than 
either  they  do  by  the  French,  or  by  any  contrary  faction  amongest  themselves, 
for  they  assure  themselves  the  Queen  will  leave  them  in  the  bryers  if  they  run 
her  fortoun,  and  though  they  do  acknowledge  great  benefit  as  well  to  them,  as  to 
the  realm  of  England  by  her  Majestys  doings  at  Leith,  whereof  they  say  mutu- 
ally Her  Majesty  and  both  the  realms  have  received  great  fruit :  yet  upon  other 
accidents  which  have  chanced  since,  they  have  observed  such  things  in  Hej 
Majestys  doings,  as  have  ended  to  the  danger  of  such  as  she  hath  dealt  withal, 
to  the  overthrow  of  your  own  designments,  and  little  to  the  suerty  of  any  party, 
and  upon  these  considerations  and  discourses  at  length,  methinketh  I  find  a 
disposition  in  them,  that  either  they  mind  to  make  their  bargain  with  France, 
or  else  to  deal  neither  with  France  nor  yow,  but  to  do  what  they  shall  think 
meet  for  their  state  and  suerty,  and  to  use  there  remedys  as  occation  shall  move 
them  ;  meaning  neither  to  irritate  France  nor  England,  untill  such  time  as  they 
have  made  their  bargain  assuredly  with  one  of  yow;  for  they  think  it  conve- 
nient to  proceed  with  yow  both  for  a  while  pari  passu,  for  that  was  My  Lord  of 
Ledington's  terms.  I  do  perceave  they  take  the  matter  very  unkindly,  that  no 
l)i  tter  answer  is  made  to  the  letter,  which  the  lords  did  send  to  Her  Majesty, 
i :  d  likewise  that  they  hear  nothing  from  yow  to  their  satisfaction.  I  have 
answered  as  well  as  I  can,  and  have  alleged  their  own  proceedings  so  obscurly 
with  the  Queen  and  their  uncertainty  hath  occationed  this  that  is  yet  happened, 
and  therefore  Her  Majesty  hath  sent  me  to  the  end  1  may  inform  her  throughly 
of  the  Ktate  of  the  matters,  and  upon  the  declaration  of  their  minds  and  intents 


382  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

to  such  purposes  as  shall  be  by  me  proposed  on  Her  Majestys  behalf  unto  them, 
they  shall  be  reasonably  and  resolutely  answered. — At  these  things  the  Lord  of 
Ledington  smiled  and  shook  his  head,  and  said  it  were  better  for  us  yow  would 
let  us  alone  than  neither  to  do  us  nor  yourselves  good,  as  I  fear  me  in  the  end 
that  will  prove  :  S'  if  their  be  any  truth  in  Ledington,  Le  Crocq  is  gone  to  pro- 
cure Ramboilet  his  coining  hither  or  a  man  of  like  quality,  and  to  deliver  them 
of  their  Queen  for  ever,  who  shall  lead  her  life  in  France  in  an  abbay  reclused, 
the  Prince  at  the  French  devotion,  the  realm  governed  by  a  council  of  their 
election  of  the  Scottish  nation,  the  forts  committed  to  the  custody  of  such  as 
nhall  be  chosen  amongst  themselves,  as  yet  1  rind  no  great  likelihood  that  1 
shall  have  access  to  the  Queen,  it  is  objected  they  may  not  so  displease  th 
French  King,  unless  they  were  sure  to  find  the  Queen  of  England  a  goo.J 
friend  ;  and  when  they  once  by  my  access  to  the  Queen  have  offended  tne 
French,  then  they  say  yow  will  make  your  profit  thereof  to  their  undoing  ;  and 
as  to  the  Queen's  liberty,  which  was  the  first  head  that  1  proposed,  they  said 
that  thereby  they  did  perceive  that  the  Queen  wants  their  undoing,  for  as  for 
the  rest  of  ihe  matters  it  was  but  folly  to  talk  of  them,  the  liberty  going  before 
but  said  they,  if  you  will  do  us  no  good,  do  us  no  harm,  and  we  will  provide  for 
ourselves.  In  the  end  they  said,  we  should  refuse  our  own  commodity  before 
they  concluded  with  any  other,  which  I  should  hear  of  at  my  coming  to  Edinr 
by  my  next  I  hope  to  send  yow  the  band  concluded  by  Hamiltons,  Argyll, 
Huntly,  and  that  faction,  not  so  much  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Lords  of  Edinr,  as 
that  which  was  sent  into  France  ;  thus  having  no  more  leisure,  but  compell'd  to 
leap  on  horseback  with  the  lords  to  go  to  Edinr,  I  humbly  take  my  leave  of 
from  Fastcastle,  the  12th  of  July,  1567. 

To  Sir  Nicolas  Throkmorton  being  in  Scotland.     By  the  Queen,  the 
Wh  of  July,  1567. 

[Paper  Office.] 

Trustv  and  well  beloved,  we  greet  you  well,  though  we  think  that  the  causes 
will  often  change  upon  variety  of  accidents,  yet  we  think  for  sundry  respects, 
not  amiss,  that  as  yow  shall  deal  with  the  Lords  having  charge  of  the  young 
Prince  for  the  committing  of  him  into  our  realm,  so  shall  yow  also  do  well,  in 
treaty  with  the  Queen,  to  ofTer  her  that  where  her  realm  appeareth  to  be  sub- 
ject to  sundry  troubles  from  time  to  time,  and  thereby  (as  it  is  manifest)  her 
son  cannot  be  free,  if  she  shall  be  contented  that  her  son  may  enjoy  surety  and 
quietness  within  this  our  realm,  being  so  near  as  she  knows  it  is ;  we  shall  not 
la.il!  to  yield  her  as  good  suerty  therein  for  her  child,  as  can  be  devised  for  any 
that  might  be  our  child  born  of  our  own  body,  and  shall  be  glad  to  show  to  her 
therein  the  trew  effect  of  nature  ;  and  herein  she  may  be  by  yow  remembred 
how  much  good  may  ensue  to  her  son  to  be  nourished  and  acquainted  with  our 
country:  and  therefore,  all  things  considered,  this  occation  for  her  child,  were 
rather  to  be  sought  by  her  and  the  friends  of  him  than  offered  by  us ;  and  to 
this  end  we  mean  that  yow  shall  so  deal  with  her,  both  to  stay  her  indeed  from 
inclining  to  the  French  practice,  which  is  to  us  notorious,  to  convey  her  and  the 
Prince  into  France,  and  also  to  avoid  any  just  offence,  that  she  might  hereafter 
«K>nceive,  if  she  should  hear  that  we  should  deal  with  the  Lords  for  the  Prince. 

Sir  Nicolas  Throkmorton  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  \4th  July,  1567.    From  Edinburgh. 

[An  Original.     Paper  Office.] 

It  may  please  Your  Majesty  to  be  advertised,  I  did  signifie  unto  Mr.  Secre 
tary  by  my  letters  of  the  11th  and  12th  of  July,  the  day  of  mine  entry  into  Scot- 
land, the  causes  of  my  stay,  my  lodging  at  Fastcastle,  a  place  of  the  Lord 
Hume's,  where  I  was  met  by  the  said  Lord  and  by  the  Lord  Lidington,  and 
what  had  passed  in  conference  betwixt  us,  whilest  I  was  at  the  said  Fastcastle. 
Since  which  time,  accompanyed  with  the  lords  aforesaid,  and  with  400  norsea 
by  their  appointment  for  my  better  conduct,  I  came  to  Edin'  the  12th  of  this 
oresent.     The  13th  being  Sunday,  appointed  for  a  solemne  communion  in  this 


APPENDIX,   No.   XXII.  383 

town,  and  also  a  solemne  fast  being  published,  1  could  not  have  conference  with 
the  Lords  which  be  assembled  within  this  town,  as  1  desired,  that  is  to  say, 
the  Earls  of  Athole  ana  Morton,  the  Lord  iluine,  the  Lord  of  Lidington,  Sir 
James  Balfour,  captain  of  the  castle,  Mr.  James  M'Gill,  and  the  president  of 
the  session. 

Nevertheless  1  made  means  by  the  Lord  of  Lidington  that  they  would  use 
no  protracte  of  time  in  mine  audience,  so  did  i  likewise  to  the  Larle  of  Morton, 
whom  1  met  by  chance  ;  I  was  answered  by  them  uoth,  that  albeu  tne  day  v.  <■•■ 
destined  to  sacred  exercises,  such  as  were  then;  of  the  council  would  consult 
upon  any  moyen  touching  my  access  unto  them  and  my  conference  with  them, 
and  said  also,  that  in  the  afternoon  either  they  would  come  to  me,  or  1  should 
hear  from  them.  About  4  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  said  loth  day,  the 
Lord  of  Lidington  came  to  my  lodgings,  and  declared  unto  me  on  the  behalf  of 
the  Lords  and  others,  that  they  required  me  to  have  patience,  though  they  had 
defferred  my  conference  with  them,  which  was  grounded  principally  upon  the 
absence  of  the  Earles  of  Mar  and  Glencairn,  the  Lords  Semple,  Crighton, 
and  others  of  the  council,  saying  also  that  they  did  consider  the  matters  which 
I  was  on  your  behalf  to  treate  with  them  of,  were  of  great  importance,  as 

they  could  not  satisfy  nor  conveniently  treate  with  me,  nor  give  me  answer 
without  the  advice  of  the  lords,  and  others  their  associates ;  the  Lord  of 
Lidington  also  said  unto  me,  that  where  he  perceived,  by  his  private  conference 
with  me  in  my  journey  hitherwards,  that  I  pressed  greatly  to  have  speedy 
access  to  the  Queen  their  sovereign,  he  perceived  by  the  lords  and  others  which 
were  here,  that  in  that  matter  there  was  great  difficulty  for  many  respects,  but 
specially  because  they  had  refused  to  the  French  ambassador  the  like  access, 
which  being  granted  unto  me  might  greatly  offend  the  French,  a  matter  which 
they  desired  and  intended  to  eschew  ;  for  they  did  not  rind  by  Your  Majesty's 
dealings  with  them  hitherto,  that  it  behoved  them  to  irritate  the  French  King, 
and  to  lose  his  favour  and  good  intelligence  with  them  :  I  answered,  that  as  to 
their  refusal  made  unto  the  French  ambassador,  Monsieur  de  Ville  Roye  was 
dispatched  forth  of  France  before  these  accidents  here  happened,  and  his  special 
errand  was  to  impeach  the  Queen's  marriage  with  the  Earle  of  Bothel  (for  so 
indeed  since  my  coming  hither  I  learned  his  commission  tended  to  that  end,  and 
to  make  offer  to  the  Queen  of  another  marriage),  and  as  to  Monsieur  de  Crocq, 
he  could  have  no  order  forth  of  France  concerning  these  matters  since  they 
happened  ;  and  therefore  they  might  very  well  hold  them  suspected  to  have 
conference  with  the  Queen,  least  they  might  treate  of  matters  in  this  time 
without  instructions,  and  so  rather  do  harm  than  good  ;  but  Your  Majesty  being 
advertized  of  all  things  which  had  chanced,  had  sent  me  hither  to  treat  with 
them,  for  the  well  of  the  realm,  for  the  conservation  of  their  honours  and 
credit,  and  for  their  surety  ;  and  1  might  boldly  say  unto  him,  that  Your  Majesty 
had  better  deserved  than  the  French  had.  He  said  for  his  own  part,  he  was 
much  bound  unto  Your  Majesty,  and  had  always  found  great  favour  and 
courtesy  in  England  ;  but  to  be  plain  with  you,  Sir,  sayed  he,  there  is  not  many 
of  this  assembly  tha't  have  found  so  great  obligation  at  the  Queen  your  sove- 
reign's hands,  as  at  the  PArench  King's,  for  the  Earles  of  Morton  and  Glencairn 
be  the  only  persons  which  took  benefit  by  the  Queen's  Majesty's  aid  at  Leith. 
the  rest  of"  the  noblemen  were  not  in  the  action  ;  and  we  think,  said  he,  the 
Queen's  Majesty  your  sovereign,  by  the  opinion  of  her  own  council  and  all  the 
world,  took  as  great  benefit  by  that  charge  as  the  realm  of  Scotland,  or  any 
particular  person ;  and  not  to  talk  with  yow  as  an  ambassador,  but  with  Sir 
Nicholas  Throkmorton,  My  Lord  Morton,  and  such  as  were  in  pain  for  the 
death  of  Davie,  found  but  cold  favour  at  the  Queen's  Majesty's  hands,  when 
they  were  banish'd  forth  of  their  own  country  ;  but  1  would  all  our  whole 
company  were  as  well  willing  to  accomplish  the  Queen  your  sovereign  intents 
and  desires  as  I  am  ;  for  mine  own  part  I  am  but  one,  and  that  of  the  meanest 
sort,  and  they  be  many  noblemen  and  such  as  have  great  interest  in  the  matter, 
mary  yow  shall  be  assured  I  will  imploy  myself  to  imploy  my  credit,  and  all 
that  I  may  do,  to  satisfie  the  Queen  your  mistress,  as  much  as  lyeth  in  me, 
md  for  your  own  part  you  have  a  great  many  friends  in  this  assembly,  with 
nany  other  good  words.  But  for  conclusion  I  must  take  this  for  an  answer  to 
tay  untill  the  other  lords  were  come,  and  thereupon  I  thought  meet  to  advertize 


384  HISTORY    OP   SCOTLAND 

Your  Majesty  what  hath  passed,  and  how  far  forth  I  have  proceeded ;  your  ex 
pectation  being  gieat  to  hear  from  hence. 

And  now  to  advertize  Your  Majesty  of  the  state  of  all  things,  as  I  have 
learned  since  ray  coming  hither,  it  may  please  Your  Majesty  to  understand  as 
followeth  : 

The  Queen  of  Scotland  remaineth  in  good  health  in  the  castle  of  Lochlevin, 
guarded  by  the  Lord  Linsay  and  Lochleven  the  owner  of  the  house  ;  for  the 
Lord  Ruthven  is  imployed  in  another  commission,  because  he  began  to  show- 
great  favour  to  the  Queen,  and  to  give  her  intelligence.  She  is  waited  on  with 
5  or  6  ladys,  4  or  5  gentlewomen,  and  2  chamberers,  whereof  one  is  a  French 
woman.  The  Earle  of  Buchan,  the  Earle  of  Murray's  brother,  hath  also  liberty 
to  come  to  her  at  his  pleasure  ;  the  lords  aforesaid,  which  have  her  in  guard, 
doe  keep  her  very_straitly,  and  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  their  rigour  proceedoth 
by  their  order  from  these  men,  because  that  the  Queen  will  not  by  any  means 
be  induced  to  lend  her  authority  to  prosecute  the  murder,  nor  will  not  consent 
by  any  perswasion  to  abandon  the  Lord  Bothell  for  her  husband,  but  avovveth 
constantly  that  she  will  live  and  die  with  him  ;  and  saith  that  if  it  were  put  to 
her  choice  to  relinquish  her  crown  and  kingdom,  or  the  Lord  Bothell,  she  would 
leave  her  kingdom  and  dignity,  to  go  as  a  simple  damsell  with  him,  and  that 
she  will  never  consent  that  he  shall  fare  worse  or  have  more  harm  than  herself. 

And  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  the  principal  cause  of  her  detention  is,  for  that 
these  lords  do  see  the  Queen  being  of  so  fervent  affection  towards  the  Earle 
Bothell  as  she  is,  and  being  put  at,  as  they  should  be  compelled  to  be  in  continuall 
arms,  and  to  have  occasion  of  many  battles,  he  being  with  manifest  evidence 
notoriously  detected  to  be  the  principall  murderer,  and  the  lords  meaning 
prosecution  of  justice  against  him  according  to  his  merits. 

The  lords  mean  also  a  divorce  betwixt  the  Queene  and  him,  as  a  marriage  not 
to  be  suffered  for  many  respects,  which  separation  cannot  take  place  if  the 
Queen  be  at  liberty,  and  have  power  in  her  hands. 

They  do  not  also  forget  their  own  peril,  conjoin'd  with  the  dangerof  the  Prince, 
but  as  far  as  I  can  perceave,  they  intend  not  either  to  touch  the  Queen  in 
suerty  or  in  honor,  for  they  do  speak  of  her  with  respect  and  reverence,  and  do 
affirm,  as  1  do  learn,  that  the  conditions  aforesaid  accomplished,  they  will  both 
put  her  to  liberty,  and  restore  her  to  her  estate. 

These  lords  have  for  the  guard  of  their  town  450  harqubushers  which  oe  in 
very  good  order,  for  the  entertainment  of  which  companys,  untill  all  matters 
be  compounded,  they  did  sue  unto  Your  Majesty  to  aid  them  with  such  sum  ot 
mony  as  hath  been  mentioned  to  Mr.  Secretary  by  the  Lord  of  Lidington's 
writting,  amounting  as  I  perceive  to  ten  or  twelve  thousand  crouns  of  the 

They  were  latly  advertized  that  the  French  King  doth  mind  to  send  hither 
Monsieur  de  la  Chapell  dez  Ursine,  a  knight  of  the  French  order,  and  always 
well  affectionate  to  the  house  of  Guyse,  and  howsoever  La  Forest,  Villaroy, 
and  Du  Crocq  have  used  language  in  the  Queen's  favour  and  to  these  lords 
disadvantage  there,  to  Your  Majesty  ;  La  Crocq  doth  carry  with  him  such 
matter  as  shall  be  little  to  the  Queen's  advantage  ;  so  as  it  is  thought  the  French 
King,  upon  his  coming  to  his  presence,  will  rather  satisfie  the  lords  than  pleasure 
the  Queen  ;  for  they  have  their  party  so  well  made,  as  the  French  will  rather 
make  their  profit  by  them  than  any  other  way. 

Herewith  I  send  Your  Majesty  the  last  bond  agreed  on,  and  signed  by  the 
Hamiltons,  the  Earl  of  Argyll,  Huntly,  and  sundry  ethers  at  Dumbarton. 

Nevertheless,  since  my  coming  to  this  town  the  Hamiltons  have  sent  unto  me 
a  gentleman  of  their  surname,  named  Robert  Hamilton,  with  a  letter  from  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Andrew's  and  the  Abbot  of  Arbroth,  the  copy  whereof  I  send 
Your  Majesty  and  mine  answer  unto  them, referring  to  the  bearerthe  declaration 
'  f  some  things  as  these  did  by  him  unto  me. 

The  Earle  of  Argyll  hath,  in  like  manner,  sent  another  unto  me  with  a  letter 
and  credit,  I  have  used  him  as  I  did  the  others,  the  coppy  of  both  which  letters  I 
send  Your  Majesty  also.  The  Lord  Harrys  hath  also  sent  unto  me  but  not 
written,  and  I  have  returned  unto  him  in  like  sort. 

Against  the  20th  day  of  this  month  there  is  a  generall  assembly  of  all  the 
churches,  shires,  and  boroughs  towns  of  this  realm,  namely,  of  such  as  be  con- 
tented to  repair  to  these  lords  to  this  town,  where  it  is  thought  the  whole  state 


APPENDIX,   No.   XXII.  38£ 

ol  this  matter  will  be  handeled,  and  I  fear  me  much  to  the  Queen's  disadvan- 
tage and  danger:  unless  the  Lord  of  Lidington  and  some  others  which  be  best 
affected  unto  her  do  provide  some  remedy;  tor  1  pcrceave  the  great  number, 
and  in  manner  all,  hut  chiefly  the  common  people,  which  have  assisted  in  these 
doings,  do  greatly  dishonour  tin;  Queen,  and  mind  seriously  either  her  depriva 
tion  or  her  destruction  ;  I  used  the  best  means  I  can  (considering  the  turic  ol 
the  world  here),  to  prorogue  this  assembly,  for  that  appeareth  to  me  to  be  the 
best  remedy :  I  may  not  speak  of  dissolution  of  it,  for  that  may  not  be  abiden, 
and  I  should  thereby  bring  my  self  into  great  hatred  and  peril.  The  chiefest 
of  the  lords  which  be  here  present  at  this  time  dare  not  show  so  much  lenity  to 
the  Queen  as  1  think  they  could  be  contented,  for  fear  of  the  rage  of  the  people. 
The  women  be  most  furious  and  impudent  against  the  Queen,  and  yet  the  men 
be  mad  enough  ;  so  as  a  stranger  over  busie  may  soon  be  made  a  sacrifice 
amongest  them. 

There  was  a  great  bruit  that  the  Hamiltons  with  their  adherents  would  put 
their  force  into  the  fields  against  the  24th  of  this  month,  but  I  do  not  find  that 
intent  so  true  as  the  common  bruit  goeth. 

The  Earle  of  Argyll  is  in  the  Highlands,  where  there  is  trouble  among  his 
own  countrymen. 

The  Earle  of  Lennox  is  by  these  lords  much  desired  here,  and  I  do  believe 
Your  Majesty  may  so  use  him,  and  direct  him,  as  he  shall  be  able  to  promote 
your  purpose  with  these  men. 

The  Earle  of  Argyll,  the  Hamiltons  and  he  be  incompatible. 1  do  find 

amongst  the  Hamiltons,  Argyll,  and    the   company  two   strange   and  sundry 
humours. 

Hamiltons  do  make  shew  of  the  liberty  of  the  Queen,  and  prosecute  that  with 
great  earnestness,  because  they  would  have  these  lords  destroy  her,  rather  than 
she  should  be  recovered  from  them  by  violence  ;  another  time  they  seem  to 
desire  her  liberty  and  Bothwell's  destruction,  because  they  would  compass  a 
marriage  betwixt  the  Queen  and  the  Lord  of  Arbroth. 

The  Earle  of  Argyll  doth  affect  her  liberty  and  Bothwell's  destruction, 
oecause  he  would  marry  the  Queen  to  his  brother. 

And  yet  neither  of  them,  notwithstanding  their  open  concurance  (as  appeareth 
by  their  bond),  doth  discover  their  minds  to  each  other,  nor  mind  one  end  ; 
Knox  is  not  here,  but  in  the  west  parts,  he  :  nd  the  rest  of  the  ministers  will  be 
here  at  the  great  assembly,  whos  austerity  a  gainst  the  Queen  I  fear  as  much  as 
any  man's. 

By  some  conference  which  I  had  with  soma  of  this  council],  me  thinketh  that 
they  have  intelligence  that  there  is  a  dispo*  ition  in  the  Queen  of  Scotland  to 
leave  this  realm  ar-d  to  retire  herself  eithe     into  England  or  into  France,  but 

most  willingly  into  England,  for  such and  misiikings  as  she  knoweth  hath 

been,  and  is  meant  unto  her  in  France,  leaving  the  regiment  either  to  a  number 
of  persons  deleagued  and  authorized  by  her,  or  to  some  one  or  more. 

And  it  may  please  Your  Majesty,  1  think  it  not  amiss  to  put  yow  in  remem 
brance,  that  in  case  the  said  Queen  come  into  England  by  your  allowance, 
without  the  French  King's  consent,  she  shall  loose  her  dowery  in  France,  and 
have  little  or  nothing  from  hence  to  entertain  her  ;  and  in  case  she  do  go  into 
France  with  the  King's  contentment,  she  may  be  an  instrument  (if  she  can 
recover  favour,  as  time  will  help  to  cancell  her  disgrace)  either  by  matching 
with  some  husband  of  good  quality,  or  by  some  other  devise,  to  work  new 
unquietness  to  her  own  country,  and  so  consequently  to  Your  Majesty's. 

Therefore  it  may  please  Your  Majesty  to  consider  of  this  matter,  and  to  let 
me  know  your  pleasure  with  convenient  speed,  how  I  shall  answer  the  same,  if 
it  be  propounded  unto  me,  either  by  the  Queen  or  by  the  councill,  as  a  piece  of 
the  end  and  composition.  For  I  am  sure,  of  late,  she  hath  seemed  very  desirous 
to  have  the  matter  brought  to  pass  that  she  might  go  into  England,  retaining 
her  estate  and  jurisdiction  in  herself,  though  she  do  not  exercise  it ;  and  likewise 
I  understand  that  some  of  this  council  which  be  least  affected  to  her  safety  do 
think  there  is  no  other  way  to  save  her.  Thus  Almighty  God  preserve  Youi 
Majesty  in  health,  honour,  and  all  felicity ;  at  Edinr.  the  14th  July,  1567. 

Vol  III.— 49 


SB*  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND. 


^»>  Nicholas  Throkmorton  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  18th  of  July,  1567,  from 

Edinburgh. 

[An  Original.    Paper  Office.] 

IT  may  please  Your  Majesty,  yow  might  perceave  by  my  letters  of  the  16th 
how  far  I  had  proceded  with  these  lords,  and  what  was  their  answer ;  since 
which  time  1  have  spoken  particularly  with  the  Earle  Morton,  the  Lord  ol 
Lidington,  and  Sir  James  Balfour,  captain  of  this  castle  ;  at  whose  hands  I  can- 
not perceave  that  as,  yet  access  to  the  Queen  to  Lochleven  will  be  granted  me, 
staying  themselves  still  by  the  absence  of  the  lords  and  others  their  associates, 
which  (they  say)  they  look  for  within  two  days  ;  and  for  that  I  find,  by  likeli- 
hood and  apparent  presumptions,  that  mine  access  to  the  Queen  will  hardly  be 
granted,  I  have  thought  good  not  to  defer  this  dispatch  untill  I  have  a  resolute 
answer  in  that  matter. 

May  it  therefore  please  Your  Majesty,  to  understand  Robert  Melvin  returned 
from  the  Queen  in  Lochleven  to  this  town,  the  6th  of  July,  and  brought  a  letter 
from  her  written  of  her  own  hand  to  these  lords,  which  doth  contain,  as  I  under 
stand,  matter  as  follovveth — A  request  unto  them  to  have  consideration  of  het 
health,  and  if  they  will  not  put  her  to  liberty,  to  change  the  place  of  restraint  to 
the  castle  of  Stirling,  to  the  end  she  might  have  the  comfort  and  company  of 
her  son,  and  if  they  will  not  change  her  from  Lochleven,  she  required  to  have 
some  other  gentle-women  about  her,  naming  none. 

To  have  her  apothecary,  to  have   some   modest   minister. To   have  an 

imbroiderer  to  draw  forth  such  work  as  she  would  be  occupied  about,  and  to 

have  a  varlet  of  the  chamber. Touching  the  government  of  the  realm  she 

maketh  two  offers,  which  are  but  generally  touched  in  her  letter,  the  particu- 
laritys  be  not  specified,  but  referred  to  Robert  Melvin's  credit,  the  one  is  to  com- 
mit it  only  and  wholly  to  the  Earle  of  Murray,  the  other  is  to  the  lords  whose 
names  ensue,  assisted  with  such  others  as  they  shall  call  unto  them,  that  is  to 
say,  the  Duke  of  Chattelrault,  the  Earls  of  Morton,  Murray,  Marr,  and 
Glencairn. 

She  hath  written  unto  them    that  I  might  have  access   unto   her. She 

requireth  further,  that  if  they  will  not  treat  her  and  regard  her  as  their  Queen, 
yet  to  use  her  as  the  King  their  sovereign's  daughter  (whom  many  of  them 
knew),  and  as  their  Prince's  mother.  She  will  by  no  means  yield  to  abandon 
Bothell  for  her  husband,  nor  relinquish  him  ;  which  matter  will  do  her  most 
harm  of  all,  and  hardeneth  these  lords  to  great  severity  against  her. 

She  yieldeth  in  words  to  the  prosecution  of  the  murder. 

I  have  the  means  to  let  her  know  that  Your  Majesty  hath  sent  me  hither  for 
her  relief. 

I  have  also  persuaded  her  to  conform  herself  to  renounce  Bothell  for  her 
husband,  and  to  be  contented  to  suffer  a  divorce  to  pass  betwixt  them  ;  she 
hath  sent  me  word  that  she  will  in  no  ways  consent  unto  that,  but  rather  die  ; 
grounding  herself  upon  this  reason,  taking  herself  to  be  seven  weeks  gone  with 
child,  by  renouncing  Bothell,  she  should  acknowledge  herself  to  be  with  child 
of  a  bastard,  and  to  have  forfeited  her  honour,  which  she  will  not  do  to  die  for 
it ;  I  have  perswaded  her  to  save  her  own  life  and  her  child,  to  choose  the  least 
hard  condition. 

Mr.  Knox  arrived  here  in  this  town  the  6th  of  this  month,  with  whom  I  have 
had  some  conference,  and  with  Mr.  Craig  also,  the  other  minister  of  this  town. 

I  have  perswaded  with  them  to  preach  and  perswad  lenity.  I  find  them  both 
very  austere  in  this  conference,  what  they  shall  do  hereafter  I  know  not,  they 
are  furnished  with  many  arguments,  some  forth  of  the  Scripture,  some  forth  of 
histories,  some  grounded  (as  they  say)  upon  the  laws  of  this  realm,  some  upon 
practices  used  in  this  realm,  and  some  upon  the  conditions  and  oth  m?de  by 
their  Prince  at  ker  coronation. 

The  Bishop  of  Galloway,  uncle  to  the  Earle  of  Huntley,  hath  Bent  hither  tc 
these  lords,  that  his  nephew  the  Earle  and  some  others  of  that  side  may,  at 
Linlithgow  or  at  Stirling,  have  some  communication  with  some  appointed  on 
this  side,  assuring  them  that  there  is  a  good  disposition  in  the  lords  of  the  othoi 


APPENDIX,   No.    XXII.  38? 

party  to  concurre  with  these,  assuring  further  that  they  will  not  dissent  lor 
trirrles  or  unnecessary  things,  and  (as  I  am  given  to  understand)  they  can  be 
pleased  the  Queen's  restraint  be  continu'd  untill  the  murder  be  pursued  in  all 
persons,  whereby  the  separation  of  the  Queen  and  Bothell  is  implyed,  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Prince,  the  security  for  all  men,  and  a  good  order  taken  for  the 
goveranance  of  the  realm  in  tranquillity. 

Captain  Clerk,  which  hath  so  long  served  in  Denmark  and  servod  at  New- 
haven,  did,  the  16th  of  this  month  (accompanyed  with  one  of  his  soldiers,  or 
rather  the  soldier  as  the  greater  fame  goeth)  kill  one  Wilson  a  seaman,  and 
such  a  one  as  had  great  estimation  with  these  lords,  both  for  his  skill,  his  hardy- 
ness,  honesty,  and  willingness  in  this  action  ;  whereupon  Clerk  hath  retired  him- 
self; their  quarrel  was  about  the  ship  which  took  Blacketer,  which  ship  was 
appointed  by  these  lords  to  go  to  the  north  of  Scotland  to  impeach  the  passage 
of  the  Earle  Bothell,  in  case  he  went  either  to  the  isles,  or  to  any  other  place  ■ 
by  the  death  of  this  man  this  enterprise  was  dashed. 

The  Bishop  of  Galloway  is  come  to  Linlithgow,  and  doth  desire  to  speak  with 
the  Lord  of  Lidington. 

The  Abbot  of  Killwinning  hath  sent  for  Sir  James  Balfour,  captain  of  the 
castle,  to  have  conference  with  him. 

As  I  wrote  unto  Your  Majesty  in  my  last,  the  Hamiltons  now  rind  no  matter 
to  disever  these  lords  and  them  asunder,  but  would  concurr  in  all  things  (yea,  in 
any  extremity  against  the  Queen)  so  as  that  they  might  be  assured  the  Prince 
of  Scotland  were  crouned  King,  and  should  die  without  issue,  that  the  Earle  of 
Lenox's  son  living  should  not  inherit  the  croun  of  this  realm,  as  next  heir  to 
his  nephew. 

And  although  the  lords  and  councelors  speak  reverently,  mildly,  and  charita- 
bly of  their  Queen,  so  as  I  cannot  gather  by  their  speech  any  intention  to 
cruelty  or  violence,  yet  I  do  find  by  intelligence,  that  the  Queen  is  in  very 
great  peril  of  her  life,  by  reason  that  the  people  assembled  at  this  convention  do 
mind  vehemently  the  destruction  of  her. 

It  is  a  public  speech  among  all  the  people,  and  amongst  all  estates  (saving 
of  the  counselors)  that  their  Queen  hath  no  more  liberty  nor  privilege  to  com- 
mit murder  nor  adultery  than  any  other  private  person,  neither  by  God's  laws, 
nor  by  the  laws  of  the  realm. 

The  Earl  of  Bothell,  and  all  his  adherents  and  associates,  be  put  to  the  horn 
by  the  ordinary  justice  of  this  town,  named  the  lords  of  the  session  ;  and  com- 
mandment given  to  all  shirriffs,  and  all  other  officers,  to  apprehend  him,  and  all 
other  his  followers  and  receiptors.  The  Earl  of  Bothell's  porter,  and  one  of 
his  other  servitors  of  his  Chamber  being  apprehended,  have  confessed  such 
sundry  circumstances,  as  it  appeareth  evidently  that  he  the  said  Earl  was  one 
of  the  principal  executors  of  the  murder,  in  his  one  person  accompanyed  with 
sundry  others,  of  which  number  I  cannot  yet  certainly  learn  the  names  but  of 
three  of  them,  that  is  to  say,  two  of  the  Ormistons  of  Tivatdall,  and  one  Hay- 
born  of  Bolton  ;  the  lords  would  be  glad  that  nGne  of  the  murderers  should  have 
any  favour  or  receipt  in  England,  and  hereof  their  desire  is,  that  the  officers 
upon  the  border  may  be  warned  ;  Bothell  doth  still  remain  in  the  north  parts ; 
but  the  Lord  Seaton  and  Fleming,  which  have  been  there,  have  utterly  aban- 
doned him,  and  do  repair  hitherwards. — The  intelligence  doth  grow  daily  be- 
twixt these  lords,  and  those  which  held  of;  and  notwithstanding  these  lords 
have  sent  an  hundred  and  fifty  harqubushers  to  Stirling,  to  keep  the  town  and 
passage  from  surprise ;  and  so  have  they  done  in  like  manner  to  St.  Johnston, 
which  be  the  two  passages  from  the  north  and  west  to  this  town,  I  do  understand 
the  captain  of  Dunbar  is  much  busied  in  fortifying  that  place,  I  do  mervile  ths 
carriages  be  not  impeached  otherwise  than  they  be. 

Of  late  this  Queen  hath  written  a  letter  to  the  captain  of  the  said  castle, 
which  hath  been  surprized  ;  and  thereby  matter  is  discovered  which  maketh 
little  to  the  Queen's  advantage. 

Thus,  having  none  other  matter  worthy  Your  Majesty's  knowledge,  I  beseech 
God  to  prosper  Your  Majesty  with  long  life,  perfect  health,  and  prosperous 
felicity.     At  Edinburgh,  the  18th  of  July,  1567. 


Sob  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND. 


Letter  of  Sir  Nicholas  Throkmorton  to  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Leicettm., 
Knight  of  the  Order,  and  one  of  the  Lords  of  Her  Majesty's  Most  Honourable 
Privy  Council. 

f24thof  July,  1567.    Paper  Office.     From  the  original.] 

Br  my  former  dispatches  sent  to  Her  Majesty  and  Mr.  Secretary,  since  the 
12th  of  July,  Your  Lordships  might  have  perceived  the  state  of  this  countu , 
and  to  what  end  these  matters  be  like  to  come  :  so  as  not  to  trouble  Your 
Lordship  with  many  words ;  this  Queen  is  like  very  shortly  to  be  deprived  of 
her  royal  estate,  her  son  to  be  crowned  King,  and  she  detained  in  prison  within 
this  realm,  and  the  same  to  be  governed  in  the  young  King's  name  by  a  councel, 
consisting  of  certain  of  the  nobility,  and  other  wise  men  of  this  realm;  so  as 
it  is  easy  to  be  seen  that  the  power  and  ability  to  do  any  thing  to  the  commodity 
of  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  the  realm  of  England,  will  chiefly,  and  in  manner 
wholly,  rest  in  the  hands  of  these  lords  and  others  their  associates  assembled  ai 
Edinburgh.  Now  if  the  Queen's  Majesty  will  still  persist  in  her  former  opinion 
towards  the  Queen  of  Scotland  (unto  whom  she  shall  be  able  to  do  no  good), 
then  I  do  plainly  see  that  these  lords  and  all  their  accomplices  will  become  as 
good  French  as  the  French  King  can  wish  to  all  intents  and  purposes.  And 
as  for  the  Hamiltons,  the  Earls  of  Arguile,  Huntlye,  and  that  faction,  they  be 
already  so  far  inchanted  that  way,  as  there  needeth  little  devise  to  draw  thi.m 
to  the  French  devotion.  Then  this  is  the  state  of  things  so  come  to  pass  ol 
this  country,  that  France  has  Scotland  now  as  much  conjoined  unto  them,  to 
all  purposes,  as  ever  it  was ;  and  what  an  instrument  the  young  Prince  will 
prove  to  unquiet  England,  I  report  me  to  Your  Lordship's  wisdoms  ;  and  there- 
fore, considering  the  weight  of  the  matter  and  all  the  circumstances,  I  trust 
your  Lordships  will  well  bethink  you  in  time  (for  'tis  high  time)  how  to  advise 
Her  Majesty  to  leave  nothing  undone  that  may  bring  the  Prince  of  Scotland 
to  be  in  her  possession,  or,  at  the  least,  to  be  at  her  devotion.  And,  amongst 
other  things  that  I  can  imagine  for  the  first  degree,  nothing  is  more  meet  to 
bring  this  to  effect  than  to  allure  this  company  here  assembled  to  bear  Her 
Majesty  their  favour.  Some  talk  hath  passed  between  the  Lord  of  Liddington 
and  me  in  certain  conferences  about  this  matter.  By  him  I  find  that,  when  Her 
Majesty  shall  have  won  these  men  to  her  devotion,  the  principal  point  that  will 
make  them  conformable  to  deliver  their  Prince  into  England  will  rest  upon  the 
Queen,  and  the  realms  enabling  him  to  the  succession  of  the  crown  of  England 
for  fault  of  issue  of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  body;  some  other  things  will  also 
be  required,  as  the  charge  of  the  said  Prince  and  his  train  to  be  at  the  charge 
of  England.  I  do  well  perceive  that  these  men  will  never  be  brought  to  delii 
their  Prince  into  England  without  the  former  condition,  for  the  succession  of 
England  ;  for  (saith  Liddington)  that  taking  place,  the  Prince  shall  be  as  dear 
to  the  people  of  England  as  to  the  people  of  Scotland  ;  and  the  one  will  be  as 
careful  of  his  preservation  as  the  other.  Otherwise,  he  saith,  all  things  con- 
sidered, it  will  be  reported  that  the  Scottishmen  have  put  their  Prince  to  be 
kept  in  safety,  as  those  which  commit  the  sheep  to  be  kept  by  the  wolves.  So 
as  for  conclusion,  Your  Lordships  may  perceive  here  will  be  the  scope  of  this 
matter.  As  unto  the  delivering  of  him  upon  hostages,  he  sayeth,  let  no  man 
think  that  the  condition  of  the  succession  not  being  accomplished,  the  nobility 
and  the  gentry  will  never  consent  to  leave  themselves  destitute  of  their  sove- 
reign upon  any  hostages,  neither  upon  any  promises,  nor  likelihood  of  good  lo 
issue  in  time  to  come.  It  were  not  good  for  yourselves  (saith  he)  that  the 
matter  were  so  handled  ;  for  then  you  should  adventure  all  your  goods  in  one 
ship,  which  might  have  a  dangerous  effect,  considering  the  unwillingness  of 
the  Queen  your  sovereign  to  consent  to  establishing  any  successor  to  the  crown 
And  then  how  unmete  were  it  that  Her  Majesty  have  in  her  possession  air  ady 
all  such  persons  as  do  pretend  to  it,  or  be  inheritable  to  the  crown,  to  have  oui 
Prince  also  in  her  custody.  For  so  there  might  follow,  without  good  capitula- 
tions, a  strange  and  dangerous  issue,  tho'  the  Queen  your  mistress  do  think  that 
such  imaginations  could  not  proceed  but  from  busy  heads,  as  you  have  uttered 
unto  us  on  her  behalf.      What  is  come  to  pass  since  my  last  dispatch,  and  how 


APPENDIX,    No.  XXII.  389 

far  forth  things  are  proceeded,  I  refer  Your  Lordship  to  he  informed  by  m} 
letters  sent  unto  Her  Majesty  at  this  time.  And  so  I  pray  Almighty  God  pre- 
serve Your  Lordship  in  much  honour  and  felicity.  At  Edinburgh,  this  24th  of 
July,  1567. 

It  may  please  Your  good  Lordship  to  make  My  Lord  Stuard  partner  of  this 
U'tter. 

The  Queen  to  Sir  Nicholas  Throkmorton.     By  the  Queen. 
[6th  Aug.  1507.] 

Trusty  and  right  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well,  for  as  much  as  we 
consider  that  you  have  now  a  long  time  remained  in  those  parts  without  ex  pi 
dition  in  the  charge  committed  unto  you,  we  think  it  not  meet,  seeing  theri 
»iath  not  followed  the  good  acceptation  and  fruit  of  our  well  meaning  towards 
that  state,  which  good  reason  would  have  required,  that  you  should  continue 
there  any  longer;  our  pleasure  therefore  is,  that  you  shall,  immediately  upon 
the  receipt  hereof,  send  your  servant  Middlemore  unto  the  lords  and  estates  of 
that  realm  that  are  assembled  together,  willing  him  to  declare  unto  them,  that 
it  cannot  but  seem  very  strange  unto  us,  that  you  having  been  sent  from  us,  of 
sucn  good  intent,  to  deal  with  them  in  matters  tending  so  much  to  their  own 
quiet  and  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole  estate  of  their  country,  they  have  so  far 
forgotten  themselves,  and  so  slightly  regarded  us  and  our  good  meaning,  not 
only  in  delaying  to  hear  you  and  deferring  your  access  to  the  Queen  their 
sovereign,  but  also,  which  is  strangest  of  all,  in  not  vouchsafing  to  make  any 
answer  unto  us.  And  altho'  these  dealings  be  such,  indeed,  as  were  not  to  bo 
looked  for  at  their  hands,  yet  do  we  find  their  usage  and  proceeding  towards 
the:r  Sovereign  and  Queen  to  overpass  all  the  rest  in  so  strange  a  degree,  as  we 
for  ir  part,  and  we  suppose  the  whole  world  besides,  cannot  but  think  them  to 
have  therein  gone  so  far  beyond  the  duty  of  subjects  as  must  needs  remain  to 
their  perpetual  tauche  for  ever.  And  therefore  ye  shall  say,  that  we  have  tho't 
good  without  consuming  any  longer  time  in  vain,  to  revoke  you  to  our  pre- 
sence, requiring  them  to  grant  you  liscence  and  pasport  so  to  do,  which  when 
you  shall  have  obtained,  we  will  that  you  make  your  repair  hither  unto  us 
with  as  convenient  speed  as  you  may.     Given,  &c. 

Indorsed,  6th  August,  1567. 

Throkmorton  to  the  Right  Honourable  Sir  William  Cecil,  Knight,  one  of  her 
Majesty's  Privy  Council  and  Principal  Secretary,  give  these. 

112th  Aug.  1567.  Paper  Office.  From  the  original.] 
SIE, 
What  I  have  learned,  since  the  arrival  of  My  Lord  of  Murray  and  Mons.  de 
I.innerol,  you  shall  understand  by  my  letter  to  Her  Majesty  at  this  time.  The 
French  do,  in  their  negotiations,  as  they  do  in  their  drink,  put  water  to  theii 
wine.  As  I  am  able  to  see  into  their  doings,  they  take  it  not  greatly  to  the 
heart  how  the  Queen  sleep,  whether  she  live  or  die,  whether  she  be  at  liberty  oj 
in  prizon.  The  mark  they  shoot  at  is,  to  renew  their  eld  league  ;  and  can  be  as 
well  contented  to  take  it  of  this  little  King  (howsoever  his  title  be),  and  the 
same  by  the  order  of  these  lords,  as  otherwise.  Lyneroll  came  but  yesterday, 
and  me  thinketh  he  will  not  tarry  long  ;  you  may  guess  how  the  French  will 
seek  to  displease  these  lords,  when  they  changed  the  coming  of  la  Chapelle  des 
Oursins  for  this  man,  because  they  doubted  that  de  la  Chapelle  should  not  be 
grateful  to  them,  being  a  Papist  Sir,  to  speak  more  plainly  to  you  than  I  will 
do  otherwise,  me  thinketh  the  Earl  of  Murray  will  run  the  course  that  those 
men  do,  and  be  partaker  of  their  fortune.  I  hear  no  man  speak  more  bitterly 
against  the  tragedy,  and  the  players  therein,  than  he,  so  little  like  he  hath  to 
horrible  sins.  I  hear  an  inkling  that  Ledington  is  to  go  into  France,  which  1  do 
as  much  mislike  as  any  thing  for  our  purpose.  I  can  assure  you  the  whole 
Protestants  of  France  will  live  and  die  in  these  men's  quarrels  ;  and,  where 
there  is  bruit  amonggt  you,  that  aid  should  be  sent  to  the  adverse  party,  and 
that  Martigues   should   come   hither  with    some  force  ;  Mens.  Baudelot  hath 


3yo  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND. 

assured  me  of  his  honour  that,  instead  of  Martigues  coming  against  them,  Oe 
will  come  with  as  good  a  force  to  succour  them  :  and  if  that  be  sent  under 
meaner  conduct.  Robert  Stuart  shall  come  with  as  many  to  fortify  them.  But 
the  constable  hath  assured  these  lords,  that  the  King  meaneth  no  way  to  offend 
them.  Sir,  I  pray  you  find  my  revocation  convenient,  and  speed  you  to  furthei 
it,  for  I  am  here  now  to  no  purpose,  unless  it  be  to  kindle  these  lords  more 
against  us.  Thus  I  do  humbly  take  my  leave  of  you,  from  Edinburgh,  the 
'2th  of  August,  1567. 

Y  >    rs  to  use  and  command. 

The  Queen  to  Nicholas  Throkmorton. 

Trusty  and  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  We  have,  within  these  two 
days,  received  three  sundry  letters  of  yours,  of  the  20th,  22d,  and  23d  of  this 
month,  having  not  before  those  received  any  seven  days  before  ;  and  do  find,  by 
these  your  letters,  that  you  have  very  diligently  and  largely  advertised  us  of  all 
the  hasty  and  peremptory  proceedings  there  ;  which  as  we  nothing  like,  so  we 
trust  in  time  to  see  them  wax  colder,  and  to  receive  some  reformation.  For  we 
cannot  perceive  that  they  with  whom  you  have  dealt  can  answer  the  doubts 
moved  by  the  Ilamiltons,  who  howsoever  they  may  be  carried  for  their  private 
respects,  yet  those  things  which  they  move  will  be  allowed  by  all  reasonable 
persons.  For  if  they  may  not,  being  noblemen  of  the  realm,  be  suffered  to  hear 
the  Queen  their  sovereign  declare  her  mind  concerning  the  reports  which  are 
made  of  her,  by  such  as  keep  her  in  captivity,  how  should  they  believe  the 
reports,  or  obey  them,  which  do  report  it  ?  and  therefore  our  meaning  is,  you 
shall  let  the  Ilamiltons  plainly  understand  that  we  do  well  allow  of  their  pro- 
ceedings (as  far  forth  as  the  same  doth  concern  the  Queen  their  sovereign  for 
her  relief),  and  in  such  things  as  shall  appear  reasonable  for  us  therein  to  do  for 
the  Queen  our  sister,  we  will  be  ready  to  perform  the  same.  And  where  it  is 
so  required,  that  upon  your  coming  thence,  the  Lord  Scroope  should  deal  with 
the  Lord  Herris  to  impart  their  meanings  to  us,  and  ours  to  them  ;  we  are 
well  pleased  therewith,  and  we  require  you  to  advertize  the  Lord  Scroope 
hereof  by  your  letters,  and  to  will  him  to  show  himself  favourable  to  them  in 
their  actions,  that  may  appear  plainly  to  tend  to  the  relief  of  the  Queen,  and 
maintenance  of  her  authority.  And  as  we  willed  our  secretary  to  write  unto 
you,  that  upon  your  message  done  to  the  Earl  of  Murray,  you  might  return,  so 
our  meaning  is  you  shall.  And  if  these  our  letters  shall  meet  you  on  the  way, 
yet  we  will  have  you  advertise  both  the  Lord  Scroope  and  the  ilamiltons  ot 
our  meaning. 

Indorsed.  29  Aug.  1567. 

No.  XXIII.  (p.  175.) 

Sir  Nicholas  Throkmorton  to  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews  and  the  Abbot 

of  Arbrothe. 

113th  Aug.  t567.    Paper  Office.    From  a  copy  which  Sir  Nicholas  sent  to  the  Queen.] 

After  my  good  commendations  to  Your  good  Lordships,  this  shall  be  to 
advertize  you  that  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  sovereign  having  sent  rne  hither  her 
ambassador  to  the  Queen  her  sister  your  sovereign,  to  communicate  unto  her 
such  matter  as  she  thought  meet,  considering  the  good  amity  and  intelligence 
betwixt  them,  who  being  detained  in  captivity  (as  your  Lordships  know)  con- 
trary to  the  duty  of  all  good  subjects,  for  the  enlargement  of  whose  person,  and 
the  restitution  of  her  to  her  dignity,  Her  Majesty  gave  me  in  charge  to  treat 
with  these  lords,  assembled  at  Edenburgh.  offering  them  all  reasonable  condi- 
tions and  means  as  might  be,  for  the  safeguard  -f  the  young  Prince,  the  punish- 
ment of  the  late  horrible  murder  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage  betwixt  the 
Queen  and  the  Earl  of  Bodwell,  and  lastly  for  their  own  sureties.  In  the  nego 
tiation  of  which  matters  I  have  (as  Your  Lordships  well  know)  spent  a  long 
time  to  no  purpose,  not  being  able  to  prevail  in  any  thing  with  those  lords  to 
the  Queen  my  sovereign's  satisfaction.     Of  which  strange  proceedings  towards 


APPENDIX,   No.   XXIV  391 

Her  Majesty  and  undu:iful  behaviour  towards  their  sovereign,  J  have  adver 
tised  the  Queen's  Maje.-ty,  she  not  being  minded  to  bear  this  indignity)  hath 
given  me  in  charge  to  declare  her  further  pleasure  unto  them,  in  such  sort  as 
they  may  well  perceive  Her  Majesty  doth  disallow  of  their  proceedings,  ana 
thereupon  hath  revoked  me.  And  further  hath  given  me  in  charge  to  cominu 
nicate  the  same  unto  Your  Lordships,  requiring  you  to  let  me  know,  before  my 
departure  hence  (which  shall  be,  God  willing,  as  soon  as  I  have  received 
answer  from  you)  what  you  and  your  confederates  will  assuredly  do,  to  set  the 
Queen  your  sovereign  at  liberty,  and  to  restore  her  to  her  former  dignity  by 
force  or  otherwise  ;  seeing  these  lords  have  refused  all  other  mediation,  to  the 
end  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  sovereign  may  concur  with  your  Lordships  in 
this  honourable  enterprize. 

And  in  case,  through  the  dispersion  of  your  associates,  Your  Lordships  can 
neither  communicate  this  matter  amongst  you,  nor  receive  resolution  of  them  all 
by  that  time,  it  may  please  you  to  send  me  the  opinion  of  so  many  of  you  as 
may  confer  together  within  two  or  three  days,  so  as  I  may  have  your  answer  here 
in  this  town  by  Monday  or  Tuesday  next  at  the  farthest,  being  the  19th  of  this 
August ;  for  I  intend  (God  willing)  to  depart  towards  England  upon  Wednesday 
following.  Thus  I  most  humbly  take  my  leave  of  Your  Lordships  at  Eden 
bu'gh,  the  13th  of  Aug.  1567. 

Indorsed  the  13th  of  Aug.  1567. 

Sir  Nicholas  Throkmorton  to  the  Lord  Herryi. 
[24th  Aug.  1567.    Paper  Office.    From  a  copy  which  Sir  Nicholas  sent  to  Secretary  Cecil,  j 

Your  good  Lordship's  letter  of  the  13th  of  August  I  have  received  the  19th  of 
the  same.  For  answer  whereunto  it  may  like  Your  Lordship  to  understand,  that 
I  will  signify  unto  you  plainly,  how  far  forth  1  am  already  thoroughly  instructed 
of  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  sovereign's  pleasure  concerning  the  detention  of  the 
Queen  your  sovereign,  and  concerning  her  relief. 

To  the  first  Her  Majesty  hath  given  in  charge,  to  use  all  kinds  of  persuasion 
in  her  name,  to  move  these  lords  assembled  at  Edenburgh  to  desist  from  this 
violent  and  undutiful  behaviour,  which  they  use  towards  their  sovereign.  And 
in  this  part,  besides  the  shew  of  many  reasons  and  sundry  persuasions  of  ami- 
cable treaty  with  them,  Her  Majesty  hath  willed  me  to  use  some  plain  and 
severe  speech  unto  them,  tending  so  far  forth  as  if  they  would  not  be  better 
advised,  and  reform  these  their  outrageous  proceedings  exercised  against  their 
sovereign,  that  then  they  might  be  assured  Her  Majesty  neither  would  nor 
could  endure  such  an  indignity  to  be  done  to  the  Queen,  her  good  cousin  and 
neighbour. 

And  notwithstanding  these  my  proceedings  with  them,  they  have  made  proof 
to  be  little  moved  thereby  ;  for  as  yet  neither  will  they  consent  to  the  enlarge- 
ment, neither  suffer  me  to  speak  with  her.  So  as  it  seemeth  to  me,  it  is  super- 
fluous to  treat  any  more  with  them  after  this  manner.  Whereupon  I  have 
advertised  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  sovereign,  expecting  daily  her  Majesty's 
further  order  ;  and  as  I  shall  be  advertised  thereof,  so  will  not  fail  to  signify  the 
same  to  Your  good  Lordship  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  will  advertise  Her  Majesty 
also  what  Your  Lordship  hath  written  unto  me.  Thus  with  my  due  commen- 
dations to  Your  good  Lordship,  I  commit  the  same  to  Almighty  God,  resting 
always  to  do  you  the  pleasure  and  service  that  I  can  lawfully.  At  Edenburgh. 
Indorsed  24th  of  August,  1567. 

No.  XXIV.  (p.  180.) 
Account  of  Lord  Herreis's  Behaiiour  in  the  Parliament  held  December  15,  1667. 

[Paper  Office.] 

The  Lord  Herrys  made  a  notable  harangue  in  the  name  of  the  Duke  and 
himself,  their  friends  and  adherents,  (the  Duke  himself,  the  Earl  of  Cassilles,  and 
the  Abbot  of  Kilwinning  being  also  present)  to  persuade  the  union  of  the  whole 


392  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

realm  in  one  mind.  Wherein  he  did  not  spare  to  set  forth  solemnly  the  great 
praise  that  part  of  this  nobility  did  deserve,  which  in  the  beginning  took  meanes 
for  punishment  of  the  Earl  Bothwell,  as  also  seeing  the  Queen's  inordinat 
affection  to  that  wicked  man,  and  that  she  could  not  be  induced  by  their  per- 
suasion to  leave  him,  that  in  sequestring  her  person  within  Lochleven,  they 
did  the  duty  of  noblemen.  That  their  honourable  doings,  which  had  not 
spared  to  hazard  their  lives  and  lands,  to  avenge  their  native  country  from  the 
slanderous  reports  that  were  spoken  of  it  among  other  nations,  had  well  deserved 
that  all  their  brethren  should  join  with  them  in  so  good  a  cause.  That  he  and 
they,  in  whose  names  he  did  speak,  would  willingly,  and  without  any  compul- 
sion, enter  themselves  in  the  same  yoke,  and  put  their  lives  and  lands  in  the 
like  hazard  for  maintenance  of  our  cause.  And  if  the  Queen  herself  were  in 
Scotland,  accompanied  with  20,000  men,  they  will  be  of  the  same  mind,  and 
fight  in  our  quarrel.  He  hoped  the  remainder  noblemen  of  their  party,  Huntly, 
Arguile,  and  others,  which  had  not  as  yet  acknowledged  the  King,  would  come 
to  the  same  conformity,  whereunto  he  would  also  earnestly  move  them.  And 
if  they  will  remain  obstinate,  and  refuse  to  qualify  themselves,  then  will  the 
Duke,  he  and  their  friends,  join  with  us  to  correct  them  that  otherwise  will  not 
reform  themselves.  So  plausible  an  oration,  and  more  advantageous  for  our 
party,  none  of  ourselves  could  have  made.  He  did  not  forget  to  term  My  Lord 
Regent  by  the  name  of  Regent  (there  was  no  mention  at  all  of  the  Earl  of 
Murray),  and  to  call  him  Grace  at  every  word,  when  his  speeches  were  directed 
to  him,  accompanying  all  his  words  with  low  courtesies  after  hi.3  manner. 

No.  XXV.  (p.  188.) 
Queen  Mary  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
ICott.  Lib.  Cal.  i.    A  copy,  and  probably  a  translation.] 

Madam, 

Although  the  necessity  of  my  cause  (which  maketh  me  to  be  importune  lo 
you)  do  make  you  to  judge  that  I  am  out  of  the  way  ;  yet  such  as  have  not 
my  passion,  nor  the  respects  whereof  you  are  persuaded,  will  think  that  I  do 
as  my  cause  doth  require.  Madam,  I  have  not  accused  you,  neither  in  words 
nor  in  thought,  to  have  used  yourself  evil  towards  me.  And  I  believe  that  you 
have  no  want  of  good  understanding  to  keep  you  from  perswasion  against  your 
natural  good  inclination.  But  in  the  mean  time  I  can't  chuse  (having  my 
senses)  but  perceive  very  evil  furtherance  in  my  matters  since  my  coming 
hither.  I  thought  that  I  had  sufficiently  discoursed  unto  you  the  discommodi- 
ties which  this  delay  bringeth  unto  me.  And  especially  that  they  think  in  this 
next  month  of  August  to  hold  a  parliament  against  me  and  all  my  servants. 
And  in  the  mean  time,  I  am  stayed  here,  and  yet  will  you,  that  I  should  put 
myself  forther  into  your  country  (without  seeing  you),  and  remove  me  further 
from  mine  ;  and  there  do  me  this  dishonour  at  the  request  of  my  rebels,  as  to 
send  commissioners  to  hear  them  against  me,  as  you  wold  do  to  a  mere  subject, 
and  not  hear  me  by  mouth.  Now,  madam,  I  have  promised  you  to  come  to 
you,  and  having  there  made  my  moan  and  complaint  of  these  rebels,  and  they 
coining  thither,  not  as  possessors,  but  as  subjects  to  answer.  I  would  have 
besought  you  to  hear  my  justification  of  that  which  they  have  falsely  set  forth 
against  me,  and  if  I  could  not  purge  myself  thereof,  you  might  then  discharge 
y&ur  hands  of  my  causes,  and  let  me  go  for  such  as  I  am.  But  to  do  as  you 
say,  if  I  were  culpable  I  would  be  better  advised ;  but  being  not  so,  I  can't  ac- 
cept this  dishonour  at  their  hands,  that  being  in  possession  they  will  come  and 
accuse  me  before  your  commissioners,  whereof  I  can't  like  :  and  seeing  you 
think  it  to  be  against  your  honour  and  consignage  to  do  otherwise,  I  beseech 
you  that  you  will  not  be  mine  enemy  until  you  may  see  how  I  can  discharge 
myself  every  way,  and  to  suffer  me  to  go  into  France,  where  I  have  a  dowry  to 
maintain  me  ;  or  at  least  to  go  into  Scotland,  with  assurance  that  if  there  come 
any  strangers  thither,  I  will  bind  myself  for  their  return  without  any  prejudice 
to  you,  or  if  it  pleis  you  not  to  do  thus,  I  protest  that  I  will  not  impute  it  to 
falsehood  if  I  receive  strangers  in  my  country  without  making  you  any  othet 


AfPKN  flX,    No.    XXV  (  393 

discharge  for  it.  Do  with  my  body  as  you  will,  the  honour  or  blame  shall  be 
yours.  For  I  had  rather  die  here,  and  that  my  faithful  servants  may  be  sue 
coured  (tho'  you  would  not  so)  by  strangers,  than  to  suffer  them  to  be  utterly 
undone,  upon  hope  to  receive  in  time  to  come,  particular  commodity.  There 
be  many  things  to  move  me  to  fear  that  I  shall  have  to  do  in  this  country  with 
others  than  with  you.  But  forasmuch  as  nothing  hath  followed  up  my  la6t 
moan,  1  hold  my  oeace,  happen  what  may  hap.  I  have  as  leef  to  f  Jnd!u*f  my 
fortune  as  to  seek  it,  and  not  find  it.  Further,  it  pleased  you  to  give  license  to 
my  subjects  to  <,*o  and  come.  This  has  been  refused  by  My  Lord  Scroop  and 
Mr.  Knolls  (as  ihey  say)  by  your  commandment,  because  I  would  not  depart 
hence  to  your  charge,  untill  1  had  answer  of  this  letter,  tho'  I  shewed  them,  tha  i 
)»u  required  my  answer  upon  the  two  points  contained  in  your  letter. 

The  one  is  to  let  you  briefly  understand  1  am  come  to  you  to  make  my  moan 
to  you,  the  which  being  heard,  I  would  declare  unto  you  mine  innocency,  and 
then  require  your  aid,  and  for  lack  thereof,  1  can't  but  make  my  moan  and  com- 
plaint to  God  that  I  am  not  heard  in  my  just  quarrel,  and  to  appeal  to  other 
Princes  to  have  respect  thereunto  as  my  case  requireth  ;  a.nd  to  you,  madam, 
first  of  all  when  you  shall  have  examined  your  conscience  before  him,  and  have 

him  for  witness. And  the  other,  which  is  to  come  further  into  your  country, 

and  not  to  come  to  your  presence,  I  will  esteem  that  as  no  favour,  but  will  take 
it  for  the  contrary,  obeying  it  as  a  thing  forced.  In  mean  time,  I  beseech  you 
to  return  to  me  my  Lord  Herries,  for  I  can't  be  without  him,  having  none  of 
my  counsal  here,  and  also  to  suffer  me,  if  it  please  you,  without  further  delay, 
to  depart  hence  whithersoever  it  be  out  of  this  country'.  I  am  sure  you  will  not 
deny  me  this  simple  request  for  your  honour's  sake,  seeing  it  doth  not  please 
you  to  use  your  natural  goodness  towards  me  otherwise,  and  seeing  that  of 
mine  own  accord  1  am  come  hither,  let  me  depart  again  with  yours.  And  if 
God  permit  my  causes  to  succeed  well,  1  shall  be  bound  to  you  for  it ;  and  hap- 
pening otherwise,  yet  I  can't  blame  you.  As  for  My  Lord  Fleeming,  seeing 
that  upon  my  credit  you  have  suffered  him  to  go  home  to  his  house,  I  warrant 
you  he  shall  pass  no  further,  but  shall  return  when  it  shall  please  you.  In  that 
you  trust  me  I  will  not  (to  die  for  it)  deceive  you.  But  from  [perhaps  for] 
Dumbarton  I  answer  not,  when  my  L.  Fleeming  shall  be  in  the  Tower.  For 
they  which  are  within  it  will  not  forbear  to  receive  succour  if  I  don't  assure 
them  of  yours  ;  no,  tho'  you  would  charge  me  withal,  for  I  have  left  them  in 
charge  ;  to  have  more  respect  to  my  servants  and  to  my  estate  than  to  my  life. 
Good  sister,  be  of  another  mind,  win  the  heart,  and  all  shall  be  yours,  and  at 
your  commandment.  1  thought  to  satisfy  you  wholly,  if  I  might  have  seen 
you.  Alas  !  do  not  as  the  serpent,  that  stoppeth  his  hearing,  for  I  am  no 
enchanter,  but  your  sister,  and  natural  cousin.  If  Cassar  had  not  disdained 
to  hear  or  read  the  complaint  of  an  advertiser,  he  had  not  so  died  ;  why  should 
Princes'  ears  be  stopped,  seeing  that  they  are  painted  so  long?  meaning  that 
they  should  hear  all  and  be  well  advised  before  they  answer.  I  am  not  of  the 
nature  of  the  basilisk,  and  less  of  the  chamelion,  to  turn  you  to  my  likeness, 
nnd  tho'  I  should  be  so  dangerous  and  curs'd  as  men  say,  you  are  sufficiently 
irmed  with  constancy  and  with  justice,  which  I  require  of  God,  who  give 
ou  grace  to  use  it  well  with  long  and  happy  life.  From  Carlisle,  the  5th  of 
July,  1568. 

No.  XXVI.  (p.  189.) 
Part  of  a  Letter  from  Sir  Francis  Knollys  to  Cecil,  Qth  Aug.  1568,  from  Bolton. 

[An  Original.     Paper  Office.] 

— But  surely  this  Queen  doth  seem,  outwardly,  not  only  to  favour  the  form, 
but  also  the  chief  article  of  the  religion  of  the  gospel,  namely,  justification  by 
faith  only:  and  she  heareth  the  faults  of  papestry  revealed  by  preaching  or 
otherwise  with  contented  ears,  and  with  gentle  and  weak  replys,  and  she  doth 
not  seem  to  like  the  worse  of  religion  thro'v  me. 


Vox..  III.— SO 


394  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAI*  U. 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Sir  Francis  Knollys  to  Cecil,  21  Sep.  1568,  from  Bolton 

•It  came  to  this  Queen's  ears  oflate  that  she  was  bruited  to  be  lately  turnod 
to  the  religion  of  the  gospell,  to  the  great  disliking  of  the  Papists  hereabouts, 
which  thing  she  herself  confessed  unto  me,  and  yesterday,  openly  in  the  great 
chamber,  when  the  assembly  was  full,  and  some  Papists  present,  she  took  occa 
sion  to  speak  of  religion,  and  then  openly  she  professed  herself  to  be  of  the 
Papist  religion,  and  took  upon  her  to  patronize  the  same  more  earnestly  than 
she  had  done  a  great  while  afore,  altho'  her  defences  and  arguments  were  so 
weak  that  the  effect  of  her  speech  was  only  to  show  her  zeal ;  and  afterwards 
to  me  alone,  when  I  misliked  to  see  her  become  so  confidently  backward  in 
religion,  Why,  said  she,  would  you  have  me  to  lose  France  and  Spain,  and  all 
my  friends  in  other  places,  by  seeming  to  change  my  religion,  and  yet  I  am  not 
assured  the  Queen  my  good  sister  will  be  my  assured  friend,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  my  honour  and  expectation? 

No.  XXVII.  (p.  189.) 

4  Letter  from  My  Lord  Herries  to  My  Lord  Scroop  and  Sir  F.  Knoliy$, 

Sept.  3d,  1568. 

[Cott.  Lib.  Cal  C.     An  original  in  bis  own  hand.] 

Mt  Lords,  pleasit  Your  Honourable  Lordships,  I  am  informed  by  James 
Borthwick,  lately  come  from  the  Queen's  Majesty  your  soverane,  that  his 
schawin  to  Her  Highness  I  shuld  have  ridden  in  Crafurdmure,  sen  my  last 
cuming  into  this  realm,  upon  the  Earl  of  Murray's  dependants.  And  that  I 
suld  have  causit,  or  been  of  counsall  to  Scottismen  to  have  ridden  in  Ingland,  to 
slay  or  spulzie  Her  Majesty's  subjects. 

My  Lords,  I  thought  it  right  needful  because  Your  Lordships  is,  by  your  sover- 
ane, commanded  to  attend  upon  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  mistress,  so  having  daily 
access  i  i  thir  matters,  to  declare  upon  the  truth  ;  humbly  desiring  that  Your 
Lordships  will,  for  God's  cause,  certificate  the  Queen  your  soverane  the  same 

As  God  lives,  I  have  neither  consented,  nor  anywise  had  knowledge  of  any 
Scottisman's  riding  in  England,  to  do  the  subjects  thereof  hurl  in  bodies  oi 
goods,  sene  the  siege  of  Leith  ;  and  as  I  understand  it  shall  be  fund  true,  that 
gif  ony  sic  open  hurt  be  done,  it  is  by  the  Queen  my  sovereign's  disobedients, 
and  that  I  have  not  ridden  nor  hurt  no  Scottishman,  nor  commanded  no  hurt 
to  be  done  to  them,  sen  my  coming  from  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England,  it  is 
well  kend,  for  that  never  ane  will  complain  of  me. 

I  have  done  more  good  to  Crawfurdmure  nor  ever  the  Earl  of  Murray  has 
done,  and  will  be  loather  to  do  them  any  harm  than  he  will.  Except  the  Queen's 
Majesty  your  sovereign,  command  sic  false  reports  to  be  tryit,  quhereof  this  is 
altogidder  an  inventit  leasing,  Her  Grace  sail  be  trublit,  and  tyne  the  hearts  of 
true  men  here,  quhom  of  sic  report  sail  be  made,  that  baieth  would  serve  hir, 
and  may,  better  than  they  unworthy  liars. 

My  Lords,  I  understand  the  Queen's  Majesty  your  sovereign  is  not  contented 
of  this  bruite,  that  there  should  ony  Frenchman  come  in  this  realm,  with  the 
Duke  of  Chettelherault.  Truth  it  is,  I  am  no  manner  of  way  the  counsall  of 
their  cuming,  nor  has  no  sic  certainty  thereof,  as  I  hear  by  Borthwick's  report, 
from  the  Queen's  Majesty  your  sovereign.  And  gif  I  might  as  well  say  it,  as  it 
is  true  indeed,  Her  Grace's  self  is  all  the  wyitt,  and  the  counsall  that  will  never 
let  her  take  order  with  my  maistress'  cause.  For  that  our  Sovereign  havand 
Her  Majesty's  promise,  be  writing,  of  luff,  friendship,  and  assistance  gif  need 
had  so  requirit,  enterit  that  realm,  upon  the  16  day  of  May,  sen  that  time  the 
Queen's  Majesty  has  commanded  me  diverse  times  to  declare  she  would  accept 
her  cause,  and  do  for  her,  and  to  put  her  in  peaceable  possession  of  this  realme, 
and  when  I  required  of  Her  Majesty,  in  my  rnaistress'  name,  that  Her  Highness 
would  either  do  for  her,  (as  her  special  trust  was  she  wold.)  according  to  her 
former  promises,  or  otherwise  give  ber  counsal,  wold  not  consent  (as  I  show 
Her  Grace  I  fand  diverse  repugnant.)  then  that  she  would  permit  her  to  paao 


APPENDIX,    No.    XXVII.  394 

in  France,  or  to  some  other  Prince  to  seek  support,  or  failing  hereof,  (quhilk 
was  agains  all  reason,)  that  she  would  permit  her  to  return  in  her  awin  countrie. 
in  sic  sempil  manner  as  she  came  out  of  it,  and  said  to  Her  Majesty  ane  of  thir. 
for  her  honour  would  not  be  refusit,  seeand  that  she  was  corned  in  hur  realm 
upon  her  writings  and  promises  of  friendship.  And  sicliite,  J  said  to  Her  High- 
ness, gif  my  maistress  had  the  like  promise  of  her  nobility  and  estates,  as  she 
had  of  herself,  I  should  have  reprovit,  them  highly,  gif  they  had  not  condescendit 
to  one  of  thir  three,  and  so  I  say,  and  so  I  write,  that  in  the  warld  it  shall  be 
maist  reprehendable,  gif  this  promise  taketh  not  other  good  effect,  nor  yet  it 
does.  Notwithstanding,  I  get  gud  answer  of  thir  promises  of  friendship  made 
to  my  sovereign,  and  to  put  her  Grace  in  this  her  awin  countrie  peaceably,  we 
have  fund  the  contrary  working  by  Mr.  Middlemore  directit  from  Her  Highni  ss 
to  stay  the  army  that  cuist  down  our  houses.  And  alsua,  in  the  proceeding  of 
this  late  pretendit  Parliament,  promised  twenty  days  before  the  time  to  myself 
to  have  caused  it  been  dischargit.  And  yet  contrary  to  this  promise,  have  they 
made  their  pretendit  manner  of  forfaulture  of  31  men  of  guid  reputation, 
bishops,  abbottis,  and  baronis,  obedient  subjects  to  our  sovereign,  only  for 
her  cause. 

They  have  also  disponit,  sen  our  sovereign's  cause  was  taken  upon  hand  be 
the  Queen's  majesty  of  that  realm,  an  hundred  thousand  pound  Scots  worth  of 
her  awin  true  subjects  geir,  under  the  color  of  the  law,  groundit  upon  their  false, 
treasonable,  stowin,  authority. 

The  murders,  the  oppressions,  the  burnings,  the  ravishing  of  women,  the 
destruction  of  policy,  both  ecclesiastical  and  temporal,  in  this  mean  time,  as  in 
my  former  writings  I  said  it  was  lamentable  to  ony  Christian  man  to  hear  of, 
except  God  gif  grace,  the  profession  of  the  evangile  of  Jesus  Christ  professit 
be  your  Prince,  counsall  and  realme,  be  mair  myndit,  nor  the  auld  inamity  that 
has  stand  betwixt  the  realms,  many  of  my  countrymen  will  doubt  in  this  article, 
and  their  proceedings  puttis  myself  in  Sanct  Thomas  belief. 

Now,  My  Lords,  gif  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  that  realm,  upon  quhais  promis 
and  honour  my  maistress  came  there,  as  I  have  said,  will  ieave  all  the  French 
writings,  and  French  phrases  of  writings,  quhilks  amongis  them  is  over  rneikle 
on  baith  the  sides  unfit,  and  plainly,  according  to  the  auld  true  custom  of  Ing- 
land  and  Scotland,  quherein  be  a  word  promist  truth  was  observ'd,  promise,  in 
the  name  of  the  eternal  God,  and  upon  the  high  honour  of  that  nobill  and 
princely  blude  of  the  Kings  of  Ingland,  quhereof  she  is  descendit,  and  presently 
wears  the  diadem,  that  she  will  put  my  maistress  in  her  awin  country,  and 
cause  her  as  Queen  thereof  in  her  authority  and  strength  to  be  obeyit,  and  to 
do  the  same  will  appoint  an  certain  day  within  t.vo  months  at  the  farthest,  as 
we  understand  this  to  be  our  weil,  sua  will  we,  or  the  maist  part  of  us  all,  follow 
upon  it,  leaving  the  Frenchmen,  and  their  evil  French  phrases  togidder.  And 
therefore,  and  for  the  true  perpetual  friendship  of  that  realm,  will  condition, 
and  for  our  part,  with  the  grace  of  Almighty  God,  keep  sic  heads  and  conditions 
of  agreement,  as  noble  and  wise  men  can  condescend  upon,  for  the  weill  of  this 
hail  island.  As  I  have  been  partlings  declaring  to  the  Queen  your  sovereign, 
quhilk  I  show  to  Your  Lordships  selfis  both  in  religion,  in  the  punishment  of 
the  Earl  Bothwile,  for  the  Queen's  last  husband's  slaughter,  and  for  a  mutual 
band  of  amity  perpetually  to  remain  amangis  us. 

Doubtless,  My  Lords,  without  that,  we  may  find  sic  time  and  friendly  working, 
as  may  give  us  occasion  baith  to  forgette  Middlemore  and  his  late  pretendit 
Parliament,  we  will  turn  the  leaf,  leaving  our  sovereign  agains  our  will  to  rest 
where  she  is,  'inder  the  promise  of  friendship,  as  I  have  baith  said,  and  will  ever 
affirm,  made  by  your  sovereign,  quhilk  was  only  cause  of  Her  Grace's  coming 
in  that  realme,  and  seek  the  help  and  moyen  of  French,  or  Spanish,  I'll  expulse 
this  treasonable  and  false  pretendit  authority,  quhilk  means  to  reign  above  us. 

My  Lords,  I  desire  Your  Lordships  consider,  that  it  is  he,  that  maist  desires 
the  amity  betwixt  Ingland  and  Scotland  to  continue,  and  of  a  poor  man  best 
cause  has.  that  writ  this. 

My  brother,  the  Laird  of  Skirlm;;.  schaws  me,  that  in  Your  Lordships  com- 
muning with  him,  it  appearit  to  him,  your  mind  was  we  shold  buffer  the  Earl 
of  Murray  to  work,  altho'  ii  were  agains  reason  to  us,  and  compiain  thereof 
i,o  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  Her  Highness  wald  see  it  reformit.     My  Lords, 


396  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

Her  Majesty  will  be  over  meikle  troublit  to  reform  the  wranges  we  have  bu* 
tainit  already.  For  I  am  sure,  gif  reason  ai;d  justice  may  have  place,  our 
maistress,  and  we  her  subjects,  have  received  express  wrang,  far  above  twe 
Hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling,  in  the  time  of  this  unhappy  government, 
seeing  the  reformation  of  sa  great  causes,  comes,  now  a  days,  so  siowlie,  and 
the  ungodly  law  of  oblivion  in  sic  matters  so  meikle  practis'd,  I  think,  nowther 
for  the  Queen's  honour,  nor  our  vveil,  Your  Lordships  would  sua  mean,  nor 
that  it  is  good  to  us  to  follow  it.  And  that  ye  will  give  your  Sovereign  sic 
advertisement  thereof,  as  your  good  wisdoms  shall  find  in  this  cause  meet.  It 
will  be  true  and  frindful  working  for  us,  indeed,  and  nowther  French  phrases 
nor  boasting,  and  finding  little  other  effect,  that  will  cause  us  to  hold  a  way  tin 
Frenchmen.  This  is  plainly  written,  and  1  desire  Your  Lordships  plain  answer, 
for  in  truth  and  plainness  langest  continues  gud  friendship,  quhilk  in  this  matter 
I  pray  God  may  lang  continue,  and  have  Your  Lordships  in  his  keeping.  Ofl 
Dumfreis,  the  3d  day  of  September,  1568. 

Your  Lordships  at  my  power  to  command  leifully, 

HERRIS. 

Queen  Mary  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 

[1568.    Cott.  Lib.  Cal.  1.     An  original.] 

Madame  ma  bonne  soeur.  J'ay  resceu  de  vos  lettres,  d'une  mesme  dete ; 
Pune,  ou  vous  faites  mention  de  l'excuse  de  Monsi.  de  Murra  pour  tenir  son 
pretendu  parlement,  qui  me  semble  bien  froid,  pour  obtenir  plus  de  tollman  -e 
que  je  m'estois  persuaded  n'avoir  par  vostre  promesse,  quant  a  n'osser  donner 
commission  de  venir  sans  un  parlement  pour  leur  peu  de  nombre  de  noblesse 
.ilors,  je  vous  respons,  qu'ils  n'ont  que  trois  ou  quatre  d'avantage,  qui  eussent 
aussi  bien  dit  leur  opinion  hors  de  parlement,  qui  n'a  este  tenu  tant  pour  cette 
affect,  mais  pour  faire  ce  qu'expressement  nous  avions  requis  estrc  empescbes, 
qui  est  la  forfalture  de  mes  subjects  pour  m'avoir  estes  fidelles,  ce  que  je  m'as- 
surois,  jusques  a  heir,  avoir  eu  en  promesse  de  vous,  par  la  lettre  ecrite  a  Mi 
Lord  Scrup  e  Maistre  Knoleis  vous  induire  a  ire  contre  eulx,  voire,  a  les  ensayre 
resentir ;  toutefois  je  vois  que  je  Fay  mal  pris,  j'en  suis  plus  marrie,  pour  ce 
que  sur  votre  lettre  qu'il  me  montrerent,  et  leur  parole,  je  l'ay  si  divulguement 
assuray  que  pour  vengeance  que  j'en  desirasse,  si  non  mettre  difference  entre 
leur  faux  deportemens,  et  les  miens  sinceres.  Dans  vostre  lettre  aussi  datee 
du  10»ie  d'Aoust,  vous  metties  ces  mots  :  "  I  think  your  adverse  party,  upon 
my  sundry  former  advices,  will  hold  no  Parliament  at  all  ;  and  if  they  do,  it 
shall  be  only  in  form  of  an  assembly  to  accord  whom  to  send  into  this  realm, 
and  in  what  sort  ;  for  otherwise,  if  they  shall  proceed  in  manner  of  a  Parlia- 
ment, with  any  act  of  judgment  against  any  person,  I  shall  not,  in  any  wise. 
a..ow  thereof;  and  if  they  shall  be  so  overseen,  then  you  may  think  the  same 
to  be  of  no  other  moment,  than  the  former  procedures ;  and  by  such  their  rash 
manner  of  proceeding,  they  shall  most  prejudice  themselves  ;  and  be  assured 
to  find  me  ready  to  condemn  them,  in  their  doings."  Sur  quoy,  j'ay  contre- 
mande  mes  serviteurs,  les  faissant  retirer,  souffrant  selon  vostre  commandemerit 
d'etre  faussement  nomm^s  traitres,  par  ceulx  qui  le  sont  de  vray  :  et  encode 
d'etre  provoqu^s  par  escarmons  dies,  et  par  prinses  de  mes  gens  et  lettres,  et  au 
coutraire  vous  etes  informee  que  mes  subjects  ont  evahis  les  vostres,  Madame, 
qui  a  fait  ce  rapport  nest  pas  homme  de  liien,  car  Laird  de  Sesford  et  son  fils 
sont  et  ont  estes  mes  rebelles  depuis  le  commencement ;  enquires  vous,  s'lls 
n'estoient  a  Donfris  aveques  eulx,  j'avois  offri  respondre  de  la  frontiere,  ce  qui 
me  fut  refuse,  ce  qui  m'en  devroit  asses  descharger.  neanmoins,  pour  vous  faire 
preuve  de  ma  fid<§lite\  et  de  leur  falsity,  s'il  vous  fayte  dormer  ma  le  nom  de? 
=oulpables,  et  me  fortifier,  je  commanderay  mvs  subjects  les  pour  suivre,  ou  ei 
vous  voules  que  se  soit  les  vostres,  les  miens  leur  ayderont  ;  je  vous  prie  m'en 
mander  vostre  volonte,  au  reste  mes  subjects  fidelles  seront  responsables  a  tout 
ce  que  leur  sera  mis  su  les  contre  vous,  ni  les  vostres,  ni  les  rebelles,  despuis  qu<- 
;ne  conseillates  les  faire  retirer.  Quant  aux  Francois,  j'escrivis  que  l'on  m'en 
fit  nulle  poursuite,  car  j'esperois  tant  en  vous.  que  je  n'en  aurois  besoign, — je  ne 
•sccu  si  le  diet  aura  en  mes  lettres,  mais  je  vous  jure  devant  Dieu  quo  je  ne  scay 


APPENDIX,   No.    XXIX.  391 

eiiose  du  monde  de  leur  venue,  que  ce  que  rn'en  aves  inanday,  ni  n  an  a  oui 
<le  France  mot  du  monde,  et  ne  le  puis  croire  pour  cest  occasion,  et  si  ils  si 
sont,  c'est  nans  mori  sceu  ni  consentement.  Pourquoy  je  vous  supplie  ne  me 
condannier  sans  m'ouire,  car  je  suis  presl  de  temr  tout  ce  que  j'ay  orlert  a 
Mester  Knoleis,  et  vous  assure  que  vostre  amile,  qu'il  vous  plest  nforfrir,  sera 
rescue  avant  toutes  les  choses  du  monde,  quant  France  servit  la  pour  pressor 
leur  retour  a  ceste  condition,  que  prenies  ines  affaires  en  rnein,  en  soeur,  et 
bonne  ami,  cotnme  ma  France^  est  en  vous  ;  mais  une  cliose  seule  me  rende 
confuse,  i'ay  tant  d'enemis  qu'ont  votr°  oreille,  la  quelle  ne  pouvant  avoir  par 
parolle,  toutes  rnes  actions  vous  sorit  desguis^es,  et  falsement  raportees,  par 
iiuoi  il  m'est  impossible  do  m'assurer  de  vous,  pour  les  manteries  qu'on  vous  a 
fait,  pour  destruire  vostre  bonne  volonte  de  moy  ;  par  quoy  je  d^sirerois  bien 
•ivoir  ce  bien  vous  faire  entendre  ma  sincere  et  bonne  affection,  laquelle  je  ne 
puis  si  bien  descnre,  que  mes  enemis  a  tort  ne  la  decolore.  Ma  bonne  soeur, 
gagues  moy  ;  envoy^s  moy  querir,  n'entres  en  jalousie  pour  faulx  raports  de 
celle  que  ne  desire  que  votre  bonne  grace  ;  je  me  remettray  sur  Mester  Knoleis 
a  qui  je  me  suis  librement  descouverte,  et  apres  vous  avoir  bais^e  les  mains,  je 
prierai  Uieu  vous  donner  en  sante,  longue  et  heureuse  vie.  De  Boton,  ou  je 
vous  promets,  je  ne  n'espere  pertir,  qu'aveques  vostre  bonne  grace,  quoyque  les 
menteurs  mentent.     Ce  26  d'Aoust. 

.No.  XXVIII.  (p.  189.) 

Queen  Elizabeth  (o  the  Earl  of  Murray. 

[Paper  Office.     From  a  copy  corrected  by  Secretary  Cecil.] 

Right  trusty  and  right  well  beloved  cousin,  we  greet  you  well.  Where  w 
hear  say,  that  certain  reports  are  made  in  sundry  parts  of  Scotland,  that  what 
sover  should  fall  out  now  upon  the  hearing  of  the  Queen  of  Scotts  cause,  in  any 
proof  to  convince  or  to  acquit  the  said  Queen  concerning  the  horrible  murder  of 
her  late  husband  our  cousin,  we  have  determined  to  restore  her  to  her  kingdom 
and  government,  we  do  so  much  mislike  hereof,  as  we  cannot  endure  the  same 
to  receive  any  credit :  and  therefore  we  have  thought  good  to  assure  you,  that 
the  same  is  untruly  devised  by  the  authors  to  our  dishonour.  For  as  we  havo 
been  always  certified  from  our  said  sister,  both  by  her  letters  and  messages, 
that  she  is  by  no  means  guilty  or  participant  of  that  murder,  which  we  wish  t« 
be  true,  so  surely  if  she  should  be  found  justly  to  be  guilty  thereof  as  hath  been 
reported  of  her,  whereof  we  would  be  very  sorry,  then,  indeed,  it  should  behoove 
us  to  consider  otherwise  of  her  cause  than  to  satisfy  her  desire  in  restitution  ol 
her  to  the  government  of  that  kingdom.  And  so  we  would  have  you  and 
all  others  think,  that  should  be  disposed  to  conceive  honourably  of  us  and 
our  actions. 

Indorsed,  20  Sept.  1568. 

No.  XXIX.  (p.  192.) 

Sv  Francis  Knollys  to  Cecil,  the  9th  of  October,  1568,  from  York. 

[An  Original.    Paper  Office.] 

My  Lord's  Grace  of  Norfolk  sending  for  me  to  Bolton,  to  attend  upon  hi*, 
here  Thursday  last,  I  made  my  repair  hither  accordingly,  meaning  to  stay  hei., 
until  Munday  next ;  as  touching  the  matters  of  the  commission,  that  Hi6  O  raci. 
and  the  rest  have  from  Her  Highness.  His  Grace  hath  imparted  unto  me  of  all 
things  thereunto  appertaining,  and  what  hath  hitherto  passed,  and  altho'  the 
matters  be  too  weighty  for  my  weak  capacity,  to  presume  to  utter  any  opinior. 
of  mine  own  thereof,  yet  I  see  that  My  Lord  Herris  for  his  parte  lahoureth  a 
reconciliation,  to  be  had  without  the  extremity  of  odious  accusations  ;  My  Lord 
of  Ledington  also  saith  to  me,  that  he  could  wish  these  matters  to  be  ended  in 
dulce  maner,  so  that  it  might  be  done  with  safety;  of  the  rest  you  can  conceive, 
by  the  advertisements  and  writings  sent  by  our  commissiontsrs. 


398  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

A  Letter  from  the  Bishop  of  Ross  to  the  Queen  of  Scots,  from  York,  October,  1568 

[Cott.  Lib     Calig.  C.  i.    A  copy.] 

Pleib  Your  Majesty  I  conferred  at  length  with  A.  ane  great  part  of  a  night, 
who  assurit  me  that  he  had  reasoned  with  B.  this  Saturday  C.  on  the  field,  who 
determinate  to  him  that  it  was  the  D.  determinate  purpose  not  to  end  your 
cause  at  this  time,  but  to  hold  the  same  in  suspence,  and  did  that  was  in  her 
power,  to  make  the  E.  pursue  extremity,  to  the  effect  F.  and  his  adherents 
might  utter  all  they  could  to  your  dishonour,  to  the  effect  to  cause  you  come  in 
disdain  with  the  hail  subjects  of  this  realm,  that  ye  may  be  the  mair  unable  to 
attempt  any  thing  to  her  disadvantage.  And  to  this  effect  is  all  her  intention, 
and  when  they  have  produced  all  they  can  against  you,  D.  will  not  appoint  the 
matter  instantly,  but  transport  you  up  in  the  country,  and  retcin  you  there 
till  she  think  time  to  show  you  favour,  which  is  not  likely  to  be  hastily,  because 
of  your  uncles  in  France,  and  the  fear  she  has  of  yourself  to  be  her  unfriend. 
And  therefore  their  counsel  is,  that  ye  write  an  writing  to  the  D.  meaning  that 
ye  are  informit  that  your  subjects  which  has  offendit  you. — This  in  effect  that 
Your  Majesty  hearing  the  estate  of  your  affairs  as  they  proceed  in  York,  was 
informed  that  Her  Majesty  was  informed  of  you,  that  you  could  not  gudely 
remit  your  subjects  in  such  sort  as  they  might  credit  you  hereafter,  which  was  a 
great  cause  of  the  stay  of  this  controversy  to  be  ended.  And  therefore  persuad- 
ing her  D.  effectually  not  to  trust  any  who  had  made  such  narration.  But  like 
as  ye  had  rendered  you  in  her  hands,  as  most  tender  to  you  of  any  living,  so 
prayit  her  to  take  na  opinion  of  you,  but  that  ye  wald  use  her  counsell  in  all 
your  affairs,  and  wald  prefer  her  friendship  to  all  others,  as  well  uncles  as  others, 
and  assure  her  to  keep  that  thing  ye  wald  promise  to  your  subjects  by  her 
advice.  And  if  D.  discredit  you,  ye  wald  be  glad  to  satisfy  her  in  that  point  be 
removing  within  her  realm  in  secret  and  quiet  manner,  where  her  G.  pleased, 
until  the  time  her  G.  were  fully  satisfied,  and  all  occasion  of  discredit  removed 
from  her.  So  that  in  the  mean  time  your  realm  were  holden  in  quietness,  and 
your  true  subjects  restored  and  maintained  in  their  own  estate,  and  sic  other 
things  tending  to  this  effect.  And  affirms  that  they  believe  that  this  may  be 
occasion  to  cause  her  credit  you  that  ye  offer  so  far :  and  it  may  come  that 
within  two  or  three  months  she  may  become  better-minded  to  Your  Grace,  for 
now  she  is  not  well-minded,  and  will  not  show  you  any  pleasure  for  the  causes 
aforesaid. 

JV.  B.  The  title  of  this  paper  is  in  Cecil's  hand  ;  the  following  key  is  added 
in  another  hand. 

A.  The  Laird  of  Lethington. 

B.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

C.  Was  the  day  he  rode  to  Cawood. 

D.  The  Queen  of  England. 

E.  The  Queen  of  Scots'  commissioners. 

F.  The  Earl  of  Murray. 

No.  XXX.  (p.  196.) 

Deliberation  of  Secretary  Cecil's  concerning  Scotland,  Dec.  21, 1568 

[Paper  Office.] 

The  best  way  for  England,  but  not  the  easiest ;  that  the  Queen  of  Scots 
might  remain  deprived  of  her  crown,  and  the  state  continue  as  it  is. 

The  second  way  for  England  profitable,  and  not  so  hard. — That  the  Queen 
of  Scots  might  be  induced,  by  some  perswasions,  to  agree  that  her  son  might 
continue  King,  because  he  is  crowned,  and  herself  to  remain  also  Queen  ;  and 
that  the  government  of  the  realm  might  be  committed  to  such  persons  as  the 
Queen  of  England  should  name,  so  as  for  the  nomination  of  them  it  might  be 
ordered,  that  a  convenient  number  of  persons  of  Scotland  should  be  first  named 


APPENDIX.    No.  XXXI.  333 

to  the  Que<""  'f  England,  indifferently  tor  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  for  her  son, 
that  is  to  say,  the  one  half  by  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  other  oy  the  Earle 
of  Lennox,  and  Lady  Lennox,  parents  to  the  child  ;  and  out  of  those,  the 
Queen's  Majesty  of  England  to  make  choice  for  all  the  officers  of  the  realm, 
that  are,  by  the  laws  of  Scotland,  disposable  by  the  King  or  Queen  of  the  land. 

That  untill  this  may  be  done  by  the  Queen's  Majesty,  the  government  remain 
tn  the  hands  of  the  Earle  of  Murray  as  it  is,  providing  he  shall  not  dispose  of 
any  offices  or  perpetuals  to  continue  any  longer  but  to  these  offered  of  the 
premises. 

That  a  Parliament  be  summoned  in  Scotland  by  several  commandments,  both 
of  the  Queen  of  Scots  and  of  the  young  King. 

That  hostages  be  delivered  unto  England  on  the  young  King's  behalf,  to 

the  number  of  twelve  persons  of  the  Earle  of  Murray's  part,  as  the  Queen  of 
Scots  shall  name  ;  and  likewise  on  the  Queen's  behalf,  to  the  like  number  as  the 
Earle  of  Murray  shall  name  ;  the  same  not  to  be  any  that  have  by  inheritance 
or  office  cause  to  be  in  this  Parliament,  to  remain  from  the  beginning  of  the 
summons  of  that  Parliament,  untill  three  months  after  that  Parliament ;  which 
hostages  shall  be  pledges,  that  the  friends  of  either  part  shall  keep  the  peace  in 
all  cases,  till  by  this  Parliament  it  be  concluded,  that  the  ordinance  which  the 
Queen  of  England  shall  devise  for  the  government  of  the  realm  (being  not  tc 
the  hurt  of  the  crown  of  Scotland,  nor  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Scotland  for  any 
man's  inheritance,  as  the  same  was  before  the  Parliament  at  Edinr.  the 
Decernr.  1567)  shall  be  established  to  be  kept  and  obeyed,  under  pain  of  high 
treason  for  the  breakers  thereof. 

That  by  the  same  Parliament  also  be  established  all  executions  and  judg- 
ments given  against  any  person  for  the  death  of  the  late  King. 

That  by  the  same  Parliament,  a  remission  be  made  universally  from  the 

Queen  of  Scots  to  any  her  contrarys,  and  also  from  everyone  subject  to  another, 
saving  that  restitution  be  made  of  lands  and  houses,  and  all  other  things  herit- 
able, that  have  been  by  either  side  taken  from  them  which  were  the  owners 
thereof  at  the  committing  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  to  Lochlevin. 

That  by  the  same  Parliament  it  be  declared  who  shall  be  successors  to  the 
crown  next  after  the  Q.  of  Scots  and  her  issue  ;  or  else,  that  such  right  as  the 
D.  of  Chatelherault  had,  at  the  marriage  of  the  Queen  of  Scots  with  the  Lord 
Darnley,  may  be  conserved  and  not  prejudized. 

That  the  Q.  of  Scots  may  have  leave  of  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England, 
twelve  months  after  the  said  Parliament,  and  that  she  shall  not  depart  out  of 
England  without  special  licence  of  the  Queen's  Majesty. 

Thai  the  young  King  shall  be  nourished  and  brought  up  in  England,  till  he 
be         years  of  age. 

It  is  to  be  considered,  that  in  this  cause  the  composition  between  the  Queen 
and  her  subjects  may  be  made  with  certain  articles,  outwardly  to  be  seen  to  the 
world  for  her  honour,  as  though  all  the  parts  should  come  of  her,  and  yet  for 
the  surety  of  contrarys,  that  certain  betwixt  her  and  the  Queen's  Majesty  aie 
to  be  concluded. 

No.  XXXI.  (p.  197.) 

The  Queen  to  Sir  Francis  Knolleys,  22  January,  1568-9. 

[Paper  Office.] 

We  greet  you  well,  we  mean  not,  at  this  point,  by  any  writing,  to  renew  that 
which  it  hath  pleased  God  to  make  grievous  to  us  and  sorryful  to  yow;  but  for- 
bearing the  same  as  unmeet  at  this  point,  having  occasion  to  command  yow  in 
our  service,  and  yow  also  whilest  you  are  to  serve  us.  We  require  yow  to  con- 
sider of  this  that  folio weth  with  like  consideration  and  diligence,  as  hitherto 
yow  have  accustumate  in  our  service  ;  at  the  time  of  our  last  letters  written  to 
yow  the  fourteenth  of  this  month  for  removing  of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  we  had 
understanding  out  of  Scotland  of  certain  writtings  sent  by  her  from  thence  into 
Scotland,  amongst  the  which  one  is  found  to  contain  great  and  manifest  untruths 
touching  us  and  others  also,  as  shall  and  may  plainly  appear  unto  yow  by  the 


400  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND. 

copy  of  the  same,  which  likewise  we  scud  you,  and  because  at  the  same  timt 
we  were  advertized,  that  it  should  be  shortly  proclaimed  in  Scotland,  though 
then  it  was  not,  we  thought  good  first  to  remove  the  Queen,  before  we  woull 
disclose  the  same,  and  then  expect  the  issue  thereof;  and  now,  this  day,  by  let 
ters  irom  our  cousin  of  Hunsdon  we  are  ascertained,  that  since  thai  time  the 
same  matters  contained  in  the  writing,  are  published  in  diverse  parts  of  Scot- 
land, whereupon  we  have  thought  it  very  meet,  for  the  discharge  of  our  honor, 
and  to  confound  the  falsehood  contained  in  that  writting,  not  only  to  have  the 
same  reproved  by  open  proclamation  upon  our  frontiers,  the  coppy  whereof  we 
i')  herewith  send  yow,  but  also  in  convenient  sort  to  charge  that  Queen  there- 
■■•  il.h,  so  as  she  may  be  moved  to  declare  the  authors  thereof,  ami  persuaders  of 
ner  to  write  in  such  slanderous  sort  such  untruths  of  us ;  and  in  the  mean  sea- 
son, we  have  here  stayed  our  commissioners,  knowing  no  other  whom  we  may 
more  probably  presume  to  be  parties  hereunto,  than  they,  untill  the  Queen  shall 
name  some  other,  and  acquit  them  ;  who  being  generally  charged,  without 
expressing  to  them  any  particularity,  do  use  all  manner  of  speeches  to  discharge 
themselves  ;  wherefore  our  pleasure  is,  that  ye  shall,  after  ye  have  well  perused 
the  coppy  of  this  writting  sent  to  yow,  speedily  declare  unto  her,  that  we  have 
good  understanding  given  us  of  diverse  letters  and  writtings,  sent  by  her  into 
Scotland,  signed  by  her  own  hand,  amongst  which  one  such  writting  is  sent 
with  her  commandment,  expressly  as  now  it  is  already  published,  as  we  are 
much  troubled  in  mind  that  a  Princess  as  she  is  having  a  cause  in  our  hands  so 
implicated  with  difficultys  and  calamitys,  should  either  conceave  in  her  own 
mind,  or  allow  of  them  that  should  devise  such  false,  untrue,  and  improbable 
matters  against  us,  and  our  honor,  and  specially  to  have  the  aventure  to  have 
the  same  being  known  so  untrue  to  be  published  ;  and  you  shall  also  say,  because 
we  will  not  think  so  ill  of  her,  as  that  it  should  proceed  of  her  self,  but  rather 
she  hath  been  counselled  thereunto,  or  by  abuse  made  to  think  some  part  thereof 
to  be  true,  we  require  her,  even  as  she  may  look  for  any  favour  at  our  hands, 
that  she  will  disburden  herself  as  much  as  truly  she  may  herein,  and  name  them 
which  have  been  the  authors  and  perswaders  thereof,  and  so  she  shall  make  as 
great  amends  to  us  as  the  case  may  require  ;  after  you  have  thus  far  proceeded, 
and  had  some  answer  of  her,  whether  she  shall  deny  the  writing  absolutely,  or 
name  any  that  have  been  the  advisers  thereof,  you  shall  say  unto  her  that  we  have 
stayed  her  commissioners  here,  untill  we  may  have  some  answer  hereof,  because 
we  cannot  but  impute  to  them  some  part  of  this  evil  dealing,  untill  by  her 
answer  the  authors  may  be  known  ;  and  as  soon  as  you  can  have  direct  answers 
from  her,  we  pray  you  to  return  us  the  same  ;  for  as  the  case  standeth,  we  can- 
not but  be  much  disquieted  with  it,  having  our  honour  so  deeply  touched  con- 
trary to  any  intention  in  us,  and  for  any  thing  we  know  in  our  judgment  the 
Earl  of  Murray  and  others  named  in  the  same  writting,  void  of  thought  for  the 
matters,  to  them  therein  imputed  ;  you  may  impart  to  the  Queen  of  Scots 
either  the  contents  of  the  slanderous  letter,  or  show  her  the  copy  to  read  it,  and 
you  may  also  impart  this  matter  to  the  Lord  Scroop,  to  join  with  you  there  as 
you  shall  think  meet. 

Sir  Francis  Knolleys  to  Queen  Ehzabeth,from  Welherby,  the  28th  of  January,  1568 

[An  original.    Pappr  Office.] 
I  will  supress  my  own  grieffs,  and  pass  them  over  with  silence,  for  the 


Dresent  learning  of  Your  Majesty — and  for  this  Queen's  answer  to  the  coppie 
of  her  supposed  letter  sent  unto  Scotland,  1  must  add  this  unto  my  brother's 
letter,  sent  unto  Mr.  Secretary,  yesternight  late  ;  in  process  of  time  she  did  not 
deny  but  that  the  first  lines  contained  in  the  same  copie,  was  agreeable,  to  a  letter 
that  she  had  sent  unto  Scotland,  which  touched  My  Lord  of  Murray's  promise 
to  deliver  her  son  into  Your  Majesty's  hands,  and  to  avoid  that  the  same  should 
not  be  done  without  her  consent,  made  her,  she  saith,  to  write  in  that  behalf; 
she  saith  also  that  she  wrote  that  they  should  cause  a  proclamation  to  be  made 
to  stir  her  people  to  defend  My  Lord  of  Murray's  intent  and  purpose,  for 
delivering  of  her  said  son,  and  impunge  his  rebellious  government,  as  she  termed 
jt,  but  she  utterly  djnyeth  to  have  written  any  of  the  other  slanderous  parts  of 


APP  ENIHX,    No.  XXXI  I.  401 

uio  said  letter  touching  Your  Majesty;  she  said  also,  that  she  suspected  that  a 
Frenchman,  now  in  Scotland,  might  be  the  author  of  some  Scotch  letters 
devised  in  her  name,  but  she  would  not  allow  me  to  write  this  for  any  part  of 
her  answer. 

No.  XXXII.  (p.  201.) 

8tr  Sftchaia*  Throkmorton  to  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lord  of  Liddington. 

[20th  of  July,  1569.     From  the  original.] 

Tous  letterof  the  3d  of  July,  I  have  received  the  15th  of  the  same.  For  ansvvei 
whereunto  you  shall  understand  that  friends  here  to  my  Lord  Regent  and  yon 
do  wish  such  a  concurrence  in  all  doings,  as  in  matter  and  circumstances  there 
arise  no  dissension,  or  at  the  least,  no  more  nor  other  than  the  difference  of 
countries  doth  necessarily  require.  We  here  do  think  convenient  that  as  few 
delays  be  used  as  may  be,  for  the  consummation  of  the  matter  in  hand,  which 
principally  to  advance  your  allowance,  prosecution  and  speedy  promotion  in 
Scotland,  is  most  requisite,  for  you  are  so  wise,  and  well  acquainted  with  the 
state  of  the  world,  and  with  all  our  humours,  as  you  know  that  some  do  allow 
and  disallow  for  reason,  some  for  respect  of  multitude,  some  for  respect  of  per- 
sons, and  so  the  cause  is  to  go  forward  as  men  do  like  to  set  it  forward.  You 
are  not  to  seek  that  some  will  use  cautions,  some  neutrality,  some  delays,  and 
some  will  plainly  impunge  it.  And  yet  all  and  every  of  these  sorts  will  alter 
their  doings,  when  they  shall  see  the  Regent  and  his  favourers  accord  with  the 
best  and  greatest  part  there,  and  agree  with  the  wisest  and  strongest  party  here. 
Tho'  the  matter  has  taken  its  beginning  here,  upon  deep  and  weighty  considera 
tions,  for  the  weil  of  both  the  Princes  and  their  realms,  as  well  presently  as  in 
time  to  come,  yet  it  is  thought  most  expedient  that  the  Regent,  and  realm  of 
Scotland,  by  you,  should  propose  the  matter  to  the  Queen  our  sovereign,  if  you 
like  to  use  convenience,  good  order,  or  be  disposed  to  leave  but  a  scar,  and  no 
wound  of  the  hurts  past.  I  would  be  glad  that  this  my  letter  should  come  to 
your  hands  before  the  convention,  whereat  it  seems  your  Queen's  restoration 
and  marriage  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  shall  be  propounded,  either  to  wynne  in 
them  both  allowance  or  rejection.  To  which  proceedings,  because  you  pray  me 
to  write  frankly,  I  say  and  reason  thus,  me  thinketh  you  use  a  preposterous 
order  to  demand  the  consent  of  such  persons,  in  such  matters,  as  their  minds 
to  a  good  end  hath  rather  been  felt  or  prepared,  and  therefore  there  must  needs 
follow  either  a  universal  refusal,  or  factious  division  amongst  you,  whereby  a 
bloustering  intelligence  must  needs  come  to  Queen  Elizabeth  of  the  intended 
marriage  from  thence,  which  ought  to  have  been  secretely  and  advisedly  pro- 
pounded unto  Her  Highness  ;  hereby  you  see  then  the  meaning  is,  by  this  deal- 
ing, Hrr  Majesty  shall  be  made  inexorable,  and  so  bring  the  matter  to  such 
passe  as  this  which  should  have  wrought  surety,  quietness,  and  a  stay  to  both 
Queens  and  their  realms,  shall  augment  your  calamity,  and  throw  us  your  best 
friends  into  divorse  with  you,  and  into  unhappy  division  amongst  ourselves  ;  for 
you  may  not  conjecture  that  the  matter  is  now  in  deliberation,  but  expectetii 
good  occasion  for  executing  ;  sure  I  am  you  do  not  judge  so  slenderly  of  the 
managing  of  th>«  matter,  as  to  think  we  have  not  cast  the  worst,  or  to  enter 
therein  so  rar  witnout  the  assistance  of  the  nobility,  the  ablest,  the  wisest,  and 
tr>o  mightiest  of  this  realm,  except  Queen  Elizabeth  :  from  whom  it  hath  been 
concealed  until  you,  as  the  fittest  minister,  might  propound  it  to  her,  on  the 
behalf  of  the  Regent  and  the  nobility  of  Scotland.  How  far  Master  Woddes 
defamations  do  carry  them  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  affections,  and  Master  Secre- 
tary's to  assist  the  Regent  and  to  suppress  the  Queen  of  Scots,  I  know  not,  nor 
it  is  not  material ;  but  I  do  assuredly  think  that  Her  Majesty  will  prefer  her 
surety,  the  tranquillity  of  her  reign  and  the  conservation  of  her  people,  before 
%ny  device,  which  may  proceed  from  vain  discourse,  or  imperfections  of  pas 
sions  and  inconsiderate  affections.  And  as  for  Mr.  Secretary,  you  are  not  to 
learn  that  as  he  liketh  not  to  go  too  fast  afore,  so  he  coveteth  not  to  tarry  too 
far  behind,  and  specially  when  the  rehques  be  of  no  great  value  or  power.  If 
I  could  as  well  assure  you  of  his  magnanimity,  and  constancy,  as  of  his  present 

Vol.  III.— SI 


♦02  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

conformity,  I  would  say  confidently,  you  may  repose  as  well  of  him  m  this 
matter,  as  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  Earis  of  Arundel,  Pembroke,  Leicester, 
Bedford,  Shrewsbury,  and  the  rest  of  the  no!>ility;  all  which  do  embrace  and 
proteste  the  accomplishment  of  this  case.  I  have,  according  to  your  advice, 
written  presently  to  My  Lord  Regent,  with  the  same  zeal  and  care  of  his  well 
doing  that  I  owe  to  him,  whom  I  love  and  honour.  Mr.  Secretary  hath  assured 
unto  him  the  Quesn  of  Scotland's  favour  and  good  opinion,  wherewith  he 
seemeth  to  be  well  satisfy 'd.  If  your  credit  be  as  1  trust,  hasten  your  coming 
hither,  for  it  is  very  necessary  that  you  were  here  presently.  Q.  Elizabeth  both 
doth  write  to  My  Lord  Regent  in  such  sort,  as  he  may  perceive  Mr.  Wood's 
discourses  of  Her  Majesty's  affection  to  be  vain,  and  Mr.  Secretary  otherwise 
bent  than  he  conjectureth  of  him,  the  effect  of  which  Her  Majesty's  letter  you 
shall  understand,  by  My  Lord  Leicester's  letter  unto  you  at  this  dispatch.  At 
the  Court,  20th  July,  1569. 

No.  XXXIII.  (p.  201.) 

Part  (tf  a  Letter  from  the  Earl  of  Murray  to  L.  B.  probably  Lord  Burleigh. 

U569.    Harl  Lib.  37.  B.  9.  fo.  43.1 

— —  Because  I  see  that  great  advantage  is  taken  on  small  occasions,  and 
that  the  mention  of  the  marriage  betwixt  the  Queen  my  sovereign's  mother, 
and  the  D.  of  Norfolk  hath  this  while  past  been  very  frequent  in  both  the 
realms,  and  then  I  myself  to  be  spoken  of  as  a  motioner,  which  I  perceive  is 
at  the  last  come  to  Her  Majesty's  ears  ;  I  will,  for  satisfaction  of  Her  Highness, 
and  the  discharge  of  my  duty  towards  Her  Majesty,  manifest  unto  you  my 
interest,  and  medling  in  that  matter,  from  the  very  beginning,  knowing  what- 
soever is  prejudicial  to  Her  Highness,  cannot  but  be  hurtful  to  the  King  my 
sovereign,  this  his  realm,  and  me.  What  conferrences  was  betwixt  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  and  any  of  them  that  were  with  me  within  the  realm  of  England, 
I  am  not  able  to  declare  ;  but  I  am  no  wise  forgetful  of  any  thing  that  passed 
jetwixt  him  and  me,  either  at  that  time,  or  since.  And  to  the  end  Her  Majesty 
may  understand  how  I  have  been  dealt  with  in  this  matter,  I  am  compelled  to 
touch  some  circumstances,  before  there  was  any  mention  of  her  marriage.  In 
York,  at  the  meeting  of  all  the  commissioners,  I  found  very  —  and  neutral 
dealing  with  the  Duke,  and  others  Her  Highness's  commissioners,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  cause,  as  in  the  making  of  the  others  to  proceed  sincerely,  and 
so  furth.  During  which  time,  I  entered  into  general  speech,  sticking  at  our 
just  defence  in  the  matters  that  were  objected  against  us,  by  the  said  Queen's 
commissioners,  looking  certainly  for  no  other  thing,  but  summary  cognition  in 
the  cause  of  controversy,  with  a  final  declaration  to  have  followed.  Upon  a 
certain  day  the  Lord  Lithington  secretary  rode  with  the  Duke  to  Howard,  what 
purpose  they  had  I  cannot  say,  but  that  night  Lithington  returning,  and  entring 
into  conferrence  with  me  upon  the  state  of  our  action,  I  was  advised  by  him  to 
pass  to  the  Duke,  and  require  familiar  conferrence,  by  the  which  I  might  have 
some  feeling  to  what  issue  our  matters  would  tend.  According  to  which  advice, 
having  gotten  time  and  place  convenient  in  the  gallery  of  the  house  where  the 
Duke  was  lodged,  after  renewing  of  our  first  acquaintance  made  at  Berwick, 
the  time  before  the  assize  of  Leith,  and  some  speeches  passed  betwixt  us ;  he 
began  to  say  to  me,  how  he  in  England  had  favour  and  credit,  and  I  in  Scotland 
had  will  and  friendship  of  many,  it  was  to  be  tho't  there  could  be  none  more 
fit  instruments,  to  travel  for  the  continuance  of  the  amity  betwixt  the  realms, 
than  we  two.  And  so  that  discourse  upon  the  present  state  of  both,  and  how 
I  was  entered  in  that  action  tending  so  far  to  the  Queen's  dishonour,  I  was 
willed  by  him  to  consider  how  matters  stood  in  this,  what  honour  I  had  rereived 
of  the  Queen,  and  what  inconveniences  her  defamation  in  the  matters  laid  to 
her  charge  might  breed  to  her  posterity.  Her  respect  was  not  little  to  the 
crown  of  England,  there  was  but  one  heir.  The  Hamiltons  my  unfriends,  had 
tho  next  respect,  and  that  I  should  esteem  the  issue  of  her  body  would  be  the 
more  affectionate  to  me  and  mine,  than  any  other  that  could  attain  to  that 
crown.     And  so  it  should  be  meetestj  that  she  affirmed  her  dismission  made  in 


APPENDIX,   No.    XX  XI 11.  «03 

Lochlevin,  and  we  to  abstract  the  letters  ot'  her  hand  write,  that  she  should  nst 
be  defamed  in  England.  My  reply  to  that  was,  how  the  matter  had  passed  in 
Parliament,  and  the  letters  seen  of  many,  so  that  thb  \bstracting  of  the  same 
'j u  1<1  not  then  secure  her  to  any  purpose,  and  yet  should  we,  in  that  doing, 
oring  the  ignominy  upon  us.  Affirming  it  would  not  be  fair  for  us  that  way  to 
proceed,  seeing  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England  was  not  made  privy  to  the 
matter  as  she  ought  to  be,  in  respect  we  were  purposely  come  in  England  for 
that  end,  and  for  the  —  of  the  grants  of  our  cause.  The  Duke's  answer  was, 
he  would  take  in  hand  to  handle  matters  well  enough  at  the  court.  After  this, 
on  the  occasion  of  certain  articles,  that  were  required  to  be  resolved  on  before 
we  entered  on  the  declaration  of  the  very  ground  of  our  action,  we  came  up 
to  the  court ;  where  some  new  commissioners  were  adjoined  to  the  former,  and 
the  hearing  of  the  matter  ordained  to  be  in  the  Parliament-house  at  Westmin- 
ster, in  presence  of  which  commissioners  of  the  said  Queen,  and through 

the rebuking  of  the  Queen  of  England's  own  commissioners,  we  uttered 

the  whole  of  the  action,  and  produced  such  evidences,  letters,  and  probations, 
as  we  had,  which  might  move  the  Queen's  Majesty  to  think  well  of  our  cause 
Whereupon  expecting  her  Highness'  declaration,  and  seeing  no  great  likelihood 
of  the  same  to  be  suddenly  given,  but  daily  motions  then  made  to  come  to  an 
accord  with  the  said  Queen, our  matters  in  hand  in  Scotland, in  the  mean  season, 
standing  in  hazard  and  danger,  we  were  put  to  the  uttermost  point  off  our  wit. 
to  imagine  whereunto  the  matters  would  tend,  tho'  albeit  we  had  left  nothing 
undone  for  justification  of  our  causes,  yet  appeared  no  end,  but  continual  mo- 
tions made  to  come  to  some  accord  with  the  Queen,  and  restore  her  to  whole  or 
half  reign.  I  had  no  other  answer  to  give  them,  but  that  I  should  neither  do 
against  conscience  or  honour  in  that  matter.  Notwithstanding  seeing  this  my 
plain  answer  wrought  no  end,  nor  dispatch  to  us,  and  that  I  was  informed  that 
the  Duke  began  to  mislike  of  me,  and  to  speak  of  me,  as  that  I  had  reported 
of  the  said  Queen  irreverently,  calling  her [probably  adulterer]  and  mur- 
derer, I  was  advised  to  pass  to  him,  and  give  him  good  words,  and  to  purge 
myself  of  the  things  objected  to  me,  that  1  should  not  open  the  sudden  entry 

of  his  evil  grace,  nor  have  him  to  our  enemy considering  his  greatness. 

It  being  therewithal  whispered  and  showed  to  me,  that  if  I  departed,  he  standing 
discontented  and  not  satisfied.  I  might  peradventure  find  such  trouble  in  my 
way,  as  my  throat  might  be  cut  before  I  came  to  Berrick.  And  therefore,  since 
it  might  well  enough  appear  to  her  marriage,  I  should  not  put  him  in  utter  de- 
spair, that  my  good  will  could  not  be  had  therein.  So  few  days  before  my  de- 
parting I  came  to  the  park  in  Hampton  Court,  where  the  Duke  and  I  met 
together,  and  there  I  declared  unto  him  that  it  was  come  to  my  ears,  how  some 
misreport  should  be  made  of  me  to  him,  as  that  I  should  speak  irreverently  and 
rashly  of  the  said  Queen  my  sovereign's  mother,  such  words  as  before  expressed, 

that  he  might [probably  suspect]  thereby  my  affection  to  be  so  alienate 

from  her,  as  that  I  could  not  love  her,  nor  be  content  of  her  preferment,  howbeit 
he  might  perswade  himself  of  the  contrary,  for  as  she  once  was  the  person  in 
the  world  that  I  loved  best,  having  that  honour  to  be  so  near  unto  her,  and 
having  received  such  advancement  and  honour  by  her,  I  was  not  so  ungrate  or 
so  unnatural  ever  to  wish  her  body  harm,  or  to  speak  of  her  as  was  untruly 
reported  of  me  (howsoever  the  truth  was  in  the  self),  and  as  to  the  preservation 
of  her  son,  now  my  sovereign,  had  moved  me  to  enter  into  this  cause,  and  that 

her  own  pressing  was  the  occasion  of  that  was  uttered  to  her [probably 

dishonour]  whensoever  God  should  move  her  heart  to  repent  of  her  by  past 
behaviour  and  life,  and  after  her  known  repentance,  that  she  should  !>e  separate 
from  that  ungodly  and  unlawful  marriage  that  she  was  entred  in,  and  then 
after  were  joined  with  such  a  godly  and  honourable  a  personage,  as  were  affec 
tioned  to  the  true  religion,  and  whom  we  might  trust,  I  could  find  in  my  heart 
to  love  her,  and  to  shew  her  as  great  pleasure,  favour,  and  good  will,  as  ever  ] 
did  in  my  life ;  and  in  case  he  should  be  that  personage,  there  was  none  whom 

I  could  better  like  of,  the  Queen  in  of  England  being  made  privy  to 

the  matter,  and  she  allowing  thereof,  which  being  done,  I  should  labour  in  all 
things  that  I  could,  to  her  honour  and  pleasure,  that  -were  not  prejudicial  to  the 
King  my  sovereign's  estate,  and  praye.d  him  not  to  think  otherwise  of  me,  for 
my  affection  was  rather  buried  and  hidden  within  m.e,  awaiting  unlil  G  jd  should 


404  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

Jirect  ner  to  know  herself,  than  utterly  alienated  and  abstracted  from  hei  . 
which  he  seemed  to  accept  in  very  good  part,  saying,  Earl  of  Murray,  thoi 
thinks  of  me  that  thing,  whereunto  I  will  make  none  in  England  or  Scotland 
privy,  and  thou  hast  Norfolk's  life  in  thy  hands.     So  departing,  I  came  to  my 
lodging,  and  by  the  way  and  all  night,  I  was  in  continual  thought  and  agita 
tion  of  mind,  how  to  behave  myself  in  that  weighty  matter,  first  imagining 
whereunto  this  should  tend,  if  it  were  attempted  without  the  Queen's  Majesty 
of  England's  knowledge  and  good  will,  this  realm   and  I  myself  in  particular 
having  received  such  favour  and  comfort  at  Her  Highness's  hands,  and   this 
whole  isle  such  peace  and  quietness,  since  God  possessed  Her  Majesty  with  her 
crown.     And  on  the  other  part,  seeing  the  Duke  had  disclosed  him  to  me,  pro- 
testing none  other  were  or  should  be  privy  to  our  speech,  I  tho't  1  could  not 
find  in  my  heart  to  utter  any  thing  that  might  endanger  him  ;  moved  to  the . 
uttermost  with  these  cogitations,  and  all  desire  of  sleep  then  removed,  I  prayed 
(Jod  to  send  me  some  good  relief  and  outgate,  to  my  discharge  and  satisfaction 
of  my  troubled  mind,  which  I  found  indeed  ;  for  upon  the  morn,  or  within  a 
day  or  two  thereafter,  I  entered  in  conversation  with  my  Lord  of  Leicester,  in 
his  chamber  at  the  court,  where  he  began  to  find  strange  with  me,  that  in  the 
matter  I  made  so  difficult  to  him,  standing  so  precisely  on  conference,  and  how 

when  I  had  in  my  communication  with  the  Duke,  come  so  far and  there 

he  made  some  discourse  with  me,  about  that  which  was  talke  betwixt  us,  I 

perceiving  that  the  Duke  had [probably  disclosed]  the  matter  to  my  Lord 

of  Leicester,  and  thinking  me  thereby  discharged  at  the  Duke's  hands,  there- 
fore 1  repeated  the  same  communication  in  every  point  to  my  Lord  of  Leicester, 
who  desired  me  to  show  the  same  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  which  I  refused  to 
do,  willing  him  if  he  tho't  it  might  import  Her  Highness  any  thing,  that  he  as 

one  by  Her  Majesty,  and  for  many  benefits  received  at  Her  Highness's 

hands  is  obliged  to  wish  her  well,  should  make  declaration  of  the  same  to  Her 
Majesty,  as  I  understand  by  some  speech  of  Her  Highness  to  me,  he  did.  This 
my  declaration  to  the  Duke  was  tne  only  cause  that  staid  the  violence  and 
trouble  prepared  for  me  unexecuted,  as  I  have  divers  ways  understood.     The 

same  declaration  I  was  obliged  to  renew  since  in  writings  of sent  to  my 

servant  John  Wood.  The  sum  whereof,  I  trust,  he  showed  the  Duke,  and 
something  also  I  wrote  to  himself  for  it  was  tho't  this  should  redeem  some  time, 
that  the  Duke  should  not  suddenly  declare  him  our  enemy,  for  his  greatness 
was  oft  laid  before  me,  and  what  friendship  he  had  of  the  chief  of  the  nobility 
in  England,  so  that  it  might  appear  to  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England — so 
cold  towards  us,  and  doing  nothing  publickly  that  might  seem  favourable  for  us, 
we  had  some  cause  to  suspect  that  Her  Highness  should  not  be  contrarious  to 
the  marriage  when  it  should  be  proposed  to  her.  The  sharp  message  sent  by 
Her  Majesty  with  the  Lord  Boyd,  who  had  the  like  commission  from  the  Duke 
tending  so  far  to  the  said  Queen's  preferment,  as  it  were  proposing  one  manner 
of  conditions  from  both,  gave  us  to  think  that  Her  Highness  had  been  foreseen 
in  the  Duke's  design,  and  that  she  might  be  induced  to  allow  thereof.  But  how- 
beit  it  was  devised  in  England,  that  the  Lord  of  Lethington  should  come  as 
from  me,  and  break  the  matter  to  Her  Highness,  as  Her  Majesty  in  a  letter 
declared  that  she  looked  for  his  coming,  yet  that  devise  proceeded  never  of  me, 
nor  the  noblemen  at  the  convention  could  no  wise  accord  to  his  sending,  nor 
allow  of  the  matter  motioned,  but  altogether  misliked  it,  as  bringing  with  the 
same  great  inconveniences  to  the  surety  and  quietness  of  this  whole  isle  :  for 
our  proceedings  have  declared  our  misliking  and  disallowance  of  the  purpose 
from  the  beginning,  and  if  we  had  pleased  he  was  ready  for  the  journey.     And 

in  likewise  it  was  devised  to  give  consent  that  the [probably  divorce] 

between  the  said  Queen  and  Bothwell  should  be  suffered  to  proceed  in  thi6 
realm,  as  it  was  desired  by  the  said  Lord  Boyd,  by  reason  we  could  not  under- 
stand what  was  the  Queen's  Majesty's  pleasure,  and  allowance  in  that  behalf 

And  whereas  ye  mean,  that  Her  Highness  was  not  made  privy  of  any 

such  intention,  the  fault  was  not  in  me.  The  first  motion  being  declared,  a«  1 
have  written,  to  my  Lord  of  Leicester,  and  by  him  imparted  to  Her  Majesty, 
so  far  as  I  could  perceive  by  some  speech  of  Her  Highness's  to  me,  before  my 
departing.  Thus  I  have  plainly  declared  how  I  have  been  dealt  withal  for 
this  marriage,  and  how  just  necessity  moved  me  not  to  require  directly,  that 


APPENDIX,   No.  XXXIV.  403 

which  the  Duke  appeared  so unto.     And  for  my  tnreateninga,  4o  ausenl 

to  the  same,  I  have  expressed  the  manner  ;  the  persons  that  laid  the  matter 
before  me  were  o*"  my  own  company.  But  the  Duke  since  hath  spoken,  that  it 
was  his  writing  which  saved  my  life  at  that  time.  In  conclusion  I  pray  you 
persuade  Her  Majesty,  that  she  let  no  speeches  nor  any  other  thing  passed  and 
objected  to  my  prejudice,  move  Her  Majesty  to  alter  her  favour — towards  me, 
oi  any  ways  to  doubt  of  my  assured  constancy  towards  Her  Highness  ;  for  in 
any  thing  which  may  tend  to  her  honour  and  surety,  1  will,  while  J  live,  bestow 
myself,  and  all  that  will  do  for  me,  notwithstanding  my  hazard  or  danger,  as 
proof  shall  declare,  when  Her  Majesty  finds  time  to  employ  me. 

No.  XXXIV.  (p.  205.) 

IVilliam  Maitland  of  Ledington,  to  my  Lord  of  Leicester,  March  Siith.  1760, 

from  Ledington. 

[An  original.1 

The  great  desolation  threatened  to  this  whole  realm,  be  the  divisions  thereof 
in  dangerous  factions,  doth  press  me  to  frame  my  letters  to  Your  Lordship,  in 
other  sort,  than  were  behovefull  for  me,  if  I  had  r>o  other  respect,  but  only  to 
maintain  my  private  credit ;  therefore  I  am  driven  to  furnish  them  with  matter, 
which  I  know  not  to  be  plausible,  whereupon  by  misconstruing  my  meaning, 
some  there  may  take  occasion  of  offence,  thinking  that  I  rather  utter  my  own 
passions,  than  go  about  to  inform  Your  Lordship  truly  of  the  state  ;  but  I  trust 
my  plain  dealing  shall  bear  record  to  the  sinceity  of  my  meaning;  to  make 
the  same  sensible,  I  will  lay  before  your  Lordship's  eyes  the  plat  of  this  coun- 
try; which  first  is  divided  into  two  factions,  the  one  pretending  the  maintenance 
of  the  King's  reign,  the  other  alledging  the  Queen  to  have  been  cruelly  dealt 
withall,  and  unjustly  deprived  of  her  state  ;  the  former  is  composed  of  a  good 
number  of  nobility,  gentlemen,  and  principal  burroughs  of  the  realme,  who 
shall  have,  as  Mr.  Randolph  beareth  us  in  hand,  the  Queen's  Majesty  your 
sovereign's  allowance  and  protection  ;  the  other  hath  in  it  some  most  principall 
of  the  nobility,  and  therewithall,  good  numbers  of  the  inferior  sort,  throughout 
the  whole  realm,  which  also  look  assuredly  that  all  kings  do  allow  their  quarrel 
and  will  aid  them  accordingly.  What  consequence  this  division  will  draw  after 
it,  I  leave  it  to  Your  Lordship's  consideration  ;  there  is  fallen  out  another  divi- 
sion, accedentally,  by  my  Lord  Regent's  death,  which  is  like  to  change  the  state 
of  the  other  two  factions,  to  increase  the  one,  and  diminish  the  other,  which  is 
grounded  upon  the  regiment  of  the  realm.  Some  number  of  noblemen  aspire 
to  the  government,  pretending  right  thereto  by  reason  of  the  Queen's  demission 
of  the  croun,  and  her  commission  granted  at  that  time  for  the  regiment  during 
the  King's  minority;  another  faction  doth  altogether  repine  against  that  divi 
sion,  thinking  it  neither  fit  nor  tolerable,  that  three  or  four  of  the  meanest  sor'. 
amongst  the  Earls  shall  presume  to  challenge  to  themselves  a  rule  over  the 
whole  realme,  the  next  of  the  blood,  the  first  of  rank,  the  greatest  alway  both 
fo/  the  antientry  of  their  houses,  degree,  and  forces,  being  negleckted ;  this 
orflor  they  think  preposterous,  that  the  meaner  sort  shall  be  placed  in  public 
function  to  command,  and  the  greater  shall  continue  as  private  men  to  obey  , 
besides  that,  they  think  if  the  commission  had  in  the  beginning  been  valewab'e 
(which  the  most  part  will  not  grant),  yet  can  it  not  be  extended  to  the  presert 
for  that  the  conditions  thereunto  annexed  are  ceased,  and  so  the  effect  of  f  e 
whole  void  ;  the  latter  part  of  this  division  hath  many  pretences,  for  besides  he 
Queen's  faction,  which  is  wholly  on  that  side,  a  great  number  of  these  that  I  ave 
heretofore  professed  the  King's  obedience,  do  favour  the  same,  and  will  not  yield 
to  the  government  of  the  other,  whose  preferment  for  respects  they  mislike, 
when  the  Queen's  faction  shall  be  increased,  with  a  part  of  the  King's,  and 
these  not  of  least  substance,  and  yow  may  judge  what  is  like  to  ensue  ;  another 
incident  is  like  to  move  men  to  enter  in  further  discourses,  it  is  given  out  here 
in  Scotland  that  the  Queen's  Majesty  is  setting  forth  some  forces  towards  the 
bolder,  which  shall  enter  this  realm,  to  countenance  these  that  aspire  to  the 
regiment,  and  suppress  the  contrary  faction,  and  bruits  are  spread,  that  th 


406  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

same  shall  be  here  out  of  hand  ;  these  that  think  themselves  of  equal  force  with 
their  contrary  taction  at  home,  or  rather  an  overmatch  to  them,  yet  not  able  to 
encounter  with  the  forces  of  another  Prince  rather  than  yield  to  their  inferiors, 
will,  I  fear,  take  advice  of  necessity,  and  evill  councillors,  and  seek  also  the 
maintenance  of  some  foreign  Prince,  whereby  Her  Majesty  (altho'  no  further 
inconvenient  were  to  be  feared)  must  be  driven  to  excessive  charges,  and  it 
would  appear  there  were  a  conspiracy  of  all  the  elements  at  one  time  to  set  us 
together  by  the  ears,  for  now,  when  the  rumour  of  your  forces  coming  towards 
the  border  is  spread  abroad,  even  at  the  same  time  is  arrived  at  Dumbarton,  a 
galzeon  with  a  messenger  sent  expressly  from  the  King  of  France,  to  that  part 
of  the  nobility  that  favours  the  Queen,  to  learn  the  state  of  the  country,  and 
what  support  they  lack  or  desire,  either  for  furtherance  of  her  affairs,  or  for 
their  own  safety ;  assuredly  this  message  will  be  well  received,  and  suffered 
accordingly,  this  is  the  present  state  of  Scotland.  Now,  if  Your  Lordship 
would  also  know  my  opinion,  how  to  choice  the  best,  as  the  case  standeth  ;  I 
will  in  that  also  satisfie  Your  Lordship  I  am  required  from  them  to  deal  plainly, 
and  Your  Lordship  shall  judge  wither  I  do  so  or  not ;  for  I  think  it  plain  deal- 
ing, when  I  simply  utter  my  judgment,  and  go  not  about  to  disguise  my  intents. 
I  trust  the  Queen's  Majesty  hath  a  desire  to  retain  at  her  devotion  the  realme 
of  Scotland,  which  she  hath  gone  about  to  purchase,  with  bestowing  great 
charges,  and  the  loss  of  some  of  her  people  ;  this  desire  is  honourable  for  Her 
Highness,  profitable  for  both  the  countreys,  and  of  none  to  be  disallowed  ; 
especially  if  it  be  (as  I  take  it)  to  have  the  amity  of  the  whole  realm,  for  it  is 
not  a  portion  of  Scotland  can  serve  her  turn,  nor  will  it  prove  commodious  for 
her  to  suit  the  friendship  of  a  faction  of  Scotland,  for  in  so  doing,  in  gaining  the 
best,  she  may  lose  the  more,  and  the  same  would  bring  all  her  actions  with  us  in 
suspicion,  if  she  should  go  about  to  nourish  factions  amongst  us,  which  meaning 
I  am  sure  never  entered  into  Her  Majesty's  heart;  then  if  it  be  the  friendship 
of  the  whole  she  doth  demand,  let  her  not,  for  pleasure  of  one  part,  go  about  to 
overthrow  the  remnant,  which  will  not  be  so  faisable,  as  some  may  give  her  to 
understand  ;  but  rather  by  way  of  treaty,  let  her  go  about  to  pacify  the  whole 
state,  bring  the  parties  to  an  accord,  reduce  us  all  by  good  means  to  an  uniform- 
ity, so  shall  she  give  us  all  occasion  to  think  well  of  her  doings,  that  she  tendeth 
our  wealth,  and  provoks  us  universally  to  wish  unto  Her  Majesty,  a  most  pros- 
perous continuance  ;  by  the  contrary,  if,  for  the  pleasure  of  a  few,  she  will  send 
forces  to  suppress  these  whom  they  rnislike,  and  so  consequently  offend  many  •, 
men  be  not  so  faint  hearted,  but  they  have  courage  to  provide  for  their  own 
safty,  and  not  only  will  embrace  the  means  partly  offered,  but  will  also  procure 
further  at  the  h«uid  of  other  Princes.  This  for  mine  own  part,  I  do  abhorr,  and 
protest  I  desire  never  to  see  forces  of  strangers  to  set  foot  within  this  land,  yet  I 
know  not  what  point  necessity  may  drive  men  into,  as  if  men  in  the  middle  of 
the  sea  were  in  a  ship,  which  suddenly  should  be  sel  on  fire,  the  fear  of  burning 
would  make  them  leap  into  the  sea,  and  soon  after  the  fear  of  the  watter  would 
drive  them  to  cleive  again  to  the  fired  ship,  so  for  avoiding  present  evil,  men 
will  many  times  be  inforced  to  have  recourse  to  another  no  less  dangerous. 
Trust  me,  forces  will  not  bring  forth  any  good  fruit  to  Her  Majesty's  behove, 
it  must  be  some  way  of  treaty  shall  serve  the  turn,  wherein  by  my  former  let- 
ters Your  Lordship  doth  know  already  what  is  my  judgement;  you  see  how 
plainly  I  do  write,  without  consideration  in  what  part  my  letters  may  be  taken, 
yet  my  hope  is  that  such  as  will  favourably  interpret  them,  shall  think  that  I 
mean  as  well  to  Her  Majesty  and  that  realme,  as  these  that  will  utter  other 
language.  1  wish  the  continuance  of  the  amity  betwixt  the  two  contrys,  without 
other  respect,  and  will  not  conceal  from  Her  Majesty  any  thing,  to  my  know- 
ledge, tending  to  the  prejudice  thereof;  if  I  shall  perceave  Her  Mejo^f  taking 
frank  dealings  in  evil  part,  I  shall  from  thenceforth  forbear  ;  in  the  t^vi  «e««c>n, 
I  will  not  cease  to  trowble  Your  Lordship,  as  I  shall  have  occasion  •  v  <ut»«Q«i 
«o  I  take  my  leave  of  Your  Lordship. 


AFFENDIX,   No.  XXXV  40? 

No.  XXXV.  (p.  208.) 

Letter  of  Queen  Elisabeth  to  the  Earle  of  Susseks,  July  2d,  1570. 

[Calderw.  MS.  History,  vol.  «.  p.  18'J.] 

Right  trusty  and  well  beloved  cousin,  we  greet  you  well ;  this  day  we  liave 
received  your  letters  of  28  the  last  month,  with  all  other  letters,  sent  from 
Scotland,  and  mentioned  in  your  letters,  whereunto  answer  is  desired  to  be 
given  before  the  tenth  of  this  month  ;  which  is  a  very  short  time,  the  weighti- 
ness  of  the  matters,  and  the  distance  of  the  places  considered  ;  nevertheless  we 
have,  as  the  shortness  could  suffer  it,  resolved  to  give  this  answer  following, 
which  we  will  that  yow,  by  warrand  hereof,  shall  cause  to  be  given  in  our  name 
to  the  Earl  of  Lennox  and  the  rest  of  the  noblemen  conveend  with  him. 
Where  it  is  by  them,  in  their  letters,  and  writings  alleg'd,  that  for  lack  of  our 
resolute  answer,  concerning  the  establishing  of  the  regiment  of  the  realm,  under 
their  young  King,  great  inconveniences  have  happened,  and  therefore  they  have 
deferred  now  at  their  last  convention  to  determine  of  the  samine,  who  shall 
have  the  place  of  governour,  until  the  21st  this  month,  before  which  time  they 
require  to  have  our  advise,  in  what  person  or  persons  the  government  of  that 
realm  shall  be  established,  we  accept  very  thankfull  the  goodwill  and  reputation 
they  have  of  us,  in  yielding  so  frankly  to  require  and  follow  our  advise  in  » 
matter  that  touchcth  the  state  of  their  King,  theirselves,  and  realm  so  neaj, 
wherein  as  we  perceive  that  by  our  former  forbearing  to  intermeddle  therein, 
they  have  taken  some  discomfort,  as  though  that  we  would  not  have  regard  to 
their  state  and  suerty,  so  on  the  other  part,  they  of  their  wisdoms  ought  to 
think  that  it  might  be  by  the  whole  world  evil  interpreted  in  us  to  appoint  them 
a  form  of  government,  or  a  governour  by  name,  for  that  howsoever  we  should 
mean  well  if  we  should  do  so,  yet  it  could  not  be  without  some  jealousy  in  the 
heads  of  the  estate,  nobility,  and  community  of  that  realm,  that  the  govern- 
ment thereof  should  be  by  me  specially  named,  and  ordain'd  ;  so  as  finding  dif- 
ficulty on  both  parts,  and  yet  misliking  most  that  they  should  take  any  discom- 
fort by  our  forbearing  to  show  our  mind  therein,  we  have  thought  in  this  sort 
for  to  proceed,  considering  with  ourselves  how  now  that  realm  had  been  a  good 
space  of  time  ruled  in  the  name  of  their  King,  and  by  reason  of  this  base  age, 
governed  heretofore  by  a  very  careful  and  honourable  person,  the  Earle 
of  Murray,  untill  that  by  a  mischievous  person  (an  evil  example)  he  was 
murdered,  whereby  great  disorder  and  confusion  of  necessity  had,  and  will 
more  follow,  if  determination  be  not  made  of  some  other  speciall  person,  or 
persons,  to  take  the  charge  of  governour,  or  superior  ruler  speciall  for  adminis- 
tration of  law  and  justice,  we  cannot  but  very  well  allow  the  desire  of  these 
Lords  to  have  some  speciall  governour  to  be  chosen  ;  and  therefore  being  well 
assured  that  their  own  understanding  of  all  others  is  best  to  consider  the 
state  of  that  realm,  and  to  discern  the  abilities  and  qualities  of  every  person 
meet  and  capable  for  such  a  charge,  we  shall  better  satisfie  ourselves,  whom 
they  by  their  common  consent  shall  first  choose,  and  appoint  to  that  purpose, 
than  of  any  to  be  by  us  aforehand  uncertainly  named,  and  that  because  they 
shall  perceave  that  we  have  care  of  the  person  of  their  King,  who  by  nearness 
of  blood,  and  in  respect  to  his  so  young  years,  ought  to  be  very  tender  and  dear 
to  us,  we  shall  not  hide  our  opinion  from  them,  but  if  they  shall  all  accord  to 
name  his  grandfather,  our  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  to  be  governor  alone,  or 
jointly  with  others,  (whom  we  hear  to  be  in  the  mean  time  by  their  common 
consent  appointed  Lieuten  nt-general)  reason  moveth  us  to  think  that  none  can 
be  chosen  in  tnat  whole  realm  that  shall  more  desire  the  preservation  of  the 
King,  and  be  more  meet  to  have  the  government  for  his  safety,  being  next  to 
him  in  blood  of  any  nobleman  of  that  realm,  or  elsewhere  ;  and  yet  hereby  we 
do  not  mean  to  prescribe  to  them  this  choice,  except  they  shall  of  themselves 
fully  and  freely  allow  thereof;  furthermore  we  would  have  them  well  assured 
that  whatsoever  reports  of  devises  are,  or  shall  be  spread  or  invented,  that  we 
have  already  yielded  our  mind  to  alter  the  state  of  the  King  or  government  of 
that  realm,  the  same  are  without  just  cause  or  ground  by  us  given,  for  as  we 


408  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND. 

have  already  advertized  them,  that  although  we  have  yielded  to  hear,  which  IB 
honour  we  could  not  refuse,  what  the  Queen  of  Scots  on  her  part  shall  say  and 
oder,  not  only  for  her  own  assurance,  but  for  the  wealth  of  that  realm,  yet  not 
knowing  what  the  same  will  be  that  shall  be  offered,  we  mean  not  to  break  the 
order  of  law  and  justico  by  advancing  her  cause,  or  prejudging  her  contrary, 
before  we  shall  deliberately  and  assuredly  see,  upon  the  hearing  of  the  whole, 
some  place  necessary,  and  just  cause  to  do  ;  and  therefore  finding  that  realm 
ruled  by  a  King,  and  the  same  affirmed  by  laws  of  that  realm,  and  thereof 
invested  by  coronation  and  other  solemnities  used  and  requisite,  and  generally 
so  received  by  the  whole  estates,  we  mean  not  by  yielding  to  hear  the  com- 
plaints, or  informations  of  the  Queen  against  her  son,  to  do  any  act  whereby  to 
make  conclusion  of  governments,  but  as  we  have  found  it,  so  to  suffer  the  same 
to  continue,  yea  not  to  suffer  it  to  be  altered  by  any  means  that  we  may  impeshe. 
as  to  our  honour  it  doth  belong,  as  by  your  late  actions  hath  manifestly  appeared, 
untill  by  some  justice  and  clear  cause,  we  shall  be  directly  induced  otherwise  to 
declare  our  opinion  ;  and  this  we  would  have  them  to  know  to  be  our  determina- 
tion and  course  that  we  mean  to  hold,  whereon  we  trust  they  for  their  King  may 
see  how  plainly  and  honourably  we  mean  to  proceed,  and  how  little  cause  they 
have  to  doubt  of  us,  whatsoever  to  the  contrary  they  have  or  shall  hear  ;  and 
on  the  other  part,  we  pray  them  of  their  wisdoms  to  think  how  unhonourable  and 
contrary  to  all  human  order  it  were  for  us,  when  the  Queen  of  Scotland  doth  so 
many  ways  require  to  hear  her  cause,  and  doth  offer  to  be  ordered  be  us  in  the 
same  as  well  for  matters  betwixt  ourselves  and  he*-,  as  betwixt  herself  and  her 
son  and  his  party  and  that  realm,  against  which  offers  no  reason  could  move  us 
to  refuse  to  give  ear,  that  we  should  aforehand  openly  and  directly,  before  the 
causes  be  heard  and  considered,  as  it  were,  give  a  judgment  or  sentence  either 
for  ourselves  or  for  them  whom  she  maketh  to  be  her  contraries.  Finally  ye 
shall  admonish  them,  that  they  do  not,  by  misconceiving  our  good  meaning 
toward  them,  or  by  indirect  assertions  of  their  adversary,  grounded  on  untruths, 
hinder  or  weaken  their  own  cause,  in  such  sort,  that  our  good  meaning  towards 
them  shall  not  take  such  effect  towards  them  as  they  shall  desire,  or  themselves 
have  need  of.  All  this  our  answer  ye  shall  cause  be  given  them,  and  let  them 
know  that  for  the  shortness  of  time,  this  being  the  end  of  the  second  of  this 
month,  we  neither  could  make  any  longer  declaration  of  our  mind,  nor  yet  write 
any  several  letters,  as  if  time  might  have  served  we  would  have  done.  2d  July 
1570. 

No.  XXXVI.  (p.  208.) 

T%$  Bishop  of  Ross  to  Secretary  Lidington  from  Chattisworth, 

[15th  June,  1570.] 

I  have  received  your  letters  dated  the  26th  of  May,  here  at  Chattisworth,  the 
10th  of  January,  but  on  the  receipt  thereof  1  had  written  to  you  at  length,  like 
as  the  Queen  did  wi'.h  my  Loi<'  Livingston,  by  which  you  will  be  resolved  of 
many  points  contained  in  your  said  letter.  I  writ  to  you  that  I  received 
vour  letter  and  credit  from  Thos  Cowy  at  London,  and  sent  to  Leicester  to 
know  the  Queen  of  England's  mind,  whether  if  you  shou'd  come  here  or  not 
He  sent  me  word  that  she  will  no  w  ays  have  you  come  as  one  of  the  commis 
sioners,  because  she  is  yet  offended  with  you  ;  and  therefore  it  appears  good  tha> 
ye  come  not  hither,  but  remain  wher^  you  are,  to  use  your  wisdom  and  diligence 
as  may  best  advance  the  Queen's  affairs,  for  1  perceive  your  weill  and  safetj 
depends  thereon,  in  respect  to  the  great  feid  and  ennimity  born  against  you  bj 
vour  Scot3  people  and  the  great  heirship  taken  of  your  father's  landis;  botl 
were  sure  demonstrations  of  their  malice.  Yet  I  am  encouraged  by  your  stou' 
and  deliberate  mind.  Assure  yourself  no  diligence  shall  be  omitted  to  procure 
supports  forth  off"  all  parts  where  it  may  be  had.  We  will  not  lefuse  the  ait 
neither  of  Papist,  Jew,  nor  Gentil,  after  my  advice  ;  and  to  this  end,  during  this 
treaty,  let  all  things  be  well  prepared.  And  seeing  my  Lord  Seaton  is  desirous 
to  go  into  Flanders,  the  Queen  thinks  it  very  necessary  that  he  so  do,  for  the 
Duke  D'AJva  has  gotten  express  command  of  the  King  of  Spain  to  give  sup- 
port, ard  I  am  sure  that  there  he  shall  have  aid  both  of  Flanders  and  the  Pope, 


APPENDIX.   No.  XXXV111.  409 

for  it  abides  only  on  the  coining  of  soma  men  of  countenance,  to  procure  and 
receive  the  same.  He  must,  needs  tarry  there,  on  the  preparations  thereof, 
during  the  treaty,  which  will  be  a  great  furtherance  to  the  same  here.  The 
Queen  has  already  written  to  tlio  Duke  D'Alva  for  this  effect,  advertizing  of 
his  coming  ;  there  is  certain  sums  of  money  coming  for  support  of  the  English- 
men, as  I  wrote  to  you  before,  from  the  Pope.  Whereupon  I  would  he  had  a 
general  commission  to  deal  for  them,  and  receive  such  sums  as  shall  be  given. 
The  means  shall  be  found  to  cause  you  be  ansuerit  of  the  sums  you  writ  for,  to 
be  dispoisit  upon  the  furnishing  of  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  so  being  some 
honest  and  true  man  were  sent  to  Flanders  to  receive  it,  as  said  is,  which  I 
would  you  prepared  and  sent.  Orders  shall  be  taken  for  the  metals  as  you 
ivnt  of.  We  have  proponit  your  avyce  in  entring  to  treat  with  the  Queen  ol 
England,  for  retiring  of  her  forces  puntyally  for  lack  of  aid.  Your  answers  to 
the  Englishmen  are  tho't  very  good,  but  above  all  keep  you  weill  out  of  their 
hands,  in  that  case,  estote  prudentes  sicut  serpentes.  You  may  take  experience 
with  the  hard  dealing  with  me,  how  ye  would  be  used  if  ye  were  here,  and  yet 
I  am  not  forth  of  danger,  being  in  medio  nationis  pravas  ;  alway  no  fear,  with 
God's  grace,  shall  make  me  shrink  from  Her  Majesty's  service.  Since  the 
Queen  of  England  has  refused  that  you  come  here,  it  appears  to  me  quod  non- 
dum  est  sedata  malitia  amorreorum,  .tec.  and  therefore  if  Athol  or  Cathenes 
might  by  any  means  be  procured  to  come,  they  were  the  most  fit  for  the  purpose. 
Rothes  were  also  meet,  if  he  and  1  were  not  both  of  one  sirname  :  so  the  treaty 
would  get  the  less  credit  either  in  Scotland  or  here.  Therefore  avys,  and  send 
the  best  may  serve  the  turn,  and  fail  not  Robert  Melvil  come  with  them,  who- 
ever comes,  for  so  is  the  Queen's  pleasure  ;  in  my  last  packet,  with  James  Fogo, 
to  you,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  I  sent  a  letter  of  the  Queen's  own  handwriting 
to  him,  which  I  trust  ye  received.  I  am  sorry  ye  come  not,  for  the  great  relief 
I  hoped  to  have  had  by  your  presence,  for  you  could  well  have  handled  the 
Queen  of  England,  after  her  humour,  as  you  were  wont  to  do.  The  rest  I  refer 
to  your  good  wisdom,  praying  God  to  send  you  health.  From  Chattisworth. 
the  15th  of  January. 

No.  XXXVII.  (p.  216.) 

The  Declaration  of  John  Cais  to  the  Lords  of  Grange  and  Lethington  zoungare 

upon  the  8th  day  of  Oct.  1571. 

Whereas  your  desire  to  know  the  Queen's  Majesty's  pleasure,  what  she 
will  do  for  appeasing  of  these  controversies,  and  therewith  has  offered  yourselves 
to  be  at  her  commandment,  touching  the  common  tranquility  of  the  whole  isle 
and  the  amity  of  both  realms  ;  her  pleasure  in  this  behalf,  that  ye  should  leave 
off  the  maintenance  of  this  civil  discord,  and  give  your  obedience  to  the  King, 
whom  she  will  maintain  to  the  uttermost  of  her  power. 

And  in  this  doing,  she  will  deal  with  the  Regent  and  the  King's  party  to  re- 
ceive you  into  favour,  upon  reasonable  conditions  for  security  of  life  and  livings. 

Also,  she  says  that  the  Queen  of  Scotts.  for  that  she  has  practised  with  the 
iPope  and  other  Princes,  and  also  with  her  own  subjects  in  England,  great  and 
dangerous  treasons  against  the  state  of  her  own  country,  and  also  to  the  de- 
struction of  her  own  person,  that  she  shall  never  bear  authority,  nor  have  liberty 
while  she  lives. 

If  ye  refuse  these  gentle  offers,  now  offered  unto  you,  she  will  presently  aid 
the  King's  party,  with  men,  ammunition,  and  all  necessary  things  to  be  had, 
against  you. 

Whereupon  Her  Majesty  requires  your  answer  with  speed,  without  any  delay. 

No.  XXXVIII.  (p.  221.) 

Articles  sent  by  Knox  to  the  General  Assembly,  August  5th,  1573. 

[Calderw.  MS  History,  2.  356.] 

First,  desiring  a  new  act  to  be  made  ratifying  all  things  concerning  the  King 
and  his  obedience  that  were  enacted  of  before  without  any  change,  and  that 
the  ministers  who  have  contraveend  the  former  acts  be  corrected  as  accordoth. 

Vol.  III.— 52 


410  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

That  sute  be  made  to  the  Regent's  grace  and  nobility  maintaining  the  King's 
cause,  that,  whatsoever  proceedeth  in  this  treaty  of  peace  they  be  mindful  the 
kirk  be  not  prejug'd  thereby,  in  any  sort,  and  they  especially  of  the  ministers 
that  have  been  robbed  of  their  possessions  within  the  kirk  during  the  tin...  3f 
the  troubles,  or  otherwise  dung  and  injured,  may  be  restored. 

To  sute  at  the  Regent,  that  no  gift  of  any  bishoprick  or  other  benefice  be 
given  to  any  person,  contrary  to  the  tenor  of  the  acts  made  in  the  time  of  the 
first  Regent  of  good  memory,  and  they  that  are  given  contrar  the  said  acts,  or 
to  any  unqualified  person,  may  be  revoked  and  made  null  be  an  act  of  secret 
council,  and  that  all  bishopricks  so  vacand  maybe  presented,  and  qualified  persons 
nominat  thereunto,  within  a  year  after  the  vaking  thereof,  according  to  the  order 
taken  in  Leith  be  the  commissioners  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  kirk  in  the  month 
of  January  last,  and  in  special  to  complain  upon  the  giving  of  bishoprick  oi 
Ross  to  the  Lord  Methven. 

That  no  pentions  or  benefices,  great  or  small,  be  given  be  simple  donation  of 
any  Lord  Regent  without  consent  of  the  possessor  of  the  saids  benefices  havino 
tittle  thereto,  and  the  admission  of  the  superintendent  or  commissioners  of  the 
province  wbere  this  benefice  lyeth,  or  of  the  bishops  lawfully  elected  according 
to  the  said  order  taken  at  Leith  ;  and  desire  an  act  of  council  tc  be  made  there" 
upon  until  the  next  Parliament,  wherein  the  sainine  may  be  specially  inacted, 
with  inhibition  to  the  lords  of  session  to  give  any  letters  or  decreets,  upon  such 
simple  gifts  of  benefices  or  pentions  not  being  given  in  manner  above  rehearsed, 
and  that  the  kirk  presently  assembled  declare  all  such  gifts  null  so  far  as  lyeth 
in  their  power. 

That  the  first  form  of  presentation  to  benefices,  which  were  in  the  first  and 
second  Regents'  time,  be  not  chang'd  as  now  it  is  commonly  ;  but  that  tnis 
clause  be  contained  in  the  presentation,  that  if  the  persons  presented  make  not 
residence,  or  be  slandrous,  or  found  unworthy  either  in  life  or  doctrine  be  the 
judgment  of  the  kirk  (to  wiiich  alwise  he  shall  be  subject)  or  meet  to  be  trans- 
ported to  another  room  at  the  sight  of  the  kirk,  the  said  presentation  and  all 
that  shall  fall  thereupon  shall  be  null  and  of  no  force  nor  effect;  and  this  to 
have  place  also  in  the  nomination  of  the  bishoDs. 

That  an  act  be  made  in  this  assembly  that  all  things  done  in  prejudice  of  the 
kirk's  assumption  of  the  third,  either  by  Papists  or  others,  by  giving  of  fewS, 
liferents,  or  taks,  or  any  otherwise  disponing  the  said  assumed  thirds,  be  de- 
clared null  with  a  solemn  protestation  the  whole  kirk  disasenteth  thereto. 

That  an  act  be  made  decerning  and  ordaining  all  bishops,  admitted  to  the 
order  of  the  kirk  now  received,  to  give  account  of  their  whole  rents,  and  intro- 
missions therewith  once  in  the  year,  as  the  kirk  shall  appoint,  for  such  causes 
as  the  kirk  may  easily  consider  the  same  to  be  most  expedient  and  necessar. 

Anent  the  jurisdiction  of  the  kirk,  that  the  same  be  determined  in  this  as- 
sembly, because  this  article  hath  long  been  postpond  to  make  sute  to  the  Regent 
and  council  for  remedy  against  messengers  and  excommunicate  persons. 

Last,  That  orders  be  taken  anent  the  procurers  of  the  kirk,  who  procure 
against  ministers  and  ministry,  and  for  sutting  of  justice  of  the  kirk's  actions 
in  the  session. 

No.  XXXIX.  (p.  223.) 

Declaration  of  Henry  Killigrewe,  Esq.  upon  the  Peace  concluded  the  23d. 

February,  1572. 

Be  it  known  to  all  men,  by  these  presents,  that  I.  Henry  Killigrewe,  Esq. 
ambassador  for  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England,  Forasmuch  as,  at  the  earnest 
motion  and  solicitation  being  made  to  me,  on  her  Highness's  behalf,  there  is 
accord  and  pacification  of  the  public  troubles  and  civil  war  within  this  realm 
of  Scotland  agreed  and  concluded,  and  the  same  favourably  extended  towards 
the  Right  Honourable  George  Earl  of  Hunt.ly,  Lord  Gordon  and  Baidzenoch, 
and  the  Lord  John  Hamilton,  son  to  the  Duke's  Grace  of  Chastellarault.  and 
commendatour  of  the  abby  of  Abirbiothock,  for  the  surety  of  the  lives,  livings, 
honours,  and  goods  of  them,  their  kinfolks,  friends,  servants,  and  partakers^ 
now  properly  depending  on  them  ;  in  treating  tf  the  which  said  pacification 


APPENDIX,   No.    XXXIX.  411 

the  murders  of  the  late  Earl  of  Murray,  uncle,  and  the    Earl  of  Leveuax 
grandfather,  late   Regent  to  the  King's  Majesty  of  Scotland,  his  realm  antl 
lieges,  as  also  an  article  touching  the  discharge  for  the  fructis  or  moveable  goods, 
which  the  said  persons  have  taken  Ira  persoms  professing  the  King's  obedience, 
before  the  damages  done  or  committed  by  them,  since  the  15th  day  of  Junij, 
1567,  and  before  the  penult  day  of  July  last  by  passed,  by  reason  of  the  common 
cause  or  any  thing  depending  thereupon,  being  thought  by  the  King's  commisa- 
ries  matteris  of  such  wecht  and  importance,  as  the  King's  present  Regent  could 
not  conveniently,  of  himself,  remit  or  discharge  the  same.     Yet  in  respect  of 
the  necessity  of  the  present  pacification,  and  for  the  weil  of  the  King,  and 
common  quietness  of  this  realm  and  lieges,  it  is  accorded,  that  the  matters  of 
remission  of  the  said  murderers,  and  of  the  discharge  of  the  said  fructis,  move- 
able goods,  and  other  damages,  be  moved  by  the  persons  desiring  the  said  re- 
missions and  discharge  to  the  Queen's  Majesty  my  Sovereign,  as  to  the  Princess 
nearest  both  in  blood  and   habitation  to  the   King  of  Scots.     And  whatsoever 
Her  Majesty  shall  advise  and  councel  touching  the  said  remission  and  discharge, 
the  said  Lord  Regent,  for  the  weil  of  the  King  and  universal  quietness  of  the 
realm  of  Scotland,  shall  perform,  observe, and  fullfil  the  same.     And  in  likewise, 
the  said  Earl  Huntly,  and  commendatour  of  Abirbrothock,  being  urged  to  have 
delivered  pledges  and  hostages  for  observation  of  the  conditions  of  the  said 
accord  and  pacification,  hath  required  me  in  place  thereof,  in  Her  Majesty's 
name-  by  virtue  of  my  commission,  to  promise  for  them,  that  they  shall  truly 
and   faithfully  observe  and  keep  the  said  pacification,  and  all  articles  and  con- 
ditions thereof,  for  their  parts,  and  that  it  would  please  Her  Majesty  to  inter- 
pose  herself,  as   surety  and   cautioner  for  them   to   that  effect,  to  the   King"s 
Majesty  of  Scotland  their  sovereign  and  his  said  Regent,  which  I  have  done 
and  promise  to  do,  by  virtue  of  Her  Majesty's  commission,  as  by  the  honoura- 
ble and  plain  dealing  of  the  said  Earl  and  Lord,  their  intention  to  peace  well 
appears,  the  same  being  most  agreeable  to  the  mind  of  the  Queen's  Majesty 
my  sovereign,  which  so  long  by  her  ministers  hath  travelled  for  the  said  pacifica- 
tion, and  in  the  end,  at  her  motion  and  solicitation  the  same  is  accorded,  know- 
ing her  Majesty's  godly  desire  that  the  same  may  continue  (inviolate  ;  and 
that  the  noblemen  and  others  now  returning  the  King's  obedience  shall   have 
sufficient  surety  for  their  lives,  livings,  honours,  and  goods.     Therefore,  in  Her 
Majesty's  name  and  by  virtue  of  my  commission,  I  promise  to  the  aforesaid 
Ear]  Huntley  and  commendatour  of  Abirbrothock,  that  by  Her  Majesty's  good 
means,  the  said  remission  and  discharge  shall  be  purchased  and  obtained  to 
them,  their  kinfolks,  friends,  servants,  and  partakers,  now  properly  depend- 
ing upon  them  (the  persons  specified  in  the  first  abstinance  always  excepted) 
as  also  that  the  said  pacification  shall  be  truly  observed  to  them,  and  that  Her 
Majesty  shall  interpose  herself  as  conservatrix  thereof,  and  endeavour  herself  to 
cause  the  same  to  be  truly  and  sincerely  kept  in  all  points  and  articles  thereof 
accordingly.     In  witness  whereof  I  have  to  this  present  subscribed  with  my 
hand,  and  sealed  the  same  with  mine  own  seal,  the   13th  day  of  Feb.  Anno 
Domini  1572.     And  this  to  be  performed  by  me,  betwixt  the  date  hereof  and 
the  Parliament  which  will  be  appointed  for  their  restitution,  or  at  the  furthest 
before  the  end  of  the  said  Parliament.     Sic  subscribitur. 

The  Bishop  of  Glasgow's  Note  concerning  the  Queen  of  Scotland's  Dovry. 

[1576.    Cott.  lib.  Calig.  B.  4.] 

The  Queen  of  Scotland,  Dowager  of  France,  had  for  her  dowry,  besides 
other  possessions,  the  Dukedom  of  Turene,  which  was  solemnly  contracted  and 
given  to  her  by  the  King  and  Estates  of  Parliament ;  which  dukedom  shu 
possessed  peacefully  till  1576,  and  then,  upon  the  pacification  betwixt  the  King 
and  Mons.  his  brother,  to  augment  whose  appenage  this  dutchy  was  given,  to 
which  the  Queen  of  Scotland  yielded  upon  account  of  Princes  who  were  her 
near  relations,  provided  the  equivalent  which  was  promised  her  should  be  faith 
fully  performed.  So  that  year,  after  a  great  many  solicitations  in  lieu  of  that 
dutchy,  she  had  granted  her  the  county  of  Vermandaise,  with  the  lands  and 
bailiwicks  of  Seuley  and  Vetrv :  tho'  tis  known  that  county  and   the  othei 


«12  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

lands  were  not  of  equal  value  with  Turene,  but  was  promised  to  have  mi  ad 
dition  of  lands  in  the  neighbourhood  to  an  equal  value.  Upon  this  letters  patent 
were  granted,  which  were  continued  in  the  courts  of  Parliament,  chamber  ol 
accompts,  court  of  aids,  chamber  of  the  treasury,  and  others  necessary  :  upou 
which  she  entered  into  possession  of  that  county,  &c.  Afterwards,  by  a  valua- 
tion of  the  commissioners  of  the  chamber  of  accompts,  it  was  found  that  the 
revenue  of  that  country,  &c.  did  not  amount  to  those  of  Turene,  by  3000  hvres. 
But  instead  of  making  up  this  deficiency  according  to  justice,  some  of  the  privj 
council,  viz.  M.  de  Cheverny,  the  presidents  of  Bellievre,  Nicocholay,  and  St. 
Bonet,  in  the  name  of  the  King,  notwithstanding  of  her  aforesaid  losses,  did 
sell  and  alienate  the  lands  of  Senlis  and  the  dutchy  of  Estaimpes,  to  Madam 
de  Montpensier,  from  whom  the  King  received  money  ;  of  which  sale  the  coun- 
sellors aforesaid  obliged  themselves  to  be  guarantees,  which  hath  hindered  the 
aforesaid  Queen  to  have  justice  done  her.  So  that  Madam  de  Montpensier 
hath  been  put  in  possession  of  these  lands  of  Senlis,  contrary  to  all  the  decla- 
ration, protestation,  and  assurances  of  the  King  of  France  to  Queen  Mary's 
ambassadors.  So  that  the  Queen  of  Scotland  is  dispossessed  of  her  dowrjT, 
contrary  to  all  equity,  without  any  regard  to  her  quality. 

No.  XL.  (p.  225.) 

A  Letter  from  the  Lord  of  Lochlevin  to  the  Regent  Mortoun. 

[3d  March,  1577.     E.  of  Morloun's  Archives.     Bund.  B.  No.  19.] 

It  will  please  Your  Grace,  I  received  Your  Grace's  letter,  and  has  considered 
the  same.  The  parson  of  Cainsey  was  here  at  me  before  the  recent  thereof, 
directed  fra  my  Lord  of  Mar,  and  the  master  anent  my  last  written,  which  was 
the  answer  of  the  writing  that  the  master  sent  to  me,  which  I  sent  to  Your 
Grace,  desiring  me  to  come  to  Stirling  to  confer  with  them.  I  had  given  my 
answer  before  the  receit  of  Your  Grace's  letter,  thai  1  behuiffit  to  be  besyd  Sanct 
Androis,  at  ane  friend's  tryst,  which  I  might  not  omit ;  I  understand  by  my  said 
cousin,  that  the  King's  Majesty  is  to  write  to  divers  of  the  nobility  to  come 
there,  anent  Your  Lordship's  trial,  and  that  he  had  written  before  his  departing 
to  my  Lord  Monthrois,  I  understand  likewise,  he  will  write  to  Your  Grace 
to  come  there  for  the  same  effect,  which  I  tho't  good  to  make  Your  Grace 
foreseen  of  the  same,  praying  Your  Grace,  for  the  love  of  God  Almighty,  to 
look  upon  the  best,  and  not  to  sleep  in  security,  but  to  turn  you  with  unfeigned 
heart  to  God,  and  to  consider  with  yourself,  that  when  the  King's  Majesty  was 
very  young,  God  made  him  the  instrument  to  divest  his  mother  from  her 
authority,  who  was  natural  Princess,  for  offending  of  his  Divine  Majesty,  and 
that  there  ran  no  vice  in  her,  but  that  the  same  is  as  largely  in  you,  except  that 
Your  Grace  condescended  not  to  the  destruction  of  your  wife.  For  as  to  har- 
lotry and  ambition,  I  think  Your  Grace  has  as  far  offended  God,  and  far  more 
in  avaritiousness,  which  vycis  God  never  left  unplagued,  except  speedy  repent- 
ance, which  I  pray  God  grant  to  Your  Grace,  for  otherwise  Your  Grace  can 
never  have  the  love  of  God  nor  man.  I  pray  Your  Grace  flatter  not  yourself; 
for  if  Your  Grace  believes  that  ye  have  the  good-will  of  them  that  are  the 
King's  good-willers,  ye  deceive  yourself:  for  surely  1  see  perfectly  that  your 
own  particulars  are  not  contented,  lat  be  the  rest  and  that  most  principally  foi 
your  hard  dealing.  I  pray  Your  Grace,  beir  with  me  that  I  am  thus  hamlie,  for 
certainly  it  proceeds  from  no  grudge,  but  from  the  very  affection  of  my  heart 
towards  Your  Grace,  which  nas  continued  since  we  were  acquainted.  And 
now  I  see,  because  the  matter  stands  in  Your  Grace's  handling  with  the  King's 
Majesty,  for  certainly  if  Your  Grace  fall  forth  with  him  now,  1  see  not  how  ye 
shall  meet  hereafter;  pray  I  Your  Grace  to  call  to  God,  and  look  on  the  best,  and 
cast  from  Your  Grace  both  your  vices,  to  wit,  ambition  and  avaritiousness.  I 
am  riding  this  day  to  Sanct  Androis,  and  trust  to  return  on  Wednesday  at  the 
farthest  If  Your  Grace  will  command  me  in  any  offices  that  are  honest,  that  I 
may  do  Your  Grace  pleasure  in  at  Sterling,  advertise  of  Your  Grace's  mind, 
and  shall  do  to  my  power  and  knowledge,  and  this  with  my  heartlio,  &e.  &o 


APPENDIX,  No.  XL!  41* 

To  our  trust  i/  Cousin  the  Lord  Lochletm. 
[From  the  original.     E.  of  Morton's  Archives.     Bund.  B.  No.  31.] 

Trusty  Cousin,  after  our  most  hearty  commendations,  we  received  your  letter 
of  the  3d  of  March,  and  as  we  take  your  plainness  therein  in  good  part,  as  pro- 
ceeding from  a  friend  and  kinsman,  in  whose  good  affection  t<  wards  us  we 
never  doubted,  so  ye  may  not  think  it  strange  that  we  purge  ourselves  so  far  ol 
your  accusation,  as  in  conscience  we  find  ourselves  to  have  offended  in.  As 
touching  our  olfence  to  God,  we  intend  not  to  excuse  it,  but  to  submit  us  to  his 
mercy;  for  ambition  surely  we  think  none  can  justly  accuse  us  ;  for  in  our  pn 
vate  estate  we  could,  and  can  live  as  well  contented,  as  any  of  our  degree  in 
Scotland,  without  further  aspiring.  The  bearing  too  the  charge  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  realm,  indeed,  mon  lead  us,  or  any  other  that  shall  occupy  that 
place,  not  simply  to  respect  ourself,  but  His  Majesty's  rowme,  which  we  supply, 
and  therein  not  transcending  the  bounds  of  measure,  as  we  trust,  it  shall  not  be 
found  we  have  done,  it  ought  not  to  be  attributed  to  any  ambition  in  us.  For 
as  soon  as  ever  His  Majesty  shall  think  himself  ready  and  able  for  his  own 
government,  none  shall  more  willingly  gree  and  advance  the  same  nor  1,  since 
1  think  never  to  set  my  face  against  him,  whose  honour,  safety,  and  preservation 
has  been  so  dear  unto  me,  nor  I  will  never  believe  to  find  otherw  ise  at  his  hand 
than  favour,  although  all  the  unfriends  1  have  in  the  earth  were  about  him, 
to  persuade  him  to  the  contrary.  As  we  write  unto  you,  our  friendly  dealing 
tnd  confidence  in  the  house  of  Mar  is  not  thankfully  acquit ;  as  we  trust  your- 
self considers  ;  but  because  the  ambassadors  of  England,  my  Lord  of  Angus, 
the  chancellor,  treasurer,  and  some  noblemen  rides  west  this  day  to  see  the 
King,  we  pray  you  heartily  address  yourself  to  be  there  as  soon  as  ye  can,  and 
as  ye  shall  find  the  likelihood  of  all  things,  let  us  be  advertised  thereof  with 
your  own  advice,  by  Alex1'.  Hay,  whom  we  have  thought  good  to  send  west, 
seeing  my  Lord  of  Angus  from  Sterling  rides  to  Douglas.  And  so  we  com- 
mit you  in  the  protection  of  God.    At  Holyrood  house,  the  4th  of  March,  1577. 

For  the  avaritiousness  laid  to  our  charge,  indeed  it  lies  not  in  us  so  liberally 
to  deal  the  King's  geare,  as  to  satisfy  all  cravers,  nor  never  shall  any  sovereign 
and  native  born  Prince,  let  be  any  officer,  eschew  the  disdains  of  such,  as  thinks 
them  judges  to  their  own  reward  ;  in  many  causes  I  doubt  not  to  find  the  assist- 
ance of  my  friends,  but  where  my  actions  shall  appear  unhonest,  I  will  not  crave 
their  assistance,  but  let  me  bear  my  own  burthen. 

No.  XLI.  (p.  236.) 

Letter  of  Walsingham  to  Randolph,  February  3,  1580-1. 

[Cott.  Lib.  Calig.  C.  6.] 

SIR, 

1  have  received  from  my  Lord  Lieutenant  the  copy  of  your  letter  of  the  25th 
of  the  last  directed  unto  His  Lordship,  containing  a  report  of  your  negotiation 
with  the  King  and  his  council,  in  your  second  audience,  wherewith  having  made 
Her  Majesty  acquainted,  she  seemed  somewhat  to  mislike  that  you  should  so 
long  defer  to  deal  for  the  enlargement  of  Empedocles.  But  1  made  answer  in  your 
behalf,  that  I  thought  you  were  directed  by  the  advice  of  the  said  Empedocles' 
friends,  in  the  soliciting  of  that  cause,  who  knew  what  time  was  fittest  for  you 
to  take  to  deal  therein,  with  most  effect,  and  best  success,  with  which  answer 
Her  Majesty  did  in  the  end  rest  very  well  satisfied,  touching  that  point. 

Your  putting  of  us  in  hope  that  D'Aubigny  might  easily  be  won  at  Her 
Majesty's  devotion,  was  at  first  interpreted  to  have  been  ironie  spoke  by  you. 
But  since  it  seemeth  you  insist  upon  it,  I  could  wish  you  were  otherwise  per- 
suaded of  the  man,  or  at  least  kept  that  opinion  to  yourself,  for  considering  the 
end  and  purpose  of  his  coining  into  Scotland,  as  may  be  many  ways  sufficientijr 
proved,  was  only  to  advance  the  Queen's  iiberty,  and  reception  into  that  govern- 
ment, to  overthrow  religion,  and  to  procure  a  foreign  match  with  Villenarius. 


414  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

wherein  the  inclosed  copy,  which  you  may  use  to  good  purpose  there,  shall 
partly  five  you  some  light ;  there  is  no  man  here  can  be  persuaded  that  he 
will  change  his  purpose  for  so  small  advantage  as  he  is  likely  to  find  by  it,  and 
therefore  you  shall  do  well  to  forbear  to  harp  any  more  upon  that  string,  as  1 
have  already  written  to  you.  The  Prince  of  Orange  sending,  1  fear,  will  not 
be  in  time  that  it  may  do  any  good  ;  for  besides  that  these  people  are  in  them- 
selves slow  in  their  resolutions,  their  own  affairs  are,  at  present,  so  great,  their 
state  so  confused,  and  the  Prince's  authority  so  small,  that  he  cannot  so  soon 
take  order  in  it ;  and  yet  for  mine  own  part,  I  have  not  been  negligent  or  care- 
less in  ihe  matter,  having  more  than  three  weeks  past  sent  one  about  it,  from 
whom  nevertheless  I  do  yet  hear  nothing.  The  letters  you  desire  should  be 
written  thither  by  the  French  ministers,  1  have  given  order  to  Mr.  Killingrew  to 
procure,  who,  I  doubt  not,  will  carefully  perform  it,  so  that,  I  hope,  I  shall  have 
them  to  send  you  by  the  next.  And  so  1  commit  you  to  God.  At  Whitehall, 
the  3d  of  February,  1580. 

Your  very  loving  cousin  and  servant, 

Fra.  Walsingham. 

This  letter  is  an  original,  and  in  some  parts  of  it  wrote  in  ciphers  and  explained  by 
another  hand.  By  Empedocles  is  understood  Morton.  By  Villenarius,  the  King 
of  Scots.     D'Aubigny  is  marked  thus  °        ' °- 

3.  Feb.  1580. 

Sundry  Notes  gathered  upon  good  Diligence  given,  and  in  Time  to  be  belter  mani- 
fested, being  now  thought  meet  to  be  in  convenient  sort  used  and  laid  against 
D'Aubigny,  to  prove  him  abasing  the  King,  the  Mobility,  and  that  State. 

[Cott.  Lib.  Calig.  C.  G.    An  original.] 

First,  it  hath  been  informed  by  credible  means,  that  D'Aubigny  was  privy 
and  acquainted  with  La  Nave  the  King's  mother's  secretary,  coming  into  Scot- 
land, and  of  his  errand  there,  tending  chietly  to  persuade  the  King,  to  think  and 
esteem  it  an  evil  president  for  Princes  that  subjects  might  have  power  to  deprive 
their  lawful  sovereigns,  as  they  did  his  mother,  who  was  not  minded  by  any 
mean,  to  defeat  him,  either  of  the  present  government  of  that  realm,  or  yet  ol 
the  oossession  of  the  crown  and  inheritance  thereof,  but  rather  to  assure  the 
same  to  him  :  and  that  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  assurance,  the  King 
should  have  oeen  advised  and  drawn  to  have  governed,  for  some  short  time,  as 
Prince,  calling  D'Aubigny  to  rule  as  governor  of  the  Prince,  by  commission  from 
the  Queen  his  mother,  unt'1  the  King's  enemies  were  suppressed;  after  which 
time  D'Aubigny  should  hav<  power  given  to  establish  and  resign  that  kingdom 
to  the  King,  by  his  mother's  voluntary  consent,  whereby  all  such,  as  had  before 
been  in  action  against  the  Queen  or  her  authority,  might  be  brought  to  stand  in 
the  King's  mercy.  And  for  that  the  King  might  live  in  more  surety,  D'Au- 
bigny should  be  declared  both  second  person  in  succession  of  that  crown,  and 
also  Lieutenant  General  of  Scotland,  and  that  D'Aubigny  before  his  departure 
out  of  France  received  commission  from  the  King's  mother  to  the  effects  remem- 
bered, or  near  the  same.  That  in  this  behalf  he  had  conference  with  the  Bishops 
of  Glasgow,  and  Ross,  and  with  Sir  James  Baford,  with  which  persons,  and  witli 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  he  had  and  hath  frequent  intelligence,  and  by  Sir  James 
Baford  he  was  advised  to  confer  with  the  Lord  John  Hamilton  before  his  repair 
ito  Scotland,  whereunto  he  agreed,  and  yet  afterwards  he  sent  one  John 
Hamilton  to  the  said  Lord  John  to  excuse  him  in  this  part,  alledging,  that  he 
did  forbear  to  come  to  him,  lest  thereby  he  should  marr  or  hinder  greater  etfecta 
to  be  executed  by  him  in  Scotland. 

That  before  his  coming  into  that  realm,  the  nobility  and  country  were  well 
quieted  and  united  in  good  concord,  with  great  love  betwixt  the  King  and  nobil- 
ity, and  amongst  the  noblesse,  but  he  hath  both  drawn  the  King  against  sundry 
of  the  chiefest  of  his  nobility,  that  have  been  most  ready,  and  have  expended 
their  blood  and  possessions  to  preserve  religion,  and  defend  the  King's  person, 
bis  government  and  estate,  and  also  hath  given  occasions  of  great  suspicions 


APPENDIX,   No.    XL1I.  4ii 

aiidiffence  to  be  engendered  betwixt  the  Kingand  liisnobility,andespecially  vutb 
■uch  as  have  been  in  action  against  the  King's  mother,  and  her  authority,  who 
by  force  and  means  of  the  said  commission  and  practice  should  have  been 
brought  into  most  dangerous  condition  ;  and  who  also  may  find  themselves  in 
no  small  perill  while  he  possesses  the  King's  ear,  abuseth  his  presence,  and 
holdeth  such  of  the  principal  keys  and  ports  of  his  realm,  as  he  presently 
enjoy  eth. 

That  he  hath  drawn  the  King  not  only  to  forget  the  great  benefits  done  to  him 
and  his  realme,  by  the  Queen's  Majesty  of  England,  but  also  to  requite  the 
H.mie  with  sundry  signs  of  great  unthankfulness  and  wounding  therewith  the 
honour  of  Her  Majesty,  and  thereby  hath  adventured  to  shake  the  happy  amity 
long  time  continued  betwixt  those  Princes. 

And  whereas  these  griefs  were  to  be  repaired  by  gentle  letters  and  good 
offers,  to  have  passed  and  been  done  betwixt  them  ;  in  which  respect  the  King 
and  council  having  resolved  to  write  to  Her  Majesty,  for  Her  Highness  better 
satisfaction  in  the  late  negotiation  of  Mr.  Alexander  Hume  of  Northberwiek, 
had  given  order  to  the  King's  secretary  to  frame  that  letter  :  He  minding  to 
break  the  bond  of  amity  in  sunder,  willed  the  secretary  to  be  sure  that  nothing 
should  be  inserted  in  that  letter  whereby  the  King  should  crave  any  thing  at 
her  hands,  seeking  thereby  to  cut  off  all  loving  courtesies  betwixt  them,  as  by 
the  declaration  of  the  said  secretary  may  be  better  learned,  and  thereupon  fur- 
ther approved. 

That  under  the  hope  and  encouragement  of  D'Aubigny's  protection,  Alex 
ander  King  presumed  with  that  boldness  to  make  his  lewd  harangue,  and  by  his 
means  hath  hitherto  escaped  chastisement  and  correction,  due  for  his  offence. 

That  Sir  James  Baford,  condemned  of  the  slaughter  of  the  King's  father, 
hath  been  called  into  the  realm  by  Lennox,  without  the  privity  of  the  King. 
And  whereas  the  said  Sir  James  found  in  a  green  velvet  desk,  late  the  Earl  of 
Bothwell's,  and  saw  and  had  in  his  hands  the  principal  band  of  the  conspirators 
in  that  murder,  and  can  best  declare  and  witness  who  were  authors  and  execu- 
tors of  the  same  ;  he  is  drawn  by  Lennox  to  suppress  the  truth,  and  to  accuse 
such  as  he  himself  knoweth  to  be  innocent ;  and  as  by  order  of  law  will  be  so 
found,  if  they  may  have  due  trial,  which,  contrary  to  all  justice,  is  by  Lennox 
means  denied. 

This  is  the  charge  against  D\4ubigny,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  letter  by 
Walsingham :  but  by  Baford  they  mean  Sir  James  Balfour. 

No.  XLII.  (p.  243.) 

The  Copy  of  the  King  of  France,  his  Directions  sent  to  Scotland  with  Seineur  de  la 
Motte  Fenelon.     Translated  out  of  the  French. 

[Calderw.  MS.  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  208.] 

First,  on  Their  Majestys  ro  st  Christian  part,  he  shall  make  the  most  honour- 
able salutation  and  visiting  to  the  Most  Serene  King  of  Scotland,  their  good 
brother  and  little  son,  that  in  him  is  possible. 

To  give  him  their  letters  that  are  closed,  such  and  such  like  as  they  have 
written  to  him  with  their  hands,  and  to  show  expressly  the  perfect  friendship 
and  singular  affection,  that  Their  Majestys  bear  to  him,  and  to  bring  back  the 
answer. 

To  take  heed  to  the  things  which  touch  near  the  most  Serene  King,  to  th» 
effect  that  his  person  may  be  in  no  danger,  but  that  it  may  be  most  surely  pre- 
served. 

And  that  he  be  not  hindred  in  the  honest  liberty  that  he  ought  to  have,  and 
that  no  greater  or  straiter  guards  be  about  him  than  he  had  before. 

And  such  like,  that  he  be  not  impeached  in  the  authority,  that  God  hath  given 
to  him  of  King  and  Prince  sovereign  above  his  subjects,  to  the  effect  he  may  as 
freely  ordain  and  command  in  his  affairs,  and  in  the  affairs  of  his  country,  with 
his  ordinary  council,  as  he  was  used  to  do  of  before. 

That  his  nobilitv  barons,  and  commonalty  of  his  country  may  have  their  free 


41ft  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

liberty  to  resort  to  His  Serene  Majesty  without  suspicion  of  greater  guards  01 
more  armed  men  about  his  person  than  the  use  was,  that  they  be  not  airraid  and 
hindered  to  resort  ;  and  further  that.  the.  Segnieur  de  la  Motte  F'enelon  sal; 
liberally  and  freely  speak  to  the  said  Serene  King  and  council,  requiring  the 
reestablishing  of  that  that  may  or  hath  been  changed  or  altered. 

And  that  he  may  know  if  the  principalis  of  the  nobility  and  other  men  of 
good  behaviour  of  the  towns  and  commonality  of  the  contry  conveens,  and  are 
content  with  the  form  of  government  presently  with  the  said  Serene  King,  to 
the  end  that  if  their  be  any  miscontent  he  may  travails  to  agree  them  together, 
and  that  he  return  not  without  the  certainty  of  Uie  samine. 

And  if  he  may  understand  that  there  be  any  who  have  not  used  them  so 
reverently  towards  the  said  Serene  King  their  sovereign  Lord,  as  the  duty  oi 
their  obedience  required,  that  he  may  pray  on  this  behalf  of  His  Majesty  Most 
Christian  the  said  Serene  King  his  good  brother,  giving  him  councill  wholly  to 
forget  the  same,  and  exhorting  them  to  do  their  duty  towards  his  Majesty,  in 
time  coming,  in  all  respects  with  the  obedience  and  true  subjection  they 
ought  him. 

And  if  the  said  Segnieur  de  la  Motte  perceves  the  said  Serene  King  to  be  in 
any  manner  constrained  of  his  person,  authority,  liberty,  and  disposition  of  his 
affairs,  than  he  used  to  be,  and  not  convenient  for  his  royal  dignity,  or  as  the 
sovereignty  of  a  Prince  doth  require,  that  he  use  all  moyen  lawful  and  honest  to 
place  him  in  the  samine,  and  that  he  employ  as  much  as  the  credit  of  His  Most 
Christian  Majesty  may  do  toward  the  nobility  and  subjects  of  that  contry, 
and  as  much  as  may  his  name,  with  the  name  of  his  crown  towards  the  Scottish 
nation,  the  which  he  loves  and  confides  in  as  much  as  they  were  proper 
Frenchmen. 

And  that  he  wittness  to  the  said  Serene  King,  and  his  estates,  of  his  consent, 
and  to  all  the  nobility  and  principall  personages  of  the  contry,  that  His  Most 
Christian  Majestie  will  continue  on  his  part  in  the  most  ancient  alliance  and 
confederacy,  which  he  hath  had  with  the  said  Serene  King  his  good  brother, 
praying  his  nobility  and  contry,  with  his  principall  subjects,  to  persevere  in 
the  samine,  in  all  good  understanding  and  friendship  with  him ;  the  which,  on 
nis  part,  he  shall  do,  observing  the  samine  most  inviolable. 

Further  His  Most  Christian  Majesty  understanding  that  the  Serene  King  his 
good  brother  was  contented  with  the  Duke  of  Lenox,  and  his  servise,  the  said 
Signieur  de  La  Motte  had  charge  to  pray  His  Serene  Majesty  that  he  might 
remaine  beside  him  to  his  contentment,  believing  that  he  should  more  willing 
intertain  the  points  of  love  and  confederace,  betwixt  Their  Majestys  and  their 
contrys,  because  he  was  a  good  subject  to  them  both  ;  and  if  he  might  not 
remain,  without  some  alteration  of  the  tranquility  of  his  estate,  that  he  might 
retire  him  to  his  own  house  in  the  said  contry,  in  surenes,  or  if  he  pleased  to 

return  to  France  that  he  might  surely and  if  it  pleases  His  Serene  Majesty, 

to  cause  cease  and  stay  the  impeachments,  that  are  made  of  new  upon  the 
frontiers,  to  the  effect  that  the  natural  Frenchmen  may  enter  as  freely  into  the 
contry,  as  they  were  wont  to  do  of  before. 

And  that  there  may  be  no  purpose  of  diffamation,  nor  no  speech  but  honour- 
able of  the  Most  Christian  King,  in  that  contry,  but  such  like  as  is  spoken  most 
honourably  of  the  Serene  King  of  Scotland  in  France. 

He  had  another  head  to  propone,  which  he  concealed  till  a  little  before  hie 
departure,  to  wit,  that  the  Queen,  the  King's  mother,  was  content  to  receive 
nor  son  in  association  of  the  kingdom. 

No.  XLIII.  (p.  249.) 

Lord  Humdane  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  the  14th  of  JJugvit,  1584  from 

Berwick. 

[Calderw.  M&  History,  vol.  ill.  p  374.] 

Sir, 
According  to  my  former  letters,  touching  my  meeting  with  the  Earl  of  Arran 
upon  Wednesday  last,  there  came  hither  to  me  from  the  Earle,  the  justice  clerk, 
and  Sir  William   Stuart.  Captain  of  Dumbarton,  both  of  the  King's  privie 


APPENDIX,   No    XLII1  417 

council,  'm  treat  with  me  about  the  order  of  >ur  meeting,  refen.ug  wholly  to 
me  to  appoint  the  hour,  and  the  number  we  should  meet  withal ;  so  as  we  con- 
cluded the  place  to  be  Foulden,  the  hour  to  be  ten  o'clock,  and  the  number  with 
ourselves  to  be  13  of  a  side  ;  and  the  rest  of  our  troops  to  stand  each  of  them 
a  mile  from  the  town  ;  the  one  on  the  one  side,  the  other  on  the  other  side,  so 
as  our  troops  were  two  miles  asunder  ;  1  was  not  many  horsemen,  but  1  supplied 
it  with  footmen,  where  1  had  100  shot  on  horse,  but  they  were  very  near  500 
horse  well  appointed  :  According  to  which  appointment,  we  met  yesterday,  and 
after  some  congratulations,  the  Earle  fell  in  the  like  protestations  of  his  gooc* 
will  and  readiness  to  serve  the  Queen's  Majesty,  before  any  prince  in  the  world, 
next  his  sovereign,  as  he  had  done  heretofore  by  his  letters,  and  rather  more  ; 
.vith  such  earnest  vows,  as  unless  he  be  worse  than  a  devil,  Her  Majesty  may 
dispose  of  him  at  her  pleasure  ;  this  being  ended,  1  entered  with  him  touching 
the  cause  I  had  to  deal  with  him,  and  so  near  as  1  could,  left  nothing  unrehearsed 
that  i  had  to  charge  the  King  or  him  with  any  unkind  dealing  towards  Her 
Majesty,  according  to  my  instructions,  which  without  any  delay  he  answered 
presently,  as  ye  shall  perceive  by  the  said  answer  sent  herewith  ;  but  I  replying 
unto  him,  he  amplified  them  with  many  moe  circumstances,  but  to  this  effect 
Then  I  dealt  with  him  touching  the  point,  of  Her  Majesty's  satisfaction,  for  the 
uttering  such  practices  as  has  been  lately  set  on  foot  for  the  disquieting  of 
Her  Majesty  and  her  estate,  who  thereof  made  sundry  discourses,  what  mar- 
riages have  been  offered  to  His  Majestie  by  sundrie  Princes,  and  by  what  means 
the  Earle  has  sought  to  divert  them,  and  for  what  causes  :  the  one,  for  that  be 
marriage  with  Spain  or  France,  he  must  also  alter  his  religion,  which  as  he  is 
sure  the  King  will  never  doe,  so  will  he  never  surfer  him  to  hearken  unto  it, 
so  long  as  he  hath  any  credit  with  him  ;  he  denys  not  but  the  King  has  been 
dealt  withal  be  practices  to  deal  against  Her  Majesty,  which  he  has  so  far 
denied  and  refused  to  enter  into,  as  they  have  ieft  dealing  therein,  but  what- 
soever the  king  or  he  knoweth  therein,  there  shall  be  nothing  hidden  from  Her 
Majesty,  as  Her  Majesty  shall  know  very  shortly  ;  surely  it  seems  by  his 
speeches,  that  if  the  King  would  have  yielded  thereunto,  there  bad  been  no 

small  company  of  French  in  Scotland  ere  now  to  disquiet  Her  Majesty. 

This  being  ended,  I  dealt  with  him  earnestly  for  the  stay  of  this  Parliament, 
which  now  approacheth  ;  or  at  the  least  that  there  may  be  nothing  done  therein, 
to  the  prejudice  of  these  noblemen  and  others  now  in  England,  for  the  forfaulting 
of  their  livings  and  goods  :  hereupon  he  made  a  long  discourse  to  me,  first  of 
the  Earl  of  Angus  dealing  about  tiie  Earl  of  Morton,  then  of  his  going  out, 
notwithstanding  of  sundrie  gracious  offers  the  King  had  made  him,  then  of  the 
road  of  Ruthven,  how  that  presently  after  they  had  the  King's  Majesty  in  their 
hands,  they  imprisoned  himself,  dealt  with  the  King  for  putting  of  the  Duke 
out  of  the  realme,  the  King  refused  so  to  do,  they  told  him  plainly  that  if  he 
would  not  he  should  have  the  Earl  of  Arran's  head  in  a  dish  ;  the  King  asked 
what  offence  the  Earle  had  made  ?  and  they  answered  it  must  be  so,  and  should 
be  so  ;  hereupon  for  the  safeguard  of  Arran's  life,  the  King  was  content  to  send 
away  the  Duke,  and  yet  Arran  afterwards  sundrie  times  in  danger  of  his  life  ; 
1  alledged  unto  him  the  king's  letter  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  and  his  acts  in 
council,  that  they  had  done  nothing  but  for  his  servise,  and  with  his  good 
liking  and  contentment,  who  answered  me,  he  durst  do  no  otherwise,  nor  could 
not  do  any  thing  but  that  which  pleased  them,  with  such  a  number  of  other 
their  dealings  with  the  King  whilest  he  was  in  their  hands  as  are  too  long  to  be 
written,  and  too  bad  if  they  were  true  ;  I  said  the  King  might  have  let  the 
Queen's  Majesty's  ambassador  have  known  his  mind  secretly,  and  Her  Majesty 
would  have  relieved  him  ;  he  answered,  that  the  King  was  not  ignorant  that 
the  apprehensions  in  that  manner  proceeded  from  Mr.  Bow's  practice,  and 
thereby  durst  not  impart  so  much  to  him,  and  yet  the  King  was  content,  and 
did  give  remission  to  as  many  as  would  acknowledge  their  faults,  and  ask  re- 
mission, and  such  as  would  not,  he  thought  fit  to  banish,  to  try  their  further 
loyalty,  in  which  time  they  conspired  the  King's  second  apprehension,  and  the 
killing  of  the  Earle,  and  others,  and  seduced  the  ministers  to  their  faction,  and 
yet  not  satisfied  with  the  conspiracies  and  treasonable  dealings  (as  he  terms 
them),  are  entered  into  a  third,  being  in  England  under  Her  Majesty's  protec- 
tion to  dishonour  Her  Majesty  as  fcr  as  in  them  lieth,  or  at  least  to  cause  th« 
Vol    III.— 53 


418  HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND. 

King  conceive  some  unkindness  in  Her  Majesty,  for  harbouring  of  them ;  > 
wrote  to  yow  what  the  conspiracy  was,  the  taking  of  the  King,  the  killing  of 
the  Earle  of  Arran,  and  some  others,  the  taking  of  the  castle  of  Edinr,  and 
bringing  home  the  Earles  to  take  the  charge  of  the  King  ;  all  which  (says  he) 
is  •jy  Drummond  confessed,  and  by  the  provost  of  Glencudden  not  greatly 
denied,  and  the  Constable  of  the  Castle  thereupon  fled  ;  the  Earl  brought 
Drummond  with  him  as  far  as  Langton,  where  he  lay,  to  have  confessed  the 
conspiracy  before  me,  but  having  at  his  lighting  received  a  blow  on  his  leg  with 
a  horse,  so  as  he  could  bring  him  no  further,  I  replied  that  I  thought  verily 
they  would  not  work  any  such  practices  in  respect  of  the  Queen's  Majesty, 
abiding  within  her  realme,  and  if  there  be  any  such  practices  they  have  pro- 
ceeded from  others,  and  they  not  privie  unto  them;  and  that  if  it  be  not  ap- 
parently proved  against  them,  that  it  will  be  thought  to  be  some  practice  to 
aggravate  the  fault,  and  to  make  them  the  more  odious  to  the  King.  He 
answered  me,  that  it  should  be  proved  so  sufficiently,  that  they  should  not 
be  able  with  truth  to  deny  it,  for  their  own  hands  is  to  be  showed  to  part  of 
it,  and  therefore  concluded,  that  if  Her  Majesty  should  so  press  the  King  for 
them  at  this  time  that  would  rather  hinder  this  matter  of  the  amity,  nor  fur- 
ther it,  and  that  since  they  seek  chiefly  his  life,  he  could  not,  in  any  reason, 
seek  to  do  them  any  good  ;  and  besides  he  assured  me,  that  if  he  would,  he 
dared  not,  this  last  matter  being  fallen  out,  as  it  is  ;  and  surely  if  this  matter 
had  not  fallen  out,  I  would  not  have  doubted  the  restoring  of  the  Earl  of 
Mar  very  shortly,  if  Her  Majesty  would  have  employed  me  therein,  but  for  the 
Earl  of  Angus,  I  perceive  the  King  is  persuaded  that  both  he,  and  the  rest  of 
the  Douglasses,  have  conceived  so  mortall  an  hatred  against  him  and  the  Earl 
of  Arran,  about  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  Morton,  as  if  they  were  at  home,  to- 
morrow next,  they  would  not  leave  to  practise  and  conspire  the  death  of  them 
both,  and  therefore  a  hard  matter  to  do  any  thing  for  him  :  finally,  he  concluded 
and  required  me  to  assure  Her  Majesty  from  the  King,  that  there  shall  nothing 
be  hid  from  her,  nor  any  thing  left  undone  that  may  satisfie  Her  Majesty  with 
reason,  and  that  the  King  shall  never  do  any  thing,  nor  consent  to  have  any 
thing  done  in  her  prejudice,  so  long  as  he  had  any  credit  with  him,  or  authority 
under  him.  Having  this  far  proceeded,  he  desired  to  show  me  his  commission, 
which  is  under  the  great  seal,  to  himself  only,  which  is  as  large  as  may  be,  and 
yet.  sundrie  of  the  privie  councel  there  with  him,  but  not  one  in  commission, 
nor  present,  nor  near  us  all  this  time,  having  spent  almost  five  hours  in  these 
matters  ;  he  presented  to  me  the  Master  of  Gray,  who  delivered  to  me  a  letter 
from  the  King  in  his  commendation,  whom  1  perceive  the  King  means  to  send 
to  Her  Majesty,  and  therefore  requires  a  safe-conduct  for  his  passage,  which  1 
pray  yow  procure,  ?nd  to  send  it  so  soon  asyou  may.  I  let  him  understand  ot  the 
Lord  Seaton's  negociation  with  the  French  King.  He  swore  to  me,  that  Seaton 
was  but  a  knave,  and  that  it  was  partly  against  his  will,  that  he  should  be  sent 
thither.  But  his  commission  and  instruction  being  of  no  great  importance,  he 
yielded  the  sooner  ;  and  if  Seaton  was  gone  beyond  his  instructions,  which 
Arran  drew  himself,  he  will  make  Seaton  smart  for  it.  Touching  William  New- 
gate and  Mark  Golgan,  he  protested  he  never  heard  of  any  such  ;  he  says  there 
,vas  a  little  poor  soul,  with  a  black  beard,  come  thither  a-begging,  who  said  he 
was  an  enemy  to  Desmond,  to  whom  he  gave  a  croun,  but  never  heard  of  him 
since,  and  for  any  Scots  man  going  into  Ireland,  he  says  there  is  no  such  matter; 
if  there  be,  there  may  be  some  few  raskals  that  he  knows  not  of;  and  touching 
the  coining  of  any  Jesuits  into  Scotland,  he  says  it  is  but  the  slanderous  devise 
of  the  King's  enemys,  and  such  as  would  have  the  world  believe  the  King  were 
ready  to  revolt  in  religion,  who  the  world  shall  well  see  will  continue  as  con- 
stant therein,  as  what  Prince  soever  professed  it  most :  and  the  Earle  himself 
dos  protest  to  me,  that  to  his  knowledge,  he  never  saw  a  Jesuit  in  his  life,  and 
did  assure  me  if  there  was  any  in  Scotland,  they  should  not  do  so  much  harm 
in  Scotland,  as  their  ministers  would  do,  if  they  preach  such  doctrine  as  they 
did  in  Scotland  ;  and  touching  one  Ballanden,  of  whem  I  wrote  to  yow,  1  heard 
from  Mr.  Colvil,  the  Earle  avows  constantly  that  he  knows  not,  nor  hath  not 
heard  of  any  such  man,  but  he  would  inquire  at  the  Justice  clerk,  and  would 
inform  me  what  he  could  learn  of  that :  thus  I  have  made  yow  as  short  a  dis- 
sourse  as  I  can  of  so  many  matters,  so  long  discoursed  upon,  but  these  are  th» 


APPENDIX,   No.    XLIV.  419 

principal  points  of  all  our  talk,  so  near  as  I  can  remember  it,  and  for  this  time  J 
commit  yow  to  the  Almighty.     At  Berwick  the  14th  of  August,  1584. 

The  King  is  very  desirous  to  have 
my  son  Robert  Carrie  to  come  to  him. 
1  pray  yow  know  Her  Majesty's  pleasure. 

Arran's  Answers  to  the  Grieffs  or  Art  Irks  proponed  to  the  Lord  Hunsdane,  set 

down  in  another  Form. 

Ac  to  the  strait  and  severe  persecution  of  all  such,  as  have  been  noted  to  have 
been  well  affected  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  it  cannot  appear  they  were  either  for 
that  cause  punished,  or  hardly  dealt  with,  since  His  Majesty  of  late  has  been  so 
careful  and  diligent  to  choice  out  good  instruments  to  deal  betwixt  Her  Majesty 
and  him,  as  His  Majesty  has  done  in  electing  of  Your  Lordship  and  me  :  besides 
that  in  all  their  accusations,  their  good  will  and  affection  born  to  Her  Majesty 
was,  at  no  time,  laid  to  their  charge,  but  capital  actions  of  treason  many  way 
tried  now  be  the  whole  three  estates,  and  more  than  manifest  to  the  world. 

As  for  His  Majesty  inhibiting,  by  public  proclamation,  such  as  were  banished, 
not  to  repair  in  England  ;  the  bruits  and  whisperings  that  came  to  His  Majesl  v's 
ears  of  their  conspiracies  and  treasons,  which  since  syn  they  accomplished,  so 
far  as  in  them  lay,  moved  His  Majesty  to  inhibit  them  to  repair  to  any  place,  so 
near  His  Majesty's  realm,  lest  they  should  have  attempted  these  things,  which 
shortly  they  did  attempt,  being  farther  off,  and  more  distant  both  by  sea  and 
land. 

As  for  reception  of  Jesuits,  and  others,  Her  Majesty's  fugitives,  and  not 
delivering  them  according  to  his  promise,  as  Your  Lordship  propones,  His 
Majesty  would  be  most  glad,  that  so  it  might  fall  out  by  Your  Lordship's  tra- 
vi;es,  that  no  fugitive  of  either  realme  should  be  received  of  either,  and  when 
so  shall  be,  it  shall  not  fail  on  His  Majesty's  part,  albeit  in  very  deed  this  time 
bygone  His  Majesty  has  been  constrained  to  receipt  Her  Majesty's  mean  rebells 
and  fugitives,  contrar  his  good  naturall,  since  Her  Majesty  hath  receipt,  in 
effect,  the  whole  and  greatest  rebells  and  traitors  His  Majesty  in  his  own  blood 
ever  had  ;  as  for  the  agreement  with  His  Majesty's  mother  anent  their  associa- 
tion, His  Majesty  has  commanded  me,  in  presence  of  your  Lordship's  servant, 
to  assure  Her  Majesty  and  Your  Lordship,  in  His  Majesty's  name,  that  it  is 
altogether  false,  and  an  untruth,  nor  any  such  like  matter  done  yet. 

His  Majesty  has  also  commanded  me  to  assure  Your  Lordship,  that  it  is  also 
false  and  untrue,  that  His  Majesty  has,  by  any  means  direct  or  indirect,  sent  any 
message  to  the  Pope,  or  received  any  from  him  ;  or  that  His  Majesty  has  dealt 
witii  Spain  or  any  foreigners,  to  harm  Her  Majesty  or  her  realm,  which  His 
Majesty  could  have  no  honour  to  do,  this  good  intelligence  taking  place,  as  I 
hope  in  God  it  shall. 

As  concerning  the  contemptuous  usage  of  Her  Majesty's  ministers  sent  unto 
His  Majesty,  His  Majesty  used  none  of  them  so,  and  if  His  Majesty  had,  suffi- 
cient cause  was  given  by  them,  as  some  of  their  own  writs  do  yet  testify;  as  I 
more  particularly  showed  Your  Lordship  at  Foulden  at  our  '.ate  meeting. 

No.  XLIV.  (p.  251.) 

The  Scottish  Queen's  Offers  upon  the  Effect  of  Her  Liberty  propounded  by  hei 
Secretary  Naw,  November,  1584. 

[Cott.  Lib.  f'alia.  c.  viii.     A  Copy. J 

The  Queen  my  mistress  being  once  well  assured  of  Your  Majesty's  amity, 

1.  Will  declare  openly  that  she  will  (as  it  is  sincerely  her  meaning)  straitly  to 
join  unto  Your  Majesty,  and  to  the  same  to  yield  and  bear  the  chief  honour  and 
respect,  before  all  other  Kings  and  Princes  in  Christendom. 

2.  She  will  swear,  and  protest  solemnly,  a  sincere  forgetfullness  of  all  wrongs 
which  she  may  pretend  to  have  been  done  unto  her  in  this  realm,  and  will  never 
in  any  sort  or  manner  whatsoever,  show  offence  for  the  same. 

3.  She  will  avow  and  acknowledge,  as  well  in  her  own  particular  name,  as 


420  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

also  for  her  heirs  and  others  descending  of  her  for  ever,  Your  Majesty,  for  juti, 
true,  and  lawful  Queen  of  England. 

4.  And  consequently,  will  renounce,  as  well  for  herself  as  for  her  said  heirs, 
all  rights  and  pretences  which  she  may  claim  to  the  crown  of  England,  during 
Your  Majesty's  life,  and  other  prejudice. 

5.  She  will  revoke  all  acts  and  shews,  by  her  heretofore  made,  of  pretence  to 
this  said  crown  to  the  prejudice  of  Your  Majesty,  as  may  be  the  taking  of  the 
arms  and  stile  of  Queen  of  England,  by  the  commandment  of  King  Francis  her 
late  lord  and  husband. 

6.  She  will  renounce  the  Pope's  bull  for  so  much  as  may  be  expounded  to 
turn  in  her  favour,  or  for  her  behoof,  touching  the  deprivation  of  Your  Majesty, 
2ud  will  declare  that  she  will  never  help  and  serve  herself  with  it. 

7.  She  will  not  prosecute,  during  Your  Majesty's  life,  by  open  force  or  other- 
ways,  any  public  declaration  of  her  right  in  the  succession  of  this  realm,  so  as 
secret  assurance  be  given  unto  her,  or  at  the  least  public  promise,  that  no 
deciding  thereof  shall  be  made  in  the  prejudice  of  her,  or  of  the  King  her  son, 
during  Your  Majesty's  life,  nor  after  your  decease,  untill  such  time  as  they  have 
been  heard  thereupon,  in  publick,  free,  and  general  assembly  of  the  Parliament 
of  the  said  realm. 

8.  She  will  not  practise,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  any  of  Your  Majesty's  sub- 
jects, neither  within  nor  out  of  your  realm,  any  thing  tending  to  war,  civil  or 
foreign,  against  Your  Majesty  and  your  estate,  be  it  under  pretext  of  religion. 
or  for  civil  and  politick  government. 

9.  She  will  not  maintain  or  support  any  of  your  subjects  declared  rebels,  and 
convicted  of  treason  against  you. 

10.  She  will  enter  into  the  association,  which  was  showed  her  at  Wingfield 
for  the  surety  of  Your  Majesty's  life,  so  as  there  be  mended  or  right  explicated 
some  clauses  which  I  will  show  to  Your  Majesty,  when  I  shall  have  the  copy 
thereof,  as  I  have  before  time  required. 

11  She  will  not  treat  with  foreign  Kings  and  Princes,  for  any  war  or  trouble 
against  this  state,  and  will  renounce  from  this  time,  all  enterprises  made  or  to  be 
made  in  her  favour  for  that  respect. 

12.  Furthermore,  this  realm  being  assailed  by  any  civil  or  foreign  war,  she 
will  take  part  with  Your  Majesty,  and  will  assist  you  in  y  our  defence  with  all 
her  forces  and  means,  depending  of  herself  with  all  her  friends  of  Christendom. 

13.  And  to  that  effect,  for  the  mutual  defence  and  maintenance  of  Your 
Majesty,  and  the  two  realms  of  this  isle,  she  will  enter  with  Your  Majesty  in  a 
league  defensive  as  shall  be  more  particularly  advised,  and  will  perswade  as 
much  as  in  her,  the  King  her  son  to  do  the  like.  The  leagues  with  all  parts 
abroad  remaining  firm,  and  especially  the  antient  league  between  France  and 
Scotland,  in  that  which  shall  not  be  against  this  present. 

14.  She  will  enter  into  a  league  offensive,  having  good  assurance  or  secret 
declaration  and  acknowledgment  of  her  right  in  the  succession  of  this  crown,  and 
promise  that  happening  any  breach  betwixt  France  and  this  realm,  (which  she 
prayeth  God  never  to  happen,)  the  just  value  of  her  dowry  shall  be  placed  for 
her  in  lands  of  the  revenue  of  the  crown. 

15.  For  assurances  of  her  promises  and  covenants,  she  doth  offer  to  abide 
herself  in  this  realm  for  a  certain  time,  (better  hostage  can  she  not  give  than 
Iv>r  own  person,)  which,  so  as  she  be  kept  in  the  liberty  here  before  propounded, 
is  not  in  case  to  escape  secretly  out  of  this  country,  in  the  sickly  state  she  is  in, 
and  with  the  good  order  which  Your  Majesty  can  take  therein. 

16.  And  in  case  Your  Majesty  do  agree  to  her  full  and  whole  deliverance,  U 
retire  herself  at  her  will  out  of  this  realm,  the  said  Queen  o**  Scots  she  will  giw 
sufficient  hostage  for  such  time  as  will  be  advised. 

17.  If  she  abide  in  this  realm,  she  will  premise  not  to  depart  out  of  it  withoui 
your  licence,  so  as  it  be  promised  unto  her  that  her  state,  in  such  liberty  as  shall 
be  accorded  unto  her  shall  not  be  in  any  sort  altered,  untill  after  tryall  to  have 
attempted  against  your  life,  or  other  trouble  of  your  estate. 

18.  If  she  go  into  Scotland,  she  will  promise  to  alter  nothing  there  in  the 
religion  which  is  now  used  there,  she  being  suffered  to  have  the  exercise  of 
hers,  for  her  and  her  household,  as  it  was  at  her  return  out  of  Fiance  ;  and 
further,  to  pull  out  every  root  of  new  division  between  the  subjects,  that  non* 


APPENDIX,   No.   XLIV.  4tl 

of  the  subjects  of  Scotland  shall  be  sifted  for  his  conscien  ,e,  nor  constrained  to 
go  to  the  service  of  the  contrary  religion. 

19.  She  will  grant  a  general  abolition  of  all  offences,  done  against  her  in 
Scotland,  and  things  shall  remain  there  as  they  are  at  this  present,  for  that 
respect,  saving  that  which  hath  been  done  against  her  honour,  which  she 
meaneth  to  have  revoked  and  annulled. 

20.  She  will  travel  to  settle  a  sure  and  general  reconciliation  between  the 
nobility  of  the  country,  and  to  cause  to  be  appointed  about  the  King  her  son, 
find  in  his  council,  such  as  shall  be  lit,  for  the  entertainment  of  the  peace  and 
(jiiiet  of  the  country,  and  the  amity  of  the  realm. 

•21.  She  will  do  her  best  to  content  Your  Majesty,  in  favour  of  the  Scots  Ion!.- 
Vanished  and  refuged  hither,  upon  their  due  submission  to  theii  Princes,  an< 
Your  Majesty's  promise  to  assist  the  said  Queen  and  King  of  Scotland  against 
them,  if  they  happen  to  fall  into  their  former  faults. 

22.  She  will  proceed  to  the  marriage  of  the  King  her  son,  with  the  advice 
ind  good  council  of  Your  Majesty. 

23.  As  she  will  pass  nothing  without  the  King  her  son,  so  doth  she  desire 
that  he  intervene  conjointly  with  her  in  this  treaty,  for  the  greater  and  perfecter 
assurance  thereof;  for  otherwise  any  thing  can  hardly  be  established  to  be  sound 
and  continue. 

24.  The  said  Scotch  Queen  trusteth,  that  the  French  King,  her  good  brother, 
according  to  the  good  affection  which  he  hath  always  showed  her,  and  hath 
been  afresh  testified  unto  me  by  Monsr.  de  Mannissiere  for  this  said  treaty,  will 
very  willingly  intervene,  and  will  assist  her  for  the  surety  of  her  promises. 

25.  And  so  will  the  Princes  of  the  House  of  Lorrain,  following  the  will  of 
the  said  King,  will  bind  themselves  thereunto. 

26.  For  other  Kings  and  Princes  of  Christendom,  she  will  essay  to  obtain  the 
like  of  them,  if  for  greater  solemnity  and  approbation  of  the  treaty  it  be  found 
to  be  necessary. 

27.  She  doth  desire  a  speedy  answer,  and  final  conclusion  of  the  premisses, 
to  the  end  to  meet  in  time  with  all  inconveniences. 

28.  And  in  the  mean  time,  the  more  to  strengthen  the  said  treaty,  as  made 
by  her  of  a  pure  and  frank  will,  she  desireth  that  demonstration  be  made  oi 
some  releasement  Df  her  captivity. 

Objections  against  the  Scottish  Queen,  under  Secretary  Walsinghame's  Hand, 

November,  1584. 

Thk  Queen  of  Scots  is  ambitious,  and  standeth  ill  affected  to  Her  Majesty, 
and  therefore  it  cannot  be  but  that  her  liberty  should  bring  peril  unto  Her 
Majesty. 

That  her  enlargement  will  give  comfort  to  Papists,  and  other  ill  affected  sub- 
jects, and  greatly  advance  the  opinion  had  of  her  title  as  successor. 

That  as  long  as  she  shar  be  continued  in  Her  Majesty's  possession,  she  may 
serve  as  it  were  a  gage  of  Her  Majesty's  surety,  for  that  her  friends,  for  fear  of 
tka  danger  she  may  be  thrown  into,  in  case  any  thing  should  be  done  in  her 
favour,  da/s  not  attempt  any  thing  in  the  offence  of  Her  Majesty. 

a*        ».  S  Wliat  Course  were  Jit  to  be  taken  with  the  Queen  of  Scott,  eithtr 

November,  15B4.  j      tQ  bf,  enlarged  or  noL 

[Cott.  Lib.  Cal.  8.] 

The  course  to  be  taken  with  the  said  Queen  maybe  considered  of  in  thro* 
degrees :  either, 

1.  To  continue  her  under  custody  in  that  state  she  now  is- 

2.  To  restrain  her  of  th<»  present  liberty  she  now  hath. 

3.  Or  to  set  her  at  liberty  u,  m  caution. 

1.  Touching  the  first,  to  continue  her  under  custody  in  that  state  she  now  is ; 
it  is'  to  be  considered,  that  the   i  .inces  that  favour  that  Queen,  upon  the  com- 
plaint she  maketh  of  hard  usage,  are  greatly  moved  with  commiseration  towards 
her.  and  promise  to  do  their  endeavour  for  her  liberty,  for  which  purpose  he? 
unisters  solicit  them  daily. 


422  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND. 

And  to  move  them  the  more  to  pity  her  case,  she  acquainteth  them  with  hei 
offers  made  to  Her  Majesty,  which  appeared  to  be  no  less  profitable  than  rea- 
sonable for  Her  Majesty,  so  as  the  refusal  and  rejecting  giveth  her  friends  and 
favourers  cause  to  think  her  hardly  dealt  withal,  and  therefore  may,  with  the 
better  ground  and  reason,  attempt  somewhat  for  the  setting  of  her  at  libe.-ty. 

It  is  also  likely  that  the  said  Queen,  upon  this  refusal,  finding  her  case  des- 
perate, will  continue  her  practice  under  hand,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  n^t 
only  for  her  delivery,  bui  to  obtain  to  the  present  possession  of  this  crown  upon 
her  pretended  title,  as  she  hath  hitherto  done,  as  appeareth,  and  is  mo.it  mam 
fest  by  letters  and  plots  intercepted,  and  chiefly  by  that  late  alteration  of  Sco'. 
land,  which  hath  proceeded  altogether  by  her  direction,  whereby  a  gap  is  laid 
open  for  the  malice  of  all  Her  Majesty's  enemies,  so  as  it  appeareth  that  t  n, 
manner  of  keeping  her,  with  such  number  of  persons  as  she  now  hath,  and  v.  iL' 
liberty  to  write  and  receive  letters  (being  duly  considered),  is  offensive  to  Uie 
Princes,  the  said  Queen's  friends;  rather  chargeable  than  profitable  to  Her 
Majesty:  and  subject  to  all  such  practices  as  may  peril  Her  Majesty's  person  or 
estate,  without  any  provision  for  Her  Majesty's  safety,  and  therefore  no  way  to 
be  liked  of. 

2.  Touching  the  second,  to  restrain  her  in  a  more  straighter  degree  of  the 
,'iberty  she  hath  hitherto  enjoyed. 

It  may  at  first  sight  be  thought  a  remedy  very  apt  to  stop  the  course  of  the 
dangerous  practices  fostered  heretofore  by  her  :  for,  true  it  is,  that  this  remedy 
might  prove  very  profitable,  if  the  realm  of  Scotland  stood  in  that  sort  devoted 
to  Her  Majesty,  as  few  years  past  it  did  ;  and  if  the  King  of  that  realm  were 
not  likely,  as  well  for  the  release  of  his  mother,  as  for  the  advancement  of  both 
their  pretended  titles,  to  attempt  somewhat  against  this  realm  and  Her  Majesty, 
wherein  he  should  neither  lack  foreign  assistance,  nor  a  party  here  within  this 
realm  :  But  the  King  and  that  realm  standing  affected  as  they  do,  this  restraint, 
instead  of  remedying,  is  likely  to  breed  these  inconveniences  following : 

First,  It  will  increase  the  offence  both  in  him,  and  in  the  rest  of  the  Princes 
her  friends,  that  misliked  of  her  restraint. 

Secondly,  it  will  give  them  just  cause  to  take  some  way  of  redress. 

Lastly,  It  is  to  be  doubted,  that  it  may  provoke  some  desperate  ill-disposed 
person,  all  hope  of  her  liberty  removed,  to  attempt  somewhat  against  Her 
Majesty's  own  person  (a  matter  above  all  others  to  be  weighed),  which  incon- 
veniency  being  duly  considered,  it  will  appear  manifestly  that  the  restraint,  in 
a  straighter  degree,  is  likely  to  prove  a  remedy  subject  to  very  hard  events. 

The  latter  degree,  whether  it  were  fit  to  set  the  said  Queen  at  liberty,  minis- 
treth  some  cause  of  doubt,  touching  the  manner  of  the  liberty,  in  what  sort  the 
same  is  to  be  performed,  whether  to  be  continued  here  within  the  realm,  or  to 
be  restored  into  her  own  country. 

But  first,  this  proposition,  before  the  particularities  be  weighed,  is  to  be  consi- 
dered in  generality. 

For  it  is  very  hard  for  a  well-affected  subject,  that  tendreth  Her  Majesty's 
surety,  and  weigheth  either  the  nature  of  the  Scottish  Queen,  being  inclined  to 
ambition  and  revenge,  or  her  former  actions,  what  practices',  she  hath  set  on  fool 
most  dangerous  for  Her  Majesty  and  this  realm,  to  allow  of  her  liberty,  being 
not  made  acquainted  with  such  causes,  as  time  hath  wrought,  to  make  it  less 
perilous  than  it  hath  been,  nor  with  such  cautions  as  may,  in  some  sort,  be 
devised  to  prevent  both  her  ambition  and  malice  ;  and  therefore,  to  make  this 
apparent, 

ft  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  danger  that  was  in  the  mother,  is  now  grown 
to  be  in  the  son.  He  pretendeth  the  same  title  she  doth  :  Such  as  do  affect  her. 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  do  affect  him  (and  he  is  the  more  dangerous  for  '.hai 
he  is  unmarried,  which  may  greatly  advance  his  fortune  ;  and  that  he  is  a  man, 
whereby  he  may  enter  into  action  in  his  own  person) ;  where  she  is  restrained, 
he  is  at  liberty;  his  own  realm  is  now  altogether  at  his  devotion,  and  the  party 
affected  to  this  crown  abased ;  so  as  the  matter  duly  considered,  neither  liberty 
nor  restraint  doth  greatly  alter  the  case  for  perils  towards  Her  Majesty,  unless 
by  such  promises  as  may  be  made  by  way  of  treaty  with  her,  the  danger  likely 
to  grow  from  the  King  her  son  be  provided  for. 

But  in  this  behalf  it  may  be  objected,  that  so  long  as  the  mother  remains  in 


APPENDIX,   No.  XLIV.  423 

Her  Majesty's  hands,  the  King  n  ill  attempl   nothing  for  fear  of  his  mother's 
peril 

To  this  objection  it  may  be  «nsv\  ered,  first,  That  they  hope  that  Her  Majesty 
oeing  a  prince  of  justice,  and  inclined  to  mercy,  will  not  punish  the  mother  foi 
the  son's  offence,  unless  she  shall  be  found  by  good  proof,  culpable.  Seconda- 
rily, That  men  will  not  be  over  hasty,  considering  in  what  predicament  the  King 
etandeth  touching  his  expectation  of  this  crown,  to  advise  any  thing  that  in 
time  future  may  be  dangerous  to  the  giver  of  such  counsel  as  may  reach  to  his 
mother's  peril. 

And  lastly,  The  taking  away  of  his  mother, he  being  strong  in  the  field  through 
both  foreign  assistance,  and  a  party  here  within  the  realm,  will  appear  so  weaK 
a  remedy  (which  may  rather  exasperate  both  him  and  her  party,  to  proceed 
with  more  courage  and  heat  to  revenge,  if  any  such  hard  measure  should  be 
offered  unto  her),  as  they  will  suppose,  for  the  reason  above  specified,  that  no 
such  extremity  will  be  used. 

It  may  also  be  objected,  that  the  setting  of  her  at  liberty  will  greatly  encourage 
the  Papists  both  at  home  and  abroad  ;  but  herein,  if  the  provision  be  duly  con- 
sidered, that  may  be  made  by  Parliament  both  here  and  there,  they  shall  rather 
find  cause  of  discomfort  than  otherwise. 

These  two  doubts  being  resolved,  and  the  perils  that  was  in  the  mother 
appearing  most  manifestly  to  be  seen  in  the  son  accompanied  with  more  danger, 
with  due  consideration  had  also  of  such  remedies  as  may  be  provided  for  the 
preventing  of  the  dangers,  that  her  liberty  may  minister  just  cause  to  doubt  of; 
there  will  be  good  cause  of  hope  found,  that  the  same  will  rather  breed  benefit 
than  perils. 

Now  it  resteth,  in  what  sort  the  said  liberty  shall  be  performed  ;  if  it  shall  be 
thought  meet  she  shall  be  continued  within  the  realm  with  some  limitation, 
especially  in  that  place  where  she  now  resideth,  the  country  round  about  being 
so  infected  in  religion  as  it  is,  it  is  greatly  to  be  doubted  that  will  very  much 
increase  the  corruption,  arid  falling  away  in  that  behalf.  Besides,  she  should 
have  commodity,  with  Ciuch  more  ease  and  speed,  to  entertain  practices  within 
this  realm,  than  by  being  in  her  own  country. 

If  abroad  freely  without  limitation  either  in  Scotland  or  France,  then  shall 
Her  Majesty  lose  the  gages  of  her  safety,  then  shall  she  be  at  hand  to  give 
advice  in  furtherance  of  such  practices,  as  have  been  laid  for  to  stir  trouble  in 
this  realm,  wherein  she  hath  been  a  principal  party. 

For  the  first,  it  is  answered  before,  that  the  respect  of  any  perils  that  may 
befal  unto  her,  will  in  no  sort  restrain  her  son.  For  the  other,  if  it  be  consi- 
dered what  harm  her  advice  will  work  unto  herself  in  respect  of  the  violation 
of  the  treaty,  and  the  provision  that  may  be  made  in  Parliament  here,  it  is  to 
be  thought,  that  she  will  then  be  well  advised,  before  she  attempt  any  such  mat- 
ter, which  now  she  may  do  without  perill.  Besides  such  Princes,  as  have  inter- 
posed their  faith  and  promise  for  her,  cannot  with  honour  assist  her,  wherein 
the  French  King  will  not  be  found  very  forward,  who,  in  most  friendly  sort, 
hath  lately  rejected  all  such  requests,  propounded  either  by  her,  or  her  son's 
ministers,  that  might  any  way  offend  Her  Majesty.  And  so  to  conclude,  seeing 
i he  cause  of  her  grief  shall  be  taken  away;  the  French  King  gratified,  who  is 
■  mediator  for  her,  and  will  mislike,  that,  by  any  Spanish  practice,  she  should 
be  drawn  to  violate  her  faith,  that  the  rest  of  the  Princes  shall  have  no  just  cause 
of  offence,  but  rather  to  think  honourably  of  Her  Majesty  considering  the  Scot- 
tish Queen's  carriage  towards  her,  which  hath  deserved  no  way  any  such  favour; 
the  noblemen  of  Scotland  shall  be  restored,  who  will  be  a  good  stay  of  such 
counsells  as  may  tend  to  the  troubling  of  this  realm,  especially  having  so  good 
a.  ground  of  warrant  as  the  Parliament  to  stand  unto  ;  the  charges  and  perills 
which  her  practices  might  have  bred  to  this  realm  shall  be  avoided  ;  and  lastly, 
the  hope  of  the  Papists  shall  be  taken  away,  by  such  good  provisions,  as  in  both 
the  realms  may  be  made,  whereby  the  perills  that  might  fall  into  Her  Majesty's 
own  person  (a  matter  of  all  others  to  be  weighed)  shall  be  avoided,  when  by  the 
change  that  may  grow  by  any  such  wicked  and  ungodly  practice,  they  shall  see 
their  case  no  way  relieved  in  point  of  religion. 


434  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND. 

Rmtom  to  induct  Her  Majesty  to  proceed  in  the  Treaty  under  Secretary 

Walsingham's  Hand. 

[Oott.  Lib.  Cal.  c.  8.] 

That  such  plots  as  have  of  late  years  been  devised  (tending  to  the  raising  01 
trouble  within  this  realm)  have  grown  from  the  Scots  Queen's  ministers  and 
favourers,  not  without  her  allowance  and  seeking  :  Or, 

That  the  means  used  by  the  said  ministers,  to  induce  Princes  to  give  ear  ttf 
the  said  plots,  is  principally  grounded  upon  some  commiseration  had  of  htt 
restraint. 

That  the  stay,  why  the  said  plots  have  not  been  put  in  execution,  hath  pro- 
needed,  for  that  the  said  Princes  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  entertained  with 
home  and  domestic  troubles. 

That  it  is  greatly  to  be  doubted,  that  now  their  realms  begin  to  be  quiet,  that 
somewhat  will  be  attempted  in  her  favours  by  the  said  Princes. 

That  it  is  also  to  be  doubted,  that  somewhat  may  be  attempted  by  some  of  her 
fautors  in  an  extraordinary  sort,  to  the  perill  of  Her  Majesty. 

That  for  the  preservation  thereof,  it  shall  be  convenient  for  Her  Majesty  to 
proceed  to  the  finishing  of  the  treaty,  not  long  sithence  begun  between  her  and 
the  said  Queen. 

No.  XLV.  (p.  255.) 

Letter  of  Q.  Mary  to  Q.  Elizabeth. 
ICott,  Lib.  Coll.  B.  VIII.  fol.  147.   An  original.] 

Madame  ma  bonne  seur, 
M'assuerant  que  vous  avez  eu  communication  d'une  lettre  de  Gray  que 
vostre  homme  Semer  me  livra  hier  soubz  le  nom  de  mon  filz  y  recognoissant 
quasi  de  mot  a  la  mot  mesmes  raisons  que  le  dit  Gray  m'escrivit  en  chifre  estant 
dernierement  pres  de  vous  desmontrant  la  suffisance  Si  bonne  intention  du  per- 
sonage je  vous  prieray  seulement  suivant  ce  que  si  devant  je  vous  ay  tant  instan- 
teinent  importune  que  vous  me  permettiez  desclaircir  librement  et  ouvertement 
ce  point  de  l'association  d'entre  moy  et  mon  filz  et  me  dessier  les  mains  pour 
proceder  a.vec  lui  comme  je  jugeray  estre  requis  pour  son  bien  Si  le  mien.  Et 
j'entreprendz  quoy  que  l'on  vous  die  &  puisse  en  rapporter  de  faire  mentir  ce 
petit  brouillon  qui  persuade  par  aucuns  de  vos  ministres  a  entrepris  cette  separa- 
tion entre  moy  Si  mon  enfant.  Si  pour  y  commencer  je  vous  supplie  m'octroyer 
qui  je  puisse  parler  a  ce  justice  clerk  qui  vous  a  este  nouvellement  envoys  pour 
raander  par  luy  a  mon  filz  mon  intention  sur  cela,  ce  qui  je  me  promis  que  ne 
me  refuserez,  quant  ce  ne  seroit  que  pour  demontrer  en  effect  la  bonne  intention 
que  vous  m'avez  asseur^e  avoir  a  Paccord  Si  entretien  de  naturel  devoir  entre  la 
mere  &  Penfant  qui  dit  en  bonnes  termes  estre  empesche  pour  vous  me  tenant 
captive  en  un  desert  ce  que  vous  ne  pourrez  mieux  desmentir  Si  faire  paroitre 
vostre  bon  desir  a  notre  union  que  me  donnant  les  moyens  d'y  proceder,  Si  non 
nrt'en  retenir  et  empescher  comme  aucune  des  vos  ministres  pretendent  a  fin  de 
laisser  toujours  lieu  a  leur  mauvais  &  sinistres  practiques  entre  nous.  La  lettre 
porte  que  ['association  n'esl  pas  passee,  aussi  ne  luy  ai  je  jamais  dit,  bienque 
mon  filz  avoit  accepte  ;  <i  que  nous  en  avions  convenu  ensemble,  comme  l'acte 
■ign£  de  sa  main,  &  ces  lfttres  tant  a  moy,  que  en  France  en  font  foy,  ayant 
donn£  ce  rneme  teraoinage  de  sa  bouche  propre  a  plusieurs  ambassadeurs  et  per- 
eonnes  de  credit,  s'excusant  do  ne  Poser  faire  publier  par  craint  de  vous  soule- 
nient,  demandant  forces  pour  vous  resister  d'avant  de  ce  declarer  si  ouver,'  ment 
estant  journellement  persuade  au  contraire  par  vos  ministers  qui  luy  piome- 
toyent  avecque  une  sntreire  a  Yorck  le  faire  declairer  votre  heretier.  Au  sur- 
plus Madame  quand  r>on  enfant  seroit  si  malheureux  que  d<»  s'oomis.strer  en 
cette  extreme  impiety  &  ingratitude  vers  moy,  je  ne  puis  penser  que  voos  non 
plus  qu'ancun  auitie  Pj  i  :-3  de  la  Chretienc^,  :evou!:ssiez  eu  celh  appl&udir  ou 
Tiflintenir  pour  luy  fayre  anquam  ma  malediction  air.s  que  plutos  inlrovv.ndret 


APPENDIX,   No.   XLVI.  426 

Eour  luy  faire  recognoitrc  la  raison  Irop  juste  &  evidant  devant  Diea  &  let 
ommes.  Helas  &  encores  ne  luy  vouloier  j'en  ofter,  mays  donner  avec  droit 
oe  qu'il  tient  par  usurpation.  Je  me  suis  du  tout  commise  a  vous,  &  fidelement 
faites  si  il  vous  plest  que  je  ne  en  soye  pis  qu'aupravant,  fe  que  le  faulsete  dea 
uns  ne  prevale  desvant  la  verite  vers  vous,  pour  bien  recevant  rnal,  &  la  plus 
grande  affliction  que  me  scaurroit  arriver  a  scavoir  la  perte  de  mon  fils.  Je 
vous  supplie  de  me  mander  en  cas  qu'il  persiste  en  cette  m'esconnoissance  de 
son  devoir,  que  de  luy  ou  de  moy  il  vous  plaist  advouer  pour  legittime  Roy  ou 
Royne  d'Ecosse,  &  si  vous  aves  agreable  de  poursuivre  avec  moy  a  part  la  traite 
commence'  entre  nous  de  quoy  je  vous  requiers  sans  plus  attendre  de  response 
de  ce  mal  gouverne  enfant  vous  en  rcquerrant  avec  autant  d'aftection  que  j* 
sens  mon  eceur  oppresse  d'ennuy.  Pour  Dieu  souvenez  vous  de  la  promesse  qu 
m'avez  faites  de  me  prendre  en  votre  protection  me  repoitant  de  tout  a  vou.s  >. 
sur  ce  priant  Dieu  qu'il  vous  viueille  preserver  de  touts  vos  ennemys  &  dissi- 
mulez  amys,  comme  je  le  desire  de  me  consoler  fe  de  me  venger  de  ceulz  qui 
pourchassent  un  tel  malheur  entre  la  mere  &  Fenfant.  Je  cesseray  de  vous 
troubler,  mais  non  a  m'ennuier  que  je  ne  recoive  quelque  consolation  de  vom 
&  de  Dieu  encore  un  coup  je  le  supplie  de  vous  garder  de  tout  peril.  Futh- 
bery  xn  Mars. 

Votre  fidelement  vouee  saeur 

et  obeissant  cousine, 
A  la  Reyne  d'Angleterre  Madame  ma  bonne  MARIE  Q. 

MBur  &  cousine. 

No.  XLVI.  (p.  255.) 

A  Testament  by  Q.  Mary. 

N.  B.  The  following  paper  was  transcribed  by  the  Rev<l.  Mr.  Crawford  late 
Regius  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Part 
of  this  paper,  according  to  him,  is  written  by  Naue>  Mary's  Secretary,  the 
rest  with  the  Queen's  own  hand.    What  is  marked  (")  is  in  the  Queen's  hand. 

[Colt.  Lib.  Vespas.  L.  16  p.  415] 

Considerant  par  ma  condition  presente  l'estat  de  vie  humaine,  si  incertaln, 
que  personne  ne  s'en  peust,  ou  doibt  asseurer,  sinnon  soubs  la  grande  et  infinie 
misericorde  de  Dieu.  Et  me  voulant  prevaloir  d'icelle  contre  tous  les  dangers 
et  accidens,  qui  me  pourroient  inopinement  survenir  en  cette  captivife,  ruesmes 
a  cause  des  grandes  et  longues  maladies,  ou  j'ay  ete  detenue  jusques  a  present , 
j'ay  advised  tandis  que  j'ay  la  commodity,  ou  raison  en  jugement,  de  pourvoir 
apres  ma  mort  la  salut  de  mon  ame,  enterrement  de  mon  corps,  et  disposition  de 
mon  bien,  estat,  fe  affaires,  par  ce  present  mon  testament  et  ordonnance  de  mon 
dernier  volonte,  qui  s'ensuyt. 

Au  nom  du  Pere,  du  Filz,  et  du  benoiteiSL.  Esprit.     Premierement,  me  recong 
noissant  indigne  pecheresse  avec  plus  d'offences  envers  mon  Dieu,  que  de  satis 
faction  par  toutes  les  adversites  que  j'ay  soufFert ;  dont  je  la  loue  sa  bonte.      1 
m'appuyant  sur  la  croix  de  mon  Sauveur  et  Redempteur  Jesus  Christ,  Je  recoin 
mende  mon  ame  a  la  benoiste  et  individue  Trinity,  et  aux  prieres  de  la  glorieuse 
Vierge  Marie,  et  de  tous  les  anges  saincls  &  sainctes  de  paradis,  esperant  par 
leur  merites  &  intercession,  estre  ayd£e  a  obtenir  de  estre  faicte  participante 
avec  eulx  de  felicity  eternelle.    Et  pour  m'y  acheminer  de  cueur  plus  net  et  entier 
despouillant  des  a  present  tout  resentiment  des  injures,  caloninies,  rebellions,  et 
aultres  offenses,  qui  me  pourroient  avoir  est£  factes  durant  ma  vie,  par  mes  sub- 
jets  rebelles  et  aultres  ennemis  ;  J'en  retriet  la  vengeance  a  Dieu,  &  le  supplie 
leur  pardonner,  de  mesme  affection,  que  jc  luy  requiers  pardons  a  mes  faultes,  et 
a  tous  ceuls  et  celles  que  je  puis  avoir  offenst?  de  faicts  ou  de  parolles. 

Je  veulx  et  ordonne,  fee.  [The  two  following  paragraphs  contain  directions  con- 
cerning the  place  and  circumstance  of  her  burial?] 

Pour  ne  contrevenir  a  la  gloire.  honneur,  et  conservation  di*  1'Eglise  catho- 
lique,  apostolique  et  Romaine.  en  la  quelle  je  veulx  vivre  et  mourir,  si  le  Prince 
d'Escosse  mon  filz  y  puest  etre  reduiet  contre  la  mauvaise  nourriture,  qui]  a 

Vol.  111.-54 


426  HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND. 

prise  a  mon  tres  grand  regret  en  i'heresie  de  Calvin  entre  mes  rebelles,  je  le  laisse 
seul  et  unique  heretier  de  mon  royaume  d'Escosse,  de  droict  que  je  pretende 
justement  en  la  couronnc  d' Angleterre  et  pays  qui  en  dependent,  et  generalle- 
uient  de  tous  et  chacun  mes  meubles  et  innneubles  qui  resteront  apres  ma  mort 
et  execution  de  ce  present  testament. 

Si  non,  et  que  mon  dit  filz  continue  a  vivre  en  la  dite  heresie,  Je  cede,  trans- 
pose, et  faicte  don  "  de  touts  et  chacuns  mes  droicts,  que  je  pretende  &  puis 
•'  pretendre  a  la couronr-  d' Angleterre, et  aultres  droicts, seigneuries,ouroyaulmes 
"  en  dependantz,  au  roy  catholique,  ou  aultre  de  siens  qu'il  luy  plaira,  avesques 
"  advis,  consentement  de  sa  saintete  ;  taut  pour  le  voyr  aujourdhuy  le  seul 
"  seurs  appui  de  la  religion  catholique,  que  pour  reconnoissance  de  gratuites 
"  faveurs  que  moy,  et  les  miens  recommandez  par  moy,  ont  avons  reyeu  de  i 
'  en  ma  plus  grand  necessite  ;  et  resguard  aussi  au  droict  que  luy  mesine  peu' 
••  pretendre  a  ces  ditz  royaulmes  et  pays,  je  le  supplie  qu'un  recompence  ll  preign 
"  alliance,  de  la  maison  de  Lorraine,  et  si  il  ce  pleut  de  celle  de  Guise,  pour 
"  memoire  de  la  race  de  laquelle  je  suis  sortie  au  coste  de  Mere,  n'a  ayant  de 
"  celuy  de  mon  pere,  que  mon  seul  enfant,  lequel  estant  Catholique  j'ay  tous- 
"  jours  vou^  pour  une  de  ses  rilles,  si  il  luy  plaisoit  de  l'accepter,  ou  faillant  une 
"  de  ses  niepces  mariee  coinrae  sa  lille. 

"  Je  laysse  mon  filz  a  la  protection  du  Roy,  de  Prince,  et  Dues  de  Lorrayne  et 
"  de  Guise,  et  du  Mayne,  aux  quelz  je  recommende  et  son  estat  en  Escosse,  et 
"  mon  droict  en  Angleterre,  si  il  est  catholique,  et  quelle  le  parlie  de  ceste  royne." 

Je  faitz  don  au  "  Compte  de  Lenox"  de  Compte  dc  Lenox  tenu  par  feu  son 
pere,  et  commande  mon  filtz,  comme  mon  heretier  et  successeur,  d'obeyr  en  cest 
en  droit  a  mon  volonte. 

Je  veulx  et  ordonne  t  >utes  les  sonimes  et  deniers,  qui  so  troveront  par  moys 
deues,  tien  mis  cause  de  droict  estre  faits  "  a  Lohliven"'  etre  promptement  payee 
et  acquittes,  et  tout  tort  et  griefs  repares  par  les  dits  executeurs  desquelz  J'en 
charge  la  conscience.  Oultre,  &c.  [Follow  two  or  three  paragraphs  concerning 
particular  legacies,  and  then  is  added]   Faict  au  manior  de  ShefFeld  en  Angleterre 

le  jour  de Mil  cincq  cens  soixant  &  dix  sept. 

After  a  large  blank  page  follows  in  the  Queen's  hand  : 

"  Si  mon  filz  meurt,  au  Comte  de  Lennox,  au  Claude  Hamilton  lequel  se 
"  montrera  le  plus  fidelle  vers  moy,  et  plus  constant  en  religion,  au  jugement 

"  de Dues  de  Lorraine  et  de  Guyse,  ou  je  le  rapport  sur  ce  de  ceulx  a  que 

"j'auray  donnay  la  charge  de  trayter  avesque  eux  de  par  moy  et  ceulx,  a  con- 
•'  dition  de  ce  marrier  ou  allier  en  la  dite  mayson  ou  par  leur  advis.1' 
Follow  near  two  pages  of  particular  legacies. 

"  Et  le  remits  ma  tante  de  Lenox  au  droict  quelle  peut  pretendre  a  la  Conte1 
"  d'Angous  avant  l'acort  fait  par  mon  commandement  entre  ma  dite  tante  de 
*'  Lenox  et  le  Comte  de  Morton,  veu  quil  a  este  fait  &  par  le  feu  Roy  mon 
"  mary  et  moy,  sur  la  prornesse  de  sa  fidelle  assistance,  si  luy  et  moy  encourions 
"  dangier  et  besoing  d'ayde,  ce  qu'il  rompit,  s'ent«ridant  secreternent  au  les  nos 
"  ennemis  rebelles,  qu'attemtprient  contre  sa  vie  et  pour  cest  effect  pris  les 
"  armes,  et  ont  porte  les  banieres  desploiees,  contre  nous,  je  revoque  aussi  toute 
"•  autre  don  que  je  luy  ay  fait  de  Conte  de  Morton  sur  promesses  de  ses  bons 
"services  a  advenir,  et  entends  que  ia  dite  Contd  soit  reunie  a  la  couronne,  si 
"  ell  se  trouve  ypartenir,  comme  ses  trahisons  tant  en  la  mort  de  mon  feu  mary, 
"  que  en  mon  banissement,  et  poursuit  de  la  mien  ne  l'ont  merite.  Et  defends 
"  a  mon  filz  de  ce  jamays  servire  de  luy  pour  de  luy  pour  la  hayne  qu'il  aye  a 
"  ses  parents,  la  quelle  je  crains  ne  s1est<mde  jusques  a  luy,  le  connoisant  du 
u  tout  afFectionne  aux  ennemis  de  mon  droite  en  ce  royaume,  du  quel  il  est 
"  penconnaire. 

•' Je  recommende  mon  nepveu  Francois  StuaTt  a  mon  filz,  et  luy  commande 
"  de  tenir  pres  de  luy  et  s'ensorvit,  et  je  luy  laisse  le  bien  du  Conte  de  Boduel 
"son  oncle,  en  respect  qu'il  est  de  mon  s.ivjx.  mon  filleul,  et  ma  este  laiss6  en 
"  lutelle  par  son  pere. 

"  Je  declare  que  mon  frere  bastard  Rolvrt  AbW  de  St.  Croix  n'a  en  que  par 
"  circonvention  Orkenay,  et  que  le  ne  fut  jamays  mon  intention,  comme  il  ap.-et 
14  par  la  revocation  que  j'ay  fayte  depuy".  et  6t£  aussi  faite  d'avant  la  asge  de 
"  xxv  ans,  ce  que  j'aimois  deliberer  si  il  ne  m'eussent  prenner  par  prison  de  se 
*  de  defayre  aulx  estats  je  veulx  done  que  Orkenay  eoit  reune  a  la  couronne 


APPENDIX,   No.   XLV11.  427 

*  comme  une  do  plus  necessaires  pour  mon  filz,  &  sans  may  son  ne  pourra  etn> 

*  bien  tenue. 

"  Lee  fillea  de  Morra  ne  parvient  accessi  heriter,  ains  revient  la  Conte"  a  la 
"  (.Oiionne,  si  il  luy  plest  luy  donner  sa  ou  fille  en  marriasge,  et  il  nome  Ten 
"  •As/in*  ligne." 

No.  XLVII.  (p.  259.) 

A  Letter  from  Mr.  Archibald  Douglas  to  the  Queen  of  Scott*. 

[April .     Harl.  Lib.  37.  B.  9.  fo.  126.] 

/lease  Sour  Majesty,  I  received  your  letter  of  the  date  of  the  12th  of  Nov:. 
\nc.  .l.  like  manner  has  seen  some  part  of  the  contents  of  one  other  of  the  same 
date,  directed   to  Monsr.    de  Movisir,  ambassador  for  his   Majesty  the   most 
Christian  King,  both  which  are  agreeable  to  your  princely  dignity,  as  by  the 
one  Your  Highness  desires  to  know  the  true  cause  of  my  banishment,  and  offers 
unto  me  all  favour  if  1  shall  be  innocent  of  the  heinous  facts  committed  in  the 
person  of  your  husband  of  good  memory,  so  by  the  other  the  said   ambassadoi 
is  willet  to  declare  unto  me,  if  your  husband's  murder  could  be  laid  justly 
against  me,  that  you  could  not  sollicit  in  my  cause,  neither  yet  for  any  person 
that  was  participant  of  that  execrabJe  fact,  but  would  seek  the  revenge  thereof 
when  you  should  have  any  means  to  do  it ;  Your  Majesty's  offer,  if  I  be  innocent 
of  that  crime,  is  most  favourable,  and  your  desire  to  know  the  truth  of  the 
same  ie  most  equitable  ;  and  therefore  that  I  should,  with  all  my  simplicity,  sin- 
cerity, and  truth,  answer  thereunto  is  most  reasonable,  to   the  end  that  your 
princely  dignity  may  be  my  help  if  my  innocence  shall  sufficiently  appear  ;  and 
procure  my  condemnation  if  1  be  culpable  in  any  matter,  except  in  the  know- 
ledge of  the  evil  disposed  minds  of  the  most  r  art  of  your  nobility  against  your  said 
husband,  and  not  revealing  of  it ;   which  I  am  assured  was  sufficiently  known  to 
himself,  and  to  all  that,  had  judgment  never  so  little  in  that  realm  ;  which  also 
I  was  constrained  to  understand,  as  he  that  was  specially  employed  betwixt  the 
Earl  Morton  and  a  good  number  of  your  nobility,  that  they  might  with  all  hu- 
mility intercede  at  Your  Majesty's  hand  for  bis  relief  in  such  matters  as  are  more 
specially  contained  in  the  declaration  following,  which  I  am  constrained  for  my 
own  justification  by  this  letterto  call  to  Your  Majesty's  remembrance.    Notwith- 
standing that  I  am  assured,  to  my  grief,  the  reading  thereof  will  not  smally  offend 
your  princely  mind.     It  may  please  Your  Majesty  to  remember  that,  in  the  year  of 
God,  1566,  the  said  Earl  of  Morton,  with   divers  other  nobility  and  gent,  were 
declared  rebels  to  Your  Majesty,  and  banished  your  realm  for  insolent  murder 
committed  in  Your  Majesty's  own  chamber,  which  they  alleged   was  don  by 
command  of  your  husband,  who,  notwithstanding,  affirmed  that  he  was  com 
pellnd  by  them  to  subscribe   the  warrant  given  for  that  effect ;  howsoever  the 
truth  of  that  matter  remains  amongst   them,  it   appertains  not  to  me  at  this 
time   to  be   curious  :  true  it  is  that  I  was  one  of  that   number   that   heavily 
offended  against  Your  Majesty,  and  passed  in  Prance  the  time  of  our  banish- 
ment ;  at  the  desire  of  the  rest,  to  humbly  pray  your  brother  the  most  Christian 
King  to  intercede  that  our  offences  might  be  pardoned,  and  Your  Majesty's 
clemency  extended  towards  us  ;  albeit  divers  of  no  small  reputation,  in  that 
realm,  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  said  fact  merited  neither  to  be  requisite  for 
3»or  yet  pardoned.     Always  such  was  the  careful  mind  of  his  Majesty  towards 
the  quietness  of  that  realm,  that  the  dealing  in  that  cause  was  committed  to 
Monsr.  de  Movisir,  who  was  directed  at  that  time  to  go  into  Scotland  to  con- 
gratulate the  happy  birth  of  your  son,  whom  Almighty   God  of  his  goodness 
may  long  preserve  in  happy  estate,  and  perpetual  felicity  ;  the  careful  travail 
of  the  said  de   Movisir  was  so  effectual,  and  Your  Majesty's  mind  so  inclined 
to  mercy,  that  within  short  space  thereafter  I  was  permitted  to  repair  into  Scot- 
land, to  deal  with  Earls  Murray,  Athol,  Bodwel,  Arguile,  and  Secretary  Leding- 
ton,  in  the  name   and  behalf  of  the  said   Earl  Morton,  Lords  Reven,  Lindsay, 
and   remanent  complesis,  that  they  might   make  offer  in  the  names  of  the  said 
Earl  of  any  matter  that  might  satisfy  Your  Majesty's  wrath,  and  procuie  your 
clemency  to  be  extended  in  their  favours:  at  my  coming  to  them,  after  I  had 


42S  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND. 

opened  the  effect  of  my  message,  they  declared  that  the  marriage  betwixt  yon 
and  your  husband  had  been  the  occasion   already  of  great  evil  in  that  realm ; 
and  if  your  husband  should  be  suffered  to  follow  the  appetite  and  mind  of  such 
as  was  about  him,  that  kind  of  dealing  might,  produce  with  time  worse  effects  ; 
for  helping  of  such  inconvenience   that  might  fall  out  by  that  kind  of  dealing, 
ihey  had  thought  it  convenient  to  join  themselves  in  league  and  band  with  some 
other  noblemen,  resolved  to  obey  Your  Majesty  as  their  natural  sovereign,  and 
have  nothing  to  do  with  your  husband's  command  whatsoever,  if  the  said  Earl 
would  for  himself  enter  into  that  Land  and  confederacy  with  them,  they  could 
be  content  to  humbly  request  and   travel    by  all  means  with  Your  Majesty  for 
his  pardon,  but,  before  they  eouid  any  farther  proceed,  they  desired  to  know  the 
said  Earl's  mind  herein  ;  when  i  had  answered,  that  he  nor  his  friends  at  my 
departure  could  not  know  that  any  such  like  matter  would  be   proponit,  and 
therefore  was  not  instructed  what  to  answer  therein,  they  desired  that  I  should 
return  sufficiently  instructed  in  this  matter  to  Stirling  before  the  baptism  of 
your  son,  whom  God  might  preserve  ;  this  message  was  faithfully  delivered  to 
me  at  Newcastle  in  England,  where  the  said  Earl  then  remained,  in  presence  of 
hia  friends  and  company,  where  Mey  all  condescended  to  have  no  farther  deal- 
ing with  your  husband,  and  to  enter  into  the  said  band.     With  this  deliberation 
I  returned  to  Sterling,  where,  at  the  request  of  the  most  Christian  King  and  the 
Queen's  Majesty  of  England,  by  their  ambassadors  present,  Your  Majesty's  gra- 
cious pardon  was  granted  unto  them  aii,  under  condition  always  that  they  should 
remain  banished  forth  of  the  realm  the  space  of  two  years,  and  farther  during 
Your  Majesty's  pleasure,  which  limitation  was  after  mitigated  at  the  humble 
request  of  your  own  nobility,  so  thai  immediately  after  the  said  Earl  of  Morton 
repaired  into  Scotland  to  Quhittingaime,  where  the  Earl  of  Bodvell  and  Secre- 
tary Ledington  come  to  him  ;   what  speech  passed  there  amongst  them,  as  God 
shall  be  my  judge,  1  knew  uuthnig  at  that  time,  but  at  their  departure  I  was  re- 
quested by  the  said  Earl  Morton  to  accompany  the  Earl  Bodvell  and  Secretary 
to  Edinburgh,  and  to  return  with  such  answer  as  they  should  obtain  of  Your 
Majesty,  which  being  given  to  me  by  the  said  persons,  as  God  shall  be  my  judge, 
was  no  other  than  these  words,  "  Sehaw  to  the  Earl  Morton  that  the  Queen 
will  hear  no  speech  of  that  matter  appointed   unto  him  :"  when  I  crafit  that 
the  answer  might  be  made  more  sensible,  Secretary  Ledington  said,  that  the 
Earl  would  sufficiently  understand  it.  albeit  kw  or  none  at  that  time  understand 
what  passed  amongst  them.     It  is  known  to  all  men,  als  veill  be  railling  letters 
passed  betwixt  the  said  Earl  and  Ledington  when  they  become  in  divers  factions, 
as  also  ane  buck  sett  furth  by  the  ministers,  wherein  they  affirm  that  the  Earl 
of  Morton  has  confessed  to  them,  before  his  death,  that  the  Earl  Bodvell  came 
lo  Quhittingaime  to  prepon  the  calling  away  off  the  King  your  husband,  to 
the  which  proposition  the  said  Earl  of  Morton  affirms  that  he  could  give  nc 
answer  unto  such  time  he  might  know  Your  Majesty's  mind  therein,  which  he 
never  received.     As  to  the  abominable  murder,  it  is  known  too  by  the  deposi- 
tions of  many  persons  that  were  executed  to  the  death  for  the  committing 
thereof,  that  the  same  was  executed  by  them,  and  at  the  command  of  such  of 
the  nobility  as  had  subscrivit  band  for  that  effect ;  by  this  unpleasant  declarr; 
tion.  the  most  part  thereof  known  to  yourself,  and  the  remainder  may  be  urn 
stood  by  the  aforesaid  witnesses  that  was  examined  in  torture,  and  that  aie 
extant  in  the  custody  of  the  ordinary  judges  in  Scotland,  my  innocency,  so  far 
as  may  concern  any  fact,  does  appear  sufficiently  to  Your   Majesty.     And  as 
for  my  dealing  aforesaid,  I  can  be  no  otherwise  charged  therein,  but  as  what 
would  accuse  the  vessel  that  preserves  the  wine  from  harm  for  the  intemperancy 
of  such  as  immoderately  use  the  same.     As  for  the  special  cause  of  my  banish- 
ment, I  think  the  same  has  proceeded  upon  ane  opinion  conceived,  that  I  was 
able  to  accuse  the  Earl  of  Morton  of  so  much  matter  as  they  alledged  himself 
t<>  have  confessed  before  he  died,  and  would  not  be  induced,  for  loss  of  reputa- 
tion, to  perform  any  part  thereof.     If  this  be  the  occasion  of  my  trouble,  as  I 
suppose  it  is,  what  punishment  I  should  deserve  I  remit  me  to  Your  Majesty's 
belter  judgment,  who  well  knows  how  careful  ever  ilk  gentleman  should  be  of 
his  fame,  reputation  and  honour,  and  how  far  ever  ilk  man  should  abhor  the 
name  of  a  pultroun,  and  how  indecent  it  would  have  been  to  me  to  accuse  the 
Earl  of  Morton,  being  so  near  of  his  kin.  notwithstanding  all  the  injuries  i  was 


APPENDIX,   No.  XL  VIM  429 

constrained  to  receive  at  his  hand  all  the  time  of  his  government,  and  for  no 
other  cause  but  for  shewing  of  particular  friendship  to  particular  friends  in  the 
time  of  the  last  cruel  troubles  in  Scotland.  Sorry  I  be  now  to  accuse  him  in 
any  matter  being  dead,  and  more  sorry  that  being  on  lyff,  be  such  kind  of  dealing 
obtained  that  name  of  ingrate.  Always  for  my  own  part  I  have  been  banished 
mj  native  country  those  three  years  and  four  months,  living  is  anxiety  of  mind, 
my  holl  guds  in  Scotland,  which  were  not  small,  intermittit  aid  disponit  upon, 
and  has  continually  since  the  time  I  was  roheved  out  of  m v  last,  troubles  at  the 
desire  of  Monsf.  de  Movisir,  attended  to  know  Your  Majesty's  pleasure,  and  to 
wait  upon  what  service  it  should  pleaso  your  Majesty  for  to  command.  Upon 
the  8th  of  April  inst.  your  good  friend  Secretary  Walsinghame  ha.3  declared 
•into  me,  that  Her  Highness  tho't  it  expedient  that  1  should  retire  nrysolf  where 
I  pleased,  1  declared  unto  him  1  had  no  means  whereby  I  might  perform  thai 
desiile  until  such  time  as  I  should  receive  it  from  Your  Majesty.  Neither  knew 
1  where  it  would  please  Your  Highness  to  direct  me  until  such  time  as  I  should 
have  received  further  information  from  you.  Upon  this  occasion,  and  partly  Dy 
permission,  1  have  taken  the  hardress  to  write  this  present  letter,  whereby  Youi 
Majesty  may  understand  any  part  of  my  troubles  past,  and  straight  present. 
As  to  my  intention  future,  1  will  never  deny  that  i  an>  fully  resolved  to  spend 
the  rest  of  my  days  in  Your  Majesty's  service,  and  the  King  your  eon's,  where- 
soever I  shall  be  directed  by  Your  Majesty,  and  for  the  better  performing  thereof, 
if  so  shall  be  Her  Majesty's  pleasure,  to  recommend  the  trial  of  my  mnocency, 
and  examination  of  the  verity  of  the  preceding  narration,  to  the  King  your  son 
with  request  that  I  may  be  pardoned  for  such  offences  as  concerned  Your 
Majesty's  service,  and  var  common  to  all  men  the  time  of  his  les  aige  and  per- 
donit  to  all,  except  to  me,  I  should  be  the  bearer  thereof  myself,  and  be  directed 
in  whatsoever  service  it  should  please  Your  Majesty  for  to  command.  Most 
humble  1  beseech  Your  Majesty  to  consider  hereof,  and  to  be  so  gracious  as  to 
give  order  that  I  may  have  means  to  serve  Your  Majesty  according  to  the  sin- 
cerity of  my  meaning,  and  so  expecting  Your  Majesty's  answer,  after  the  kissing 
vour  hand  with  all  humility,  I  take  leave  from  London. 

No.  XLVIII.  (p.  262.) 
A  Letter  from  Sir  Amias  Paulett. 

[Original.  Cal.  C.  9.] 
Sir, 
1  did  forbear,  according  to  your  direction  signified  in  your  letters  of  the  fourth 
of  this  present,  to  proceed  to  the  execution  of  the  contents  of  Mr.  Waade's  let- 
ters unto  you  for  the  dispersing  of  this  lady's  unnecessary  servants,  and  for  the 
ceasing  of  her  money,  wherein  I  was  bold  to  write  unto  you  my  simple  opinion 
(although  in  vain  as  it  now  falleth  out),  by  my  letters  of  tl»s  7th  of  this  instant, 
which,  I  doubt  not,  are  with  you  before  this  time  ;  but  upon  the  receipt  of  your 
letters  of  the  5th,  which  came  not  unto  my  hands  until  the  8th  in  the  evening, 
by  reason,  as  did  appear  by  indorsement,  that  they  had  been  mistaken,  and  were 
sent  back  to  Windsor,  after  they  were  entered  into  the  way  towards  me,  I  consi- 
dered, that  being  accompanied  only  with  my  own  servants,  it  might  be  thought 
that  they  would  be  intreated  to  say  as  I  would  command  them  ;  and  therefore  1 
thought  good,  for  my  better  discharge  in  these  money  matters,  to  crave  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Richard  Bagott,  who  repairing  unto  me  the  next  morning,  we 
had  access  to  this  Queen,  whom  we  found  in  her  bed,  troubled  after  the  old  man- 
ner with  a  defluxion,  which  was  fallen  down  into  the  side  of  her  neck,  and  had 
bereft  her  of  the  use  of  one  of  her  hands,  unto  whom  1  declared,  that  upon 
occasion  of  her  former  practices,  doubting  lest  she  would  persist  therein  by  cor- 
rupting underhand  some  bad  members  of  this  state,  1  was  expressly  commanded 
to  take  her  money  into  my  hands,  and  to  rest  answerable  for  it  when  it  shall  be 
required  ;  advising  her  to  deliver  the  said  money  unto  me  with  quietness.  After 
many  denials,  many  exclamations,  and  many  bitter  words  against  you  (I  say 
nothing  of  her  railing  against  myself),  with  flat  affirmation  that  Her  Majesty 
might  have  her  body,  but  her  heart  she  should  never  have,  refusing  to  delivei 
the  key  of  the  cabinet,  I  called   my  servants,  and   sent  for  barrs  to  break  ope* 


430  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

the  door,  whereupon  she  yielded,  and  causing  the  door  to  be  opened,  I  fourd 
there  in  the  coffers,  mentioned  in  Mr.  Waade's  remembrance,  five  rolls  of  can- 
vass, containing  five  thousand  French  crowns,  and  two  leather  bags,  whereof  ..tie 
one  had  in  gold  one  hundred  and  four  pounds  two  shillings,  and  the  other  had 
three  pounds  in  silver,  which  bag  of  silver  was  left  with  her,  aifirrning  thai  she 
had  no  more  money  in  this  house,  and  that  she  was  indebted  to  her  servants  for 
,      their  wages.     Mr.  Waade's  note  maketh  mention  of  3 

Lurlecan  tell  you  the  roJ]g  left  [n  Curle,g  cnamber,  wherein,  no  doubt,  he  was 
truth,  of  this  matter.  misreckoned,  which  is  evident  as  well  by  the  testimonies 

and  oaths  of  diverse  persons,  as  also  by  probable  conjectures  :  so  as  in  truth  we 
found  only  two  rolls,  every  of  which  containeth  one  thousand  crowns,  which 
was  this  Queen's  guifte  to  Curie's  wife  at  her  marriage.  There  is  founa  in 
Niv.v's  chamber  in  a  cabinet,  a  chain  worth  by  estimation  one  hundred  pounds, 
and  in  money,  in  one  bag,  nine  hundred  pounds,  in  a  second  bag  two  hundred 
fourscore  and  six  pounds  eighteen  shillings.  All  the  aforesaid  parcels  of  money 
are  bestowed  in  bags,  and  sealed  by  Mr.  Richard  Bagot,  saving  five  hundred 
pounds  of  Naw's  money,  which  I  reserve  in  my  hands  for  the  use  of  this  house- 
hold, and  may  be  repayed  at  London,  where  Her  Majesty  shall  appoint,  out  of 
the  money  received  lately  by  one  of  my  servants  out  of  the  exchequer.  I  feared 
lest  the  people  might  have  dispersed  this  money  in  all  this  time,  or  have  hidden 
the  same  in  some  secret  corners ;  for  doubt  whereof  I  had  caused  all  this 
Queen's  family,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  to  be  guarded  in  the  several 
places  where  I  found  them,  so  as  yff  I  had  not  found  the  money  with  quietness 
I  had  been  forced  to  have  searched  first  all  their  lodgings,  and  then  their  own 
persons.  I  thank  God  with  all  my  heart,  as  for  a  singular  blessing,  that  that 
falleth  out  so  well,  fearing  lest  a  contrary  success  might  have  moved  some  hard 
conceits  in  her  Majesty. 

Touching  the  dispersing  of  this  Queen's  servants,  I   trust  1  have  done  so 

much  as  may  suffice  to  satisfy  Her  Majesty  for  the  time,  wherein  I  could  not 

take  any  absolute  course  until  I  heard  again  from  you,  partly  because  Her 

Majesty,  by  Mr.  Waade's  letter  doth  refer  to  your  consideration  to  return  such 

as  shall  be  discharged  to  their  several  dwellings  and  countries,  wherein,  as  it 

seemeth,  you  have  forgotten  to  deliver  your  opinion  ;  partly,  for  that  as  yet  I 

have  received  no  answer  from  you  of  your  resolution  upon  the  view  of  the 

Scottish  family  sent  unto  you,  what  persons  you  will  appoint  to  be  dismist ; 

only  this  I  have  done,  I  have  bestowed  all  such   as  are  mentioned  in  this  bill, 

inclosed  in  three  or  four  several  rooms,  as  the  same  may  suffice  to  contain  them, 

and  that  their  meat  and  drink  shall  be  brought  unto  them  by  my  servants.     It 

may  please  you  to  advertise  me,  by  your  next  letters,  in  what  sort  and  for  what 

".ourse  I  shall   make  their  passports  ;  as  also,  if  they  shall  say  that  they  are 

,  ,  unpaid  of  their  wages,  what  I  shall  do  therein.     Yt  is 

IhM  lady  /to/A  good  gaid  thal  th      haye  been  accustomed  t0  be  paid  0f  their 

Horeof  money  at  present  g  &t  Christ  for  the  whole  year.     Her  Majesty's 

m  the  French  ambassa-  charge  wm  be  80mewbat  diminished  by  the  departure  of 

dor  s  hands.  ^^  peop]ei  and  mv  charge  by  this  occasion  will  be  the 

uore  easy.     But  the  persons,  all  save  Bastian,  are  such  silly  and  simple  souls, 

is  t,h<?re  was  no  great  cause  to  fear  their  practices,  and  upon  this  ground  I  was 

V,"  opinion,  in  my  former  letters,  that  all  this  dismissed  train  should  have  fol- 

.o.ved  their  mistress  until  the  next  remove,  and  there  to  have  been  discharged 

upon  the  sudden,  for  doubt  that  the  said  remove  might  be  delayed,  yf  she  did 

fear  or  expect  any  hard  measure. 

Others  shall  excuse  their  foolish  pity  as  they  may;  but,  for  my  part,  I  renunce 

my  part  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  if  in  any  thing  that  I  have  said,  written,  or  done, 

I  have  had  any  other  respect  than  the  furtherance  of  Her   Majesty's  service  ; 

and  so  I  shall  most  earnestly  pray  you  to  affirm  for  me,  as  likewise  for  the  not 

seasing  of  the  money  by  Mr.  Manners,  the  other  commissioners,  and  myself.     I 

trust  Mr.  Waade  hath  answered,  in  all  humble  duties,  for  the  whole  company, 

that  no  one  of  us  did  so  much  as  think  that,  our  commission  reaching  only  to 

the  papers,  we  might  be  bold  to  touch  the  money,  so  as  there  was  no  speech  of 

that  all  to  my  knowledge,  and  as  you  know  I  was  no  commissioner  in  this  search, 

but  had  my  hands  full  at  Tyxall,  discreet  servants  are  not  hastily  to  deal  in  great 

matters  without  warrant,  and  especially  where  the  cause  is  such  as  the  dvlay  o 

it  carrieth  no  danger. 


APPENDIX,   No.  XLIX.  431 

Ynur  advertisement  of  that  happy  remove  hath  been  greatly  comfortable  unto 
me.  1  will  not  say,  in  respect  of  myself,  because  my  private  interest  iialli  no 
moasure  of  comparison  with  Her  Majesty  s  safety,  and  with  the  quiet  of  this 
realm.  God  grant  a  happy  and  speedy  yssue  to  these  good  and  godly  coun- 
sels ;  and  so  I  commit  you  to  his  merciful  protection.  From  (Jhartley,  the  10th 
of  September,  1586. 

No.  XLIX.  (p.  268.) 

Letter  from  the  King  of  Scots  to  Mr.  Archibald  Douglas,  his  Ambassador  in 

England,  October,  1586. 

ICott.  Lib.  Calig.  (,'.  9     All  original  in  Uiu  king's  liaml.j 

Reserve  up  yourself  na  langer  in  the  earnest  dealing  for  my  mother,  for  ye 
/lave  done  it  too  long  ;  and  think  not  that  any  your  travellis  can  do  goode  if 
hir  lyfe  be  takin,  for  then  adeu  with  my  dealing  with  thaime  that  are  the  special 
instruments  thairof ;  and  theirfore,  git"  ye  looke  for  the  contineuance  of  my 
favour  towartis  you,  spair  na  pains  nor  plainnes  in  this  cace,  but  reade  my  letter 
wrettin  to  Williame  Keith,  and  conform  yourself  quholhe  to  the  contentis 
thairof,  and  in  this  requeist  let  me  reap  the  if  metis  of  your  great  credit  there, 
ather  now  or  never.     Fairwell.     October,  1586. 

' 'f4ter  to  Sir  fVUliam  Keith,  Ambassador  in  England,  probably  from  Secretary 

Maitland,  Nov.  27,  1586. 

[A  copy  in  the  Collect,  of  Sir  A.  Dick      Vol.  A.  fol.  219.] 

By  your  letters  sent  by  this  bearer  (albeit  concerning  no  pleasant  sub  ect), 
His  Majesty  conceives  well  of  your  earnestness  and  fidelity  in  your  negotia- 
tions, as  also  of  Mr.  Archibald's  activity  and  diligence,  whom  you  so  greatly 
praise  and  recommend,  1  wish  the  issue  correspond  to  His  Majesty's  opinion, 
your  care  and  travell,  and  his  great  diligence  as  you  write.  His  Majesty  takes 
this  rigorous  proceeding  against  his  mother  deeply  in  heart,  as  a  matter  greatly 
concerning  him  both  in  honour  and  otherwise.  His  Highnesses  actions  and 
behaviour  utter  plainly  not  only  how  far  nature  prevails,  but  also  how  he  appre- 
hends of  the  sequel  of  that  process,  and  of  what  moment  he  esteems  it.  There 
is  an  ambassade  shortly  to  be  directed,  wherein  will  be  employed  an  Earl  and 
two  counsellors,  on  whose  answer  will  depend  the  continuance  or  dissolution  of 
the  amity  and  good  intelligence  between  the  Princes  of  this  isle.  In  the  mean 
season,  if  farther  extremity  be  used,  and  His  Majesty's  suit  and  request  dis- 
dained, His  Highness  will  think  himself  dishonoured  and  contemned  far  besides 
his  expectation  and  deserts.  Ye  may  perceive  His  Majesty's  disposition  by  his 
letter  to  you,  which  you  shall  impart  to  Mr.  Archibald,  and  both  deal  according 
thereto.  I  need  not  to  recommend  to  you  care,  concerning  your  master's  ser- 
vice both  in  weill  and  in  honour.     As  you  and  your  colleague  shall  behave  your- 

i  m  this  behalf,  so  for  my  own  part  will  1  interpret  your  affection  to  your 
.aster.  I  am  glad  of  that  I  hear  of  yourseif,  and  I  do  fully  credit  that  you 
.rite  of  Mr.  Archibald,  whose  friends  here  make  great  account  of  his  professed 
devotion  to  the  Queen,  besides  the  duty  he  owes  to  the  King's  Majesty  her  son. 
Farther  1  am  constrained  to  remit  to  next  occasion,  having  scarce  time  to  scrib- 
ble these  few  lines  (which  of  themselves  may  bear  witness  of  my  haste). 
Wishing  you  a  prosperous  issue  of  your  negociation,  I  commit  you,  &c.  Haly- 
rudhouse,  Nov.  27th,  1586. 

The  people,  and  all  estates  here  are  so  far  moved  by  the  rigorous  proceedings 
against  the  Queen,  that  His  Majesty,  and  all  that  have  credit  are  importuned, 
and  may  not  go  abroad  for  exclamations  against  them,  and  imprecations  against 
.ho  Queen  of  England. 


4*  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

No.  L.  (p.  269.) 

To  the  King*  Majesty,  from  Mr.  Archibald  Douglas. 

[l&  Ocl  15*6.    Fromthe  original  in  the  Collect.  ot'Sir  A.  Dick.    Vol.  B.  fol.  324.] 

Plears,  Your  Majesty,  I  received  your  letter  of  the  date  the  28th  of  Septem 
ber,  the  5th  of  October,  which  was  the  same  day  that  1  directed  Wm.  Murray 
towards  Your  Highness ;  by  such  letters  as  he  carried,  and  others  of  several 
dates,  Your  Majesty  may  perceive  that  I  had  omitted  nothing  so  far  as  my 
travel  might  reach  unto,  anent  the  performing  of  the  two  chief  points  contained 
in  the  said  letter  befor  the  receipt  thereof,  which  by  these  presents  1  must  repeat 
for  answering  of  the  saidis.  As  to  the  first,  so  far  as  may  concern  the  interceding 
for  the  Queen  Your  Majesty's  mother  her  life,  J  have  divers  times,  and  in  every 
audience,  travelled  with  this  Queen  in  that  matter,  specially  to  know  what  her 
full  determination  must  be  in  that  point,  and  could  never  bring  her  to  any  fur- 
ther answer,  but  that  this  proceeding  against  her  by  order  of  justice  was  no  le? 
against  her  mind,  than  against  their  will  that  loved  her  best  :  as  towards  her 
life  she  could  give  no  answer  thereunto,  untill  such  time  as  the  law  hath  declared 
whether  she  was  innocent  or  guilty,  hi  ere  withal  it  was  her  pleasure  thus  far 
to  inform  me,  that  it  was  a  number  of  the  associants  that  earnestly  pressed  her 
that  the  law  might  proceed  against  her,  giving  reasons  that  so  long  as  she  was 
suffered  to  deal  in  matters,  so  long  would  never  this  realm  be  in  quiet,  neither 
her  life,  neither  this  state  in  assurance,  and  in  the  end  they  used  this  protesta- 
tion, that  if  she  would  not  in  this  matter  follow  their  advice,  that  they  should 
remain  without  all  blame  whatsoever  should  fall  out ;  whereupon  she  had 
granted  them  liberty  to  proceed,  lest  such  as  had  made  the  request  might  here- 
after have  charged  herself  with  inconvenience  if  any  should  happen. 

And  by  myself  I  know  this  her  speech  to  be  true,  because  both  Papist  and 
Drotestant  has  behaved  them,  as  it  hath  been  her  pleasure  to  declare,  but  upon 
divers  respects,  the  one  to  avoid  suspicion  that  otherwise  was  conceived  against 
them,  the  other  upon  zeal,  and  care  that  they  will  be  known  to  have  for  preser 
vation  of  their  sovereign's  life  and  state  in  this  perilous  time,  upon  consideration 
whereof,  I  have  been  constrained  to  enter  into  some  dealing  with  both,  where- 
with I  made  Her  Majesty  acquainted ;  the  Protestants,  and  such  as  in  other 
matters  will  be  known  to  bear  no  small  favour  unto  Your  Majesty's  service,  hath 
prayed  that  they  may  be  excused  from  any  dealing  in  the  contrary  of  that, 
which  by  their  oath  they  have  avowed,  and  by  their  speech  to  their  sovereign 
requested  for,  and  that  before  my  coming  in  this  country;  if  they  should  now 
otherwise  do,  it  would  produce  no  better  effect  but  to  make  them  subject  to  the 
accusation  of  their  sovereign,  when  it  should  please  her  to  dc  it,  of  their  incon^ 
sta.ncy,  in  giving  councell  whereby  they  might  incur  the  danger  of  ill  counci- 
lors, and  be  consequent  worthy  of  punishment.  Such  of  the  Papists  as  I  did 
deal  with,  went  immediately,  and  told  Her  Majesty  what  I  had  spoken  to  them 
ho  albeit  she  understood  the  matter  of  before,  sent  for  ine,  and  declared  to 
lie  my  own  speech  that  I  had  uttered  to  them,  willing  me  for  the  weil  of  my 
rnaister's  service  to  abstain  from  dealing  with  such,  as  were  not  yet  sufficiently 
moved  to  think  of  my  master  as  she  did.  1  craved  leave  of  Her  Majesty,  that  1 
might  inform  them  of  Your  Majesty's  late  behaviour  towards  her,  and  the  state 
of  this  realm,  whereunto  with  some  difficulty  she  gave  her  consent.  At  my  late 
departure  from  court,  which  was  upon  the  5th  of  this  instant,  and  the  day  after 
that  the  lords  of  this  grand  jury  had  taken  their  leaves  of  Her  Majesty  to  go 
northward  to  Fothringham,  it  was  her  pleasure  to  promise  to  have  further 
speech  in  this  matter  at  the  returning  of  the  said  lords,  and  to  give  full  answ  er 
according  to  Your  Majesty's  contentment  to  the  remainder  matters,  that  I  had 
proponit  in  name  of  Your  Majesty.  As  to  the  2d  part  concerning  the  associa- 
tion, and  desire  that  the  promise  made  to  the  Master  of  Gray  concerning  Your 
Majesty's  title  may  be  fulfilled  ;  it  appears  by  the  said  letter,  that  the  very  point 
whereupon  the  question  that  may  bring  Your  Majesty's  title  in  doubt,  hath  not 
been  rightly  at  the  writing  of  the  said  letter  considered,  which  I  take  to  have 
oroceeded  for  lack  of  reading  of  the  art  of  parliament,  wherein  is  fulfilled  all  the 


APPENDIX,   No  L.  433 

oromue  mado  by  the  Queen  to  tho  said  Master,  and  nothing  may  now  cause 
»ny  doubt  to  arise  againt  your  said  title,  except  that  an  opinion  should  be  con- 
ceived by  these  lords  of  this  Parliament  that  are  so  vehement  at  this  time  against 
the  Queon  Your  Majesty's  mother,  that  Your  Majesty  is,  or  may  bo  proved 
hereafter  assenting  to  her  proceedings,  and  some  that  love  Your  Majesty's  ser- 
vice were  of  that  opinion  that  too  earnest  request  might  move  a  ground  where- 
upon suspicions  might  grow  in  men  so  ill  affected  in  that  matter,  which  1  tho't 
might  be  helped  by  obtaining  of  a  declaration  in  parliament  of  Your  Majesty  s 
innocence  at  this  time,  and  by  reason  that  good  nature  and  public  honesty  would 
constrain  you  to  intercede  for  the  Queen  your  mother,  which  would  carry  with 
itself,  without  any  further,  some  suspicion  that  might  move  ill  affected  men  to 
doubt.  In  my  former  letters  I  humbly  craved  of  Your  Majesty  that  some  learn 
men  in  the  laws  might  be  moved  to  advise  with  the  words  of  the  association, 
and  the  mitigation  contained  in  the  act  of  parliament,  and  withall  to  advise 
what  suspicious  effects  Your  Majesty's  request  might  work  in  these  choleric 
men  at  this  time,  and  how  their  minds  might  be  best  moved  to  receive  reason ; 
and  upon  all  these  considerations  they  might  have  formed  the  words  of  a  decla- 
rator of  Your  Majesty's  innocence  to  be  obtained  in  this  parliament,  and  failing 
thereof,  the  very  words  of  a  protestation  for  the  same  effect  that  might  best 
•erve  for  Your  Majesty's  service,  and  for  my  better  information.  Albeit  this  was 
my  simple  opinion,  1  shall  be  contented  to  follow  any  direction  it  shall  please 
Your  Majesty  to  give  ;  1  have  already  opened  the  substance  hereof  to  the  Queen 
of  this  realm,  who  seems  not  to  be  offended  herewith,  and  hath  granted  liberty 
to  deal  therein  with  such  of  the  parliament  as  may  remain  in  any  doubt  of 
mind.  This  being  the  sum  of  my  proceedings  in  this  matter,  besides  the 
remainder,  contained  in  other  letters  of  several  dates,  I  am  constrained  to  lay  the 
whole  open  before  Your  Majesty,  and  to  humbly  pray  that  full  information  may 
be  sent,  unto  me  what  further  to  do  herein  ;  in  this  middle  time,  while  I  shall 
receive  more  ample  direction  I  shall  proceed  and  be  doing  according  to  su;h 
direction  as  I  have  already  received.  And  so  most  gracious  sovereign,  wishing 
unto  Your  Majesty  all  happy  success  in  your  affairs,  I  humbly  take  my  leave 
from  London,  this  16th  of  October,  1586.  Your  Majesty's  most  humble  subject 
and  obed[  servant. 

A  Memorial  for  His  Majesty  by  the  Master  of  Gray. 
[  13th  Jan.  1586.     An  original  in  his  own  hand  in  the  Collect,  of  Sir  A.  Dick.  VoL  A.  fill.  222.] 

It  will  please  Your  Majesty  I  have  tho't  mceter  to  set  down  all  things  as  they 
occur,  and  all  advertisements  as  they  came  to  my  ears,  then  jointly  in  a  lettre. 

I  came  to  Vare  the  24th  of  Dec1,  and  sent  to  W».  Keith  and  Mr.  Archibald 
Douglas  to  advertise  the  Queen  of  it,  like  as  they  did  at  their  audience.  She 
promised  the  Queen  Your  Majesty's  mother's  life  should  be  spared  till  we  were 
heard.  The  27th  they  came  to  Vare  to  me,  the  which  day  Sir  Rob1,  came  to 
Vare,  where  they  showed  us  how  far  they  had  already  gone  in  their  negociation. 
but  for  that  the  discourse  of  it  is  set  down  in  our  general  letter,  I  remit  me  to  it. 
oaiy  this  far  I  will  testify  unto  Your  Majesty  that  W"«.  Keith  hath  used  himsell 
right  honestly  and  wisely  till  our  coming,  respecting  all  circumstances,  and 
chiefly  hi3  colkague  his  dealing,  which  indeed  is  not  better  than  YTour  Majesty 
Snows  already. 

The  29th  day  of  Deer.  we  came  to  London,  where  we  were  no  ways  friendly 
received,  nor  after  the  honest  sort  it  had  pleased  Your  Majesty  use  her  ambassa- 
dors ;  never  man  sent  to  welcome  or  convey  us.  The  same  day  we  understood 
of  Mr.  de  Bellievre  his  leave  taking,  and  for  that  the  custom  permitted  not  we 
•ent  our  excuses  by  Mr.  George  Young. 

The  1st  day  of  JanT.  Wm.  Keith  and  his  colleague,  according  to  the  custom 
sent  to  crave  our  audience.  We  received  the  answpj-  contained  in  the  general 
letter,  and  could  not  have  answer  till  the  6th  day,  wlaat  was  done  that  day  Your 
Majesty  has  it  in  the  general,  yet  we  was  not  out  <of  esperance  at  that  time, 
albeit  we  received  hard  answers. 

The  8th  day  ae  speak  with  the  Earl  of  Leicester  where  our  conferrenco  was, 
is  is  set  down  in  the  general.     I  remarked  this,  t  |iat  he  that  day  said  plainly- 

Vol.  III.— 55 


434  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

the  detaining  of  the  Queen  of  Scotland  prisoner  was  for  that,  she  pretended  a 
succession  to  this  crown.  Judge  then  by  this  what  is  tho't  of  Your  Majesty,  aa 
ye  shall  hear  a  little  after. 

The  9th  day  we  speak  with  the  French  ambassador,  whom  we  find  very  plain 
in  making  to  us  a  wise  discourse  of  all  his  proceedings,  and  Mr.  de  Bellievre  we 
thanked  him  in  Your  Majesty's  name,  and  opened  such  things  as  we  had  to  treat 
with  this  Queen,  save  the  last  point,  as  more  largely  set  down  by  our  general. 

It  is  tho't  here,  and  some  friends  of  Your  Majesty:s  advised  me,  that  Bellievre 
his  negociation  was  not  effectual,  and  that  the  resident  was  not  privy  to  it,  as 
indeed  I  think  is  true,  for  since  Bellievre  his  perting,  there  is  a  talk  of  this  Chas- 
teauneuf  his  servants  taken  with  his  whole  papers  and  pacquets,  which  he  was 
sending  in  France,  for  that  they  charge  him  with  a  conspiracy  of  late  against . 
the  Queen  here  her  life.  It  is  alledged  his  servant  has  confessed  the  matter  ' 
but  whom  I  shall  trust  I  know  not,  but  till  I  see  proof  I  shall  account  him  an 
honest  man,  for  indeed  so  he  appears,  and  one  (without  doubt)  who  hath  been 
very  instant  in  this  matter.  I  show  him  that  the  Queen  and  Earl  of  Leicester 
had  desired  to  speak  with  me  in  private,  and  craved  his  opinion  ;  he  gave  it  freely 
that  he  tho't  it  meetest,  I  shew  him  the  reason  why  I  communicate  that  to  him, 
for  that  I  had  been  suspected  by  some  of  Her  Majesty's  friends  in  France  to  have 
done  evil  offices  in  her  service,  that  he  should  be  my  witness  that  my  earnest 
uealing  in  this  should  be  a  sufficient  testimony  that  all  was  lies,  and  that  this 
knave  Naue  who  now  had  betrayed  her,  had  in  that  done  evil  offices  :  ye  desired 
me,  seeing  she  saw  only  with  other  folks  eyes,  that  I  should  no  ways  impute  it 
to  her,  for  the  like  she  had  done  to  himself  by  Naue"  his  persuasion.  I  answered 
he  should  be  my  witness  in  that. 

The  9th  day  we  sent  to  court  to  crave  audience,  which  we  got  the  10th  day ; 
at  the  first,  she  said  a  tiling  long  looked  for  should  be  welcome  when  it  comes,  I 
would  now  see  your  master's  offers.  I  answered,  no  man  makes  offerc  but  for 
some  cause  ;  we  would,  and  like  Your  Majesty,  first  know  the  cause  to  be  ex- 
tant for  which  we  offer,  and  likewise  that  it  be  extant  till  Your  Majesty  hag 
heard  us.  1  think  it  be  extant  yet,  but  I  will  not  promise  for  an  hour,  but  you 
think  to  shift  in  that  sort.  I  answered,  we  mind  not  to  shift,  but  to  offer  from 
our  sovereign  all  things  that  with  reason  may  be  ;  and  in  special,  we  offered  as 
is  set  down  in  our  general,  all  was  refused  ana  tho't  nothing.  She  called  on  tho 
thret  that  were  in  the  house,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  my  Lord  Admiral,  and  Cham 
beri^m,  and  very  despitefuliy  repeated  all  our  offers  in  presence  of  them  all.  1 
opened  the  last  part,  and  said,  Madam,  for  what  respect  is  it  that  men  deal 
against  your  person  or  estate  for  her  cause  ?  She  answered,  because  they 
think  she  shall  succeed  to  me,  and  for  that  she  is  a  Papist ;  appearingly  said  I 
both  the  causes  may  be  removed,  she  said  she  wo>jld  be  glad  to  understand  it. 
If,  Madam,  said  I,  all  thaf,  she  has  of  right  of  succession  were  in  the  King  our 
sovereign's  person,  were  not  all  hope  of  Papists  removed  ?  She  answered,  1 
hope  so.  Then,  Madam,  I  think  the  Queen  his  mother  shall  willingly  demit  all 
her  rights  in  his  person.  She  answered,  she  hath  no  right,  for  she  is  declared 
unhabil.  Then  I  said,  if  she  have  no  right,  appearingly  the  hope  ceases  already, 
bo  that  it  is  not  to  be  feared  that  any  man  attempt  for  her.  The  Queen  answered, 
but  the  Papists  allow  not  our  declaration  ;  then  let  it  fall,  says  I,  in  the  King's 
person  by  her  assignation.  The  Earl  of  Leicester  answered,  she  is  a  prisoner, 
liow  can  she  demit  ?  I  answered,  the  demission  is  to  her  son,  by  the  advice  of 
all  the  friends  she  has  in  Europe,  and  in  case,  as  God  forbid,  that  any  attempt 
cuttis  the  Queen  here  away,  who  shall  party  with  her  to  prove  the  demission  or 
assignation  to  be  ineffectual,  her  son  being  opposite  party,  and  having  all  the 
Princes  her  friends  for  him,  having  bonded  for  the  efficacy  of  it  with  His  Majesty 
of  before  ?  The  Queen  made  aa  she  could  not  comprehend  my  meaning,  and 
Sir  Robt.  opened  the  matter  again,  she  yet  made  as  tho'  she  understood  not. 
So  the  Earl  of  Leicester  answered  that  our  meaning  was,  that  the  King  should 
be  put  in  hie  mother's  place.  Is  it  so,  the  Queen  answered,  then  I  put  myself  in 
a  worse  case  than  of  before  :  by  God's  passion,  that  were  to  cut  my  own  throat, 
and  for  a  dutchy  or  an  earldom  to  yourself  you  or  such  as  you  would  cause  some 
of  your  desperate  knaves  kill  me.  No,  by  God,  he  shall  never  be  in  that  place, 
I  answered,  he  craves  nothing  of  Your  Majesty  but  only  of  his  mother.  The 
Earl  of  Leicester  answered,  that  were  to  make  him  party  to  the  Queen  my  mis- 


APPKN  D  IX.  No.  L.  43* 

tress.  I  said,  he  will  be  tar  moie  party,  it  he  be  in  her  place  through  her  death 
She  would  stay  no  longer,  but  said  she  would  not  havo  a  worse  in  his  mother's 
place.  And  said,  tell  your  King  what  good  1  have  done  for  him  in  holding  the 
crown  on  Ins  head  since  he  was  born,  and  that  1  mind  to  keep  the  league  that 
uow  stands  between  us,  and  it'  he  break  it  shall  be  a  double  fault,  and  with  this 
minded  to  have  bidden  us  a  farewell;  but  we  ache  v  it  [i.  e.  finished  arguing 
upon  this  point].  And  1  spake  craving  of  her  that  her  life  may  be  spared  tor  15 
days  ;  she  refused.  Sir  Robt.  craved  for  only  eight  days  ;  she  said,  not  for  an 
hour  ;  and  so  geid  her  away.  Your  Majesty  sees  we  have  delivered  all  we  had 
lor  offers,  but  all  is  lor  nothing,  for  she  and  her  councel  has  laid  a  determination 
that  they  mind  to  follow  forth,  and  1  see  it  comes  rather  of  her  council  than  her- 
self, which  1  like  the  worse  ;  for  without  doubt,  Sir,  it  shall  cut  off  all  friendship 
ye  had  here.  Altho'  it  were  that  once  they  had  meaned  well  to  Your  Majesty, 
yet  remembring  themselves,  that  they  have  medled  with  your  mother's  biood, 
good  faith  they  cannot  hope  great  good  of  yourself,  a  thing  in  truth  1  am  sorry 
for  ;  further  Your  Majesty  may  perceive  by  this  last  discourse  of  that  1  pro- 
ponit,  if  they  had  meaned  well  to  Your  Majesty  they  had  used  it  otherwise  than 
they  have  done,  for  reason  has  bound  them.  But  1  dare  not  write  all.  1  mind 
something  to  speak  in  this  matter,  because  we  look  shurly  our  letters  shall  be 
trussit  by  the  way. 

For  that  I  see  private  credit  nor  no  means  can  alter  their  determination,  altho 
the  Queen  again  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester  has  desired  to  speak  with  me  in 
particular  ;  1  mind  not  to  speak,  nor  shall  not ;  but  assuredly  shall  let  all  men 
<see  that  I  in  particular  was  no  ways  tyed  to  England,  but  for  the  respect  of  Your 
Majesty's  service.  So  albeit,  at  this  time  I  could  not  effectuate  that  1  desired, 
yet  my  upright  dealing  in  it  shall  be  manifested  to  the  world.  We  are,  God 
widing,  then  to  crave  audience,  where  we  mind  to  use  sharply  our  instructions, 
which  hitherto  we  have  used  very  calmly  ;  for  we  can,  for  your  honour's  cause, 
say  no  less  for  Your  Majesty,  than  the  French  ambassador  has  said  for  his  master. 

So  I  pray  Your  Majesty  consider  my  upright  dealing  in  your  service,  and  not 
the  effect ;  for  had  it  been  doable  [i.  e.  possible  to  be  done]  by  any  1  might  have 
here  had  credit ;  but  being  I  came  only  for  that  cause,  1  will  not  my  credit  shall 
serve  here  to  any  further  purpose.  I  pray  God  preserve  Your  Majesty,  and  send 
you  a  true  and  sincere  friendship.     From  London  this  12th  of  Jan.  1586 

I  understand  the  Queen  is  to  send  one  of  her  own  to  Your  Majesty. 

7b  the  Right  Hon.  my  Lord  Vic e-  Chancellor  and  Secretary  to  His  Majesty^  from 

the  Master  of  Gray. 

[12th  Jan.  1586.     An  original  in  the  Collect.  »f  Sir  A.  Dick.  Vol.  A.  fol.  17'J.j 

Mv  Lord,  I  send  you  these  lines  with  this  inclosed  to  His  Majesty,  whereby 
Your  Lordship  shall  understand  how  matters  goes  here.  And  before  all  things  I 
pray  Your  Lordship  move  His  Majesty  to  respect  my  diligence,  and  not  the 
effect  in  this  negotiation,  for  I  swear  if  it  had  been  for  the  crown  ol  England  to 
myself  I  could  do  no  more,  and  let  not  unfriends  have  advantage  of  me,  for  the 
world  shall  see  that  J  loved  England  for  His  Majesty's  service  only.  1  look 
shortly  to  find  Your  Lordship  friend  as  ye  made  promise,  and  by  God  1  shall  be 
to  you  if  I  can.  VVni.  Keith  and  1  devyset,  if  matters  had  gone  well,  to  have 
run  a  course  that  Your  Lordship  might  have  here  been  in  credit  and  others  dis- 
appointed, but  now  I  will  do  tor  you  as  for  myself;  which  is  to  care  for  no  credit 
here,  for  in  conscience  they  mean  not  honestly  to  the  King  our  sovereign,  and  if 
they  may,  he  will  go  the  get  his  mother  is  gone,  or  shortly  to  go,  therefore  My 
Lord,  without  all  kind  of  scruple  1  pray  you  to  advise  him  the  best  is  not  this 
way.  They  say  here,  that  it.  has  been  said  by  one  who  heard  it  from  you,  that  ye 
desired  not  the  King  and  England  to  agree,  because  it  would  rack  the  noblemen, 
and  gave  an  example  of  it  by  King  James  the  Fourt.  I  answered  in  your 
name  that  I  was  assured  you  never  had  spoken  it.  Mr.  Archibald  is  the  speaker 
of  it,  who  I  assure  Your  Lordship  has  been  a  poison  in  this  matter,  for  they  lean 
vary  mickle  to  his  opinion,  lie  (arcs  not,  he  says,  for  at  length  the  King  will 
ae  fain  to  deal  this  way,  either  by  fair  means  or  necessity,  so  that  when  he  deals 
.his  course  he  is  assured  to  be  welcome  ;  to  set  down  all  that  is  past  of  tne  like 


436  HISTORY  OF   SCOTLAND 

purp  jses,  it  would  consume  more  paper  than  I  have  here,  so  I  defer  it  to  meeting 
There  is  a  new  conspiracy  alledged  against  the  Queen  to  have  been  intended, 
for  the  French  ambassador  resident  three  of  his  men  taken,  but  I  think  in  tne 
end  it  shall  prove  nothing.  Mr.  Stafford,  who  is  ambassador  for  this  Queen  in 
I1  ranee,  is  touched  with  it,  his  brother  is  taken  here,  always  it  has  done  this  harm 
in  our  negotiation,  that  all  this  council  would  not  move  this  queen  to  medle 
with  the  Queen  of  Scotland's  blood,  till  this  invention  was  found  forth.  ] 
remit  all  other  things  to  the  inclosed.  We  minded  to  have  sent  to  His  Majesty 
a  discourse,  which  we  have  set  down  of  all  our  proceedings  since  our  hither 
coming,  but  we  are  surely  advertized  that  the  bearer  is  to  be  trussed  by  the  way 
for  our  pacquets,  so  that  we  defer  it  till  our  own  coming ;  this  1  have  put  in  a 
privy  part  beside  the  paequet.  We  shall,  I  think,  take  leave  on  Fryday  the 
13th  day,  where  we  mind  exactly  to  follow  the  rigour  of  our  instructions,  for  it 
cannot  stand  with  the  King's  honour  that  we  say  less  than  the  French  ambas- 
sador, which  was,  Le  roy  inon  maistre  ne  peult  moins  faire  que  se  resentir.  So 
that  about  the  24th  I  think  we  shall,  God  willing,  be  at  home,  except  that  some 
slay  come  which  we  look  not  for.  The  Queen  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester  has 
desired  to  speak  with  me.  1  refused  save  in  presence  of  my  colleagues,  by 
reason  I  see  a  determination  which  particular  credit  cannot  help,  and  I  crave  no 
credit  but  for  that  cause.  Jt  will  please  Your  Lordship  retire  the  inclosed  from 
His  Majesty  and  keep  it.  So  after  my  service  commended  to  yourself  and 
bedfellow,  I  commit  you  to  God.     From  London  the  12th  of  Jan.  1586. 

7b  the  King's  Majesty,  from  Sir  Robert  Melvil. 
[20th  Jan.  1586.    An  original  in  his  own  hand,  in  the  collect,  of  Sir  A.  Dick.  Vol.  A.  fol.  181. j 

It  may  please  Your  Majesty,  since  the  direction  of  our  former  letters,  we 
had  audience,  and  her  Majesty  appeared  to  take  our  overtures  in  good  part  in 
presence  of  her  council  ;  albeit  no  offers  could  take  place  with  them,  having 
taken  resolution  to  proceed  with  extremity,  not  the  less  it  pleased  Her  Majesty 
to  desire  us  to  stay  for  two  days  on  taking  our  leave,  until  she  had  advised 
upon  our  propositions  ;  since  which  time,  Her  Majesty  is  become  more  hard  by 
some  letters  (as  we  are  informed)  has  come  from  Scotland,  making  some  hope 
to  believe  that  Your  Majesty  takes  not  this  matter  to  heart,  as  we  know  the  con- 
trary in  effect,  and  had  of  before  removed  the  like  opinion  out  of  Her  Majesty's 
mind,  which  by  sinister  information  was  credited,  their  reports  has  hindered  our 
commission,  and  abused  this  i^ueen,  fearing  in  like  manner  we  shall  be  stayed 
until  answer  come  from  Scotland  by  such  persons  as  they  have  intelligence  of. 
And  albeit  that  it  will  be  well  enough  known  to  all  men  how  heavily  Your 
Majesty  takes  this  proceeding  to  heart,  the  truth  is,  that  they  have  by  this  oc- 
casion so  persuaded  the  Queen,  that  it  is  like  to  hinder  our  negotiation.  As 
also  Alchinder  (i.  e.  Alexander)  Steward  is  to  be  directed  in  their  party,  by  our 
knowledge,  who  has  awantyt  more  of  his  credit,  than  I  believe  he  may  perform, 
and  we  willed  him  to  desist  from  this  dealing,  saying  it  does  harm,  and  he  is 
not  meet  for  that  purpose,  remitting  to  Your  Majesty's  good  discretion  to  take 
order  herein  as  we  shall  be  answerable  to  Your  Majesty  not  to  omit  any 
point  we  have  in  charge,  as  the  truth  is,  the  Master  of  Grhaye  has  behaved 
himself  very  uprightly  and  discreetly  in  this  charge,  and  evil  tayne  with  be 
divers  in  these  parts  who  were  of  before  his  friends.  We  have  been  behalding 
to  the  menstrals  who  has  born  us  best  company,  but  has  not  been  troubled  with 
others.  Wylzeme  Kethe  hath  left  nothing  undone  that  he  had  in  charge.  As 
for  master  Archibald  he  has  promised  at  all  times  to  do  his  dewoyr,  wherein  he 
shall  find  true  report  made  to  Your  Majesty,  craving  pardon  of  Your  Majesty 
that  1  have  been  so  tedious,  after  1  have  kissed  Your  Majesty's  hand  I  humhl* 
take  my  leave.  Praying  God  to  grant  Your  Majesty  many  good  days  and 
happy,  in  whose  protection  I  commit  Your  Majesty  at  London,  the  20th  en 
Jan.  1586. 
Sir, 

Albeit  Marter  George  has  not  been  in  commission,  he  is  nat  inferior  in  hi« 
^rvice  to  any  of  us,  as  well  by  his  good  advice  and  diligent  care  he  takes  for 
the  advancement  of  your  service,  wherein  we  have  not  been  a  little  furthered. 


APPENDIX,  No.  LL  43? 

n  At  King's  Majesty,  from  the  Master  of  Gray  and  Sir  Robert  MeboiL 

[21st  Jan.  1586.    An  original  in  the  collect,  of  Sir  A.  Dick     Vol  A.  fol.  180.] 

Please  it  Your  Majesty  in  the  last  audience  we  had,  since  our  last  advertise- 
ment by  Wm.  Murray,  we  find  Her  Majesty  at  the  resuming  our  offers  some- 
thing mitigated,  and  inclined  to  consider  more  deeply  of  them,  before  we  got 
our  leave,  at  our  reasoning,  certain  of  the  council,  namely,  my  Lord  of  Leicester, 
Sir  Christopher  Halon,  my  Lord  Hunsdon,  and  my  Lord  llawart  being  present 
in  the  chamber,  gave  little  show  of  any  great  contentment  to  have  her  from  her 
former  resolution,  now  cassin  in  perpiexitie  what  she  should  do  always  we  left 
her  in  that  state,  and  since  have  daily  pressed  conference  with  the  whole  coun 
oil,  which  to  this  hour  we  have  not  yet  obtained.  This  day  we  have  sent  down 
to  crave  our  leave.  The  greatest  hinder  which  our  negotiation  has  found 
hitherto  is  a  persuasion  they  have  here  that  either  Your  Majesty  deals  superfi- 
cially in  this  matter,  or  that  with  time  ye  may  be  moved  to  digest  it,  which 
when  with  groat  difficulty  we  had  expugnit,  we  find  anew  that  certain  letters 
written  to  them  of  late  from  Scotland  has  found  some  place  of  credit  with 
them  in  our  contrare.  So  that  resolving  now  to  clear  them  c*'  that  doubt  by  a 
special  message,  they  have  made  choice  of  Sir  Alexander  Stewart  to  try  Your 
Highness's  meaning  in  it,  and  to  persuade  Your  Majesty  to  like  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, wherefrom  no  terror  we  can  say  out  unto  him  is  able  to  divert  him,  he 
has  given  out  that  he  has  credit  with  Your  Majesty,  and  that  he  doubts  not  to 
help  this  matter  at  Your  Highness's  hand.  If  he  come  there  that  errand,  we 
think  Your  Majesty  will  not  oversee  the  great  disgrace  this  his  attempts  shall 
give  us  here,  if  he  be  not  tane  order  with  before  that  he  be  further  heard,  and  if 
so  be  that  any  other  be  directed  (as  our  intelligence  gives  us  there  shall)  our 
humble  suit  is  to  Your  Majesty,  that  it  may  please  Your  Highness  to  hear  of  us 
what  we  find  here,  and  at  what  point  we  leave  this  matter  with  Her  Majesty, 
before  that  they  find  accidence,  the  causes  whereof  remitting  to  our  private  let- 
ters. We  commit  Your  Majesty  for  the  present  to  God's  eternal  protection 
From  London,  this  21st  of  Jan.  1586. 

No.  LI.  (p.  272.; 

isopyofa  Letter  from  the  Earls  of  Shrewsbury  and  Kent,  Sec.  touching  their  Pro 
ceedings  with  regard  to  the  Death  of  the  Scottish   Queen,  to  Her  Majesty's 
Council 

It  may  please  Your  Hono'e  good  Lordships  to  be  advertised,  that,  on  Satur- 
day, the  4th  of  this  present,  I,  Robert  Beale,  came  to  the  house  of  me  the  Earl 

of  Kent,  in  the  county  of ,  to  whom  Your  Lordship's  letter  and  message 

was  delivered,  and  Her  Majesty's  commission  shown  ;  whereupon  I  the  Earl 
forthwith  sent  precepts  for  the  staying  of  such  hues  and  cries  as  had  troubled 
the  country,  requiring  the  officers  to  make  stay  of  all  such  persons,  as  should 
bring  any  such  warrants  without  names,  as  before  had  been  done,  and  to  bring 
them  to  the  next  justice  of  peace,  to  the  intent  that  upon  their  examination,  the 
occasion  and  causes  of  such  seditious  bruit.es  might  be  bolted  out  and  known, 
ft  was  also  resolved  that  I  the  said  Earl  of  Kent  should,  on  the  Monday  follow- 
ing, come  to  Lylford  to  Mr.  Elmes,  to  be  the  nearer  and  readier  to  confer  with 
my  Lord  of  Shrewsbury.  Sonday  at  night,  I  Robert  Beale  came  to  Fotherin- 
gay.  where  after  the  communicating  the  commission,  &c.  unto  us  Sir  Amice 
Pawlet  and  Sir  Drue  Drury,  by  reason  that  Sir  A.  Pawlet  was  but  late  recov- 
ered, and  not  able  to  repair  to  the  Eail  of  Shrew  sbury,  being  then  at  Orton,  six 
miles  off;  it  was  thought  good  that  we  Sir  Drue  Drury  and  Robert  Beale  should 

go  unto  him,  which  we  did  on morning  ;   and    together  with  the  delivery 

of  Her  Majesty's  commission,  and  Your  Lordship's  letter  imparted  unto  him 
what  both  the  Earl  of  Kent  and  we.  thought  meet  to  be  done  in  the  cause,  pray- 
ing His  Lordship  hither  the  day  following,  to  confer  with  me  the  said   Earl, 
concerning  the  same  ;  which  His  Lordship  promised.    And  for  the  better  colour 
iag  of  the  matter,  I  the  said  Earl  of  Slue  /.  s'^ry  sent  to  Mr.  Beale,  a  justice  of 


438  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

peace  of  the  county  of  Huntingdon  next  adjoining,  to  whom  I  communicated 
that  warrant,  which  Robert  Beale  had  under  Your  Lordship's  hands,  for  the 
staying  of  the  hues  and  cries,  requiring  him  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  town 
of  Peterborough,  and  especially  unto  the  justices  of  peace  of  Huntingdonshire, 
and  to  cause  the  pursuers  and  bringers  of  such  warrants  to  be  stayed,  and 
brought  to  the  next  justice  of  peace  ;  and  to  bring  us  word  to  Fotheringay  Cas- 
tle on  Wednesday  morning  what  he  had  done,  and  what  he  should  in  the  mean 
time  understand  of  the  authors  of  such  bruites.  Which  like  order,  1  also  Sii 
Amias  Pawlet  had  taken  on  Monday  morning  in  this  town,  and  other  places 
adjoining.  The  same  night  the  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Northampton,  upon  the 
receipt  of  Your  Lordship's  letter  came  to  Arundel,  and  letters  were  sent  to  me 
the  Earl  of  Kent  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury's  intention  and  meeting  here  on 
Tuesday  by  noon  ;  and  other  letters  were  also  sent  with  Their  Lordships  assent 
to  Sir  Edward  Montagu,  Sir  Richard  Knightly,  Mr.  Tho.  Brudenell,  &c.  to  be 
her  on  Wednesday  by  eight  of  the  clock  in  the  morning,  at  which  time  it  was 
thought  meet  that  the  execution  should  be.  So  upon  Tuesday,  we  the  Earls 
came  hither,  where  the  sheriff  met  us  ;  and  upon  conference  between  us  it  was 
resolved,  that  the  care  for  the  sending  for  the  surgeons,  and  other  necessary  pro- 
vision should  be  committed  unto  him  against  the  time.  And  we  forthwith 
repaired  unto  her,  and  first  in  the  presence  of  herself  and  her  folks,  to  the  intent 
that  they  might  see  and  report  hereafter  that  she  was  not  otherwise  proceeded 
with  than  according  to  law,  and  the  form  of  the  statute  made  in  the  27th  year 
of  Her  Majesty's  reign,  it  was  thought  convenient  that  Her  Majesty's  commis- 
sion should  be  read  unto  her,  and  afterwards  she  was  by  sundry  speeches  willed 
to  prepare  herself  against  the  next  morning.  She  was  also  put  in  remembrance 
of  hei  fault,  the  honourable  manner  of  proceeding  with  her,  and  the  necessity 
that  was  imposed  upon  Her  Majesty  to  proceed  to  execution,  for  that  otherwise 
it  was  found  that  they  could  not  both  stand  together ;  and  however,  sithence 
the  Lord  Buckhurst's  his  being  here  new  conspiracies  were  attempted,  and  so 
would  be  still  ;  wherefore  since  she  had  now  a  good  while  since  warning,  by  the 
said  Lord  and  Robert  Beale,  to  think  upon  and  prepare  herself  to  die,  we  doubted 
not  but  that  she  was,  before  this,  settled,  and  therefore  would  accept  this  mes 
sage  in  good  part.  And  to  the  effect  that  no  Christian  duty  might  be  said  to  be 
omitted,  that  might  be  for  her  comfort,  and  tend  to  the  salvation  both  of  her 
body  and  soul  in  the  world  to  come,  we  offered  unto  her  that  if  it  would  please 
her  to  confer  with  the  Bishop  and  Dean  of  Peterborough,  she  might ;  which 
Dean,  we  had,  for  that  purpose,  appointed  to  be  lodged  within  one  mile  of  that 
place.  Hereto  she  replied,  crossing  herself  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  saying  that  she  was  ready  to  die  in  the  Catholic  Roman 
faith,  which  her  ancestors  had  professed,  from  which  she  would  not  be  removed. 
And  albeit  we  used  many  persuasions  to  the  contrary,  yet  we  prevailed  nothing  ; 
and  therefore,  when  she  demanded  the  admittance  of  her  priest,  we  utterly 
denied  that  unto  her.  Hereupon,  she  demanded  to  understand  what  answer 
we  had  touching  her  former  petition  to  Her  Majesty,  concerning  her  papers  of 
accounts,  and  the  bestowing  of  her  body.  To  the  first  we  had  none  other 
answer  to  make,  but  that  we  thought  if  they  were  not  sent  before,  the  same 
might  be  in  Mr.  Waade's  custody,  who  was  now  in  France,  and  seeing  her  papers 
could  not  auy  wise  pleasure  Her  Majesty,  we  doubted  not  but  that  the  same 
would  be  delivered  unto  such  as  she  should  appoint.  For,  for  our  own  parts,  we 
undoubtedly  thought  that  Her  Majesty  would  not  make  any  profit  of  her  things, 
and  therefore  (in  our  opinions)  she  might  set  down  what  she  would  have  done,  and 
the  same  should  be  imparted  unto  Her  Majesty,  of  whom  both  she  and  others 
might  expect  all  courtesy.  Touching  her  body,  we  knew  not  her  Majesty's 
pleasure,  and  therefore  could  neither  say  that  her  petition  should  be  denied,  or 
granted.  For  the  practice  of  Babington,  she  utterly  denied  it,  and  would  have 
inferred  it  that  her  death  was  for  her  religion  :  whereunto  it  was  eftsoons  by  us 
replied,  that  for  many  years  she  was  not  touched  for  religion,  nor  should  have 
Deen  now,  but  that  this  proceeding  against  her  was  for  treason,  in  that  she  was 
culpable  of  that  horrible  conspiracj  for  destroying  Her  Majesty's  person  ;  which 
she  again  denied,  adding  further  that  albeit  she  for  herself  forgave  them  that 
were  the  procurers  of  her  death,  yet  she  doubted  not  but  that  God  would  take 
rengeance  thereof.    And  being  charged  with  the  depositions  of  Naue  and  Curie 


APPENDIX,   No.  L!  439 

to  prove  it  against  her,  she  replied,  that  she  accused  nciie,  hut  that  heraafter 
when  she  shall  be  dead,  and  they  remain  alive,  it  shall  be  seen  how  indifferently 
she  had  been  dealt  with,  and  what  measure  had  been  used  U'Ho  ner  ;  and  asked 
whether  it  had  been  heard  before  this,  that  servants  had  been  pitctised  to  accuse 
their  mistress,  and  hereupon  also  required  what  was  become  of  them,  and  where 
they  remained. 

Upon  our  departure  from  her,  for  that  it  seemed  by  the  commission,  that  the 
charge  of  her  was  in  the  disposition  of  us  the  Earls,  we  required  S.  Amias  Paw 
let  and  S.  Drue  Drurie  to  receive  for  that  night  the  charge  which  they  had 
before,  and  to  cause  the  whole  number  of  soldiers  to  watch  that  night,  and  that 
her  folks  should  be  put  up,  and  take  order  that  only  four  of  them  should  be  at 
the  execution,  remaining  aloof  of  and  guarded  with  certain  persons  so  as  they 
should  not  come  near  unto  her,  which  were  Melvil  her  steward,  the  physician, 
surgeon,  and  apothecary. 

Wednesday  morning,  after  that  we  the  Earls  were  repaired  unto  the  castle, 
and  the  Sheriff  had  prepared  all  things  in  the  hall  for  the  execution,  he  was 
commanded  to  go  into  her  chamber,  and  to  bring  her  down  to  the  place  where 
were  present  we  which  have  signed  this  letter,  jMr.  Henry  Talbot,  Esq.,  Sir 
Edward  Montague,  Knt.,  his  son  and  heir  apparent,  and  William  Montague, 
his  brother,  Sir  Richard  Knichtly,  Knt.,  Mr.  Thomas  Brudenell,  Mr.  Beuill,  Mr. 
ilobert  and  John  Wingefield,  Air.  Forrest,  and  Rayner,  Benjamin  Piggot,  Mr. 
i  >ean  of  Peterborough,  and  others. 

At  the  stairfold,  she  paused  to  speak  to  Melvil  in  our  hearing,  which  was  to 
I  his  effect :  "  Melvil,  as  thou  hast  been  an  honest  servant  to  me,  so  I  pray  thee 
continue  to  my  son,  and  commend  me  unto  him.  I  have  not  impugn'd  his 
religion,  nor  the  religion  of  others,  but  wish  him  well.  And  as  1  forgive  all 
that  have  offended  me  in  Scotland,  so  I  would  that  he  should  also  ;  and  beseech 
God,  that  he  would  send  him  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  illuminate  him."  Melvil's 
answer  was,  that  he  would  so  do,  and  at  that  instant  he  would  beseech  God  to 
assist  him  with  his  Spirit.  Then  she  demanded  to  speak  with  her  priest,  which 
was  denied  unto  her,  the  rather  for  that  she  came  with  a  superstitious  pair  of 
beads  and  a  crucifix.  She  then  desired  to  have  her  women  to  help  her,  and 
upon  her  earnest  request,  and  saying  that  when  other  gentlewomen  were  exe- 
cuted, she  had  read  in  chronicles  that  they  had  women  allowed  unto  them,  it 
was  permitted  that  she  should  have  two  named  by  herself,  which  were  Mrs.  Curie 
and  Kennedy.  After  she  came  to  the  scaffold,  first  in  presence  of  them  all,  Her 
Majesty's  commission  was  openly  read  ;  and  afterwards  Mr.  Dean  of  Peter- 
borough, according  to  a  direction  which  he  had  received,  the  night  before,  from 
us  the  Earls,  wou'd  have  made  a  godly  admonition  to  her,  to  repent  and  die 
well  in  the  fear  of  God  and  charity  to  the  world.  But  at  the  first  entry,  r.he 
utterly  refused  it,  saying  that  she  was  a  Catholique,  and  that  it  were  a  folly  to 
move  her  being  so  resolutely  minded,  and  that  our  prayers  would  little  avail 
her.  Whereupon,  to  the  intent  it  might  appear  that  we,  and  the  whole  assem- 
bly, had  a  Christian  desire  to  have  her  die  well,  a  godly  prayer,  conceived  by 
Mr.  Dean,  was  read  and  pronounced  by  us  all.  "  That  it  would  please  Almighty 
God  to  send  her  His  Spirit  and  grace,  and  also,  if  it  were  his  will,  to  pardon  all 
her  offences,  and  of  his  mercy  to  receive  her  into  his  heavenly  and  everlasting 
kingdom,  and  finally  to  bless  Her  Majesty,  and  confound  all  her  enemies  ;" 
whereof  Mr.  Dean,  minding  to  repair  up  shortly,  can  show  your  Lordships  a 
copy. 

This  done,  she  pronounced  a  prayer  upon  her  knees  to  this  effect,  "  to  beseech 
God  to  send  her  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  she  trusted  to  receive  her  salvation 
in  his  blood,  and  of  his  grace  to  be  received  into  his  kingdom,  besought  God  to 
forgive  her  enemies,  as  she  forgave  them  ;  and  to  turn  his  wrath  from  this 
land,  to  bless  the  Queen's  Majestie,  that  she  might  serve  him.  Likewise  to  be 
merciful  to  her  son,  to  have  compassion  of  his  church,  and  altho'  she  was  not 
worthy  to  be  heard,  yet  she  had  a  confidence  in  his  mercy,  and  prayed  all  the 
saints  to  pray  unto  her  Saviour  to  receive  her."  After  this  (turning  towards 
her  servants)  she  desired  them  to  pray  for  her,  that  her  Saviour  would  receive 
her.  Then,  upon  petition  made  by  the  executioners,  she  pardoned  them  ;  and 
said,  that  she  was  glad  that  the  end  of  all  her  sorrows  was  so  near.  Then  she 
disliked  the  vvhinning  and  weeping  of  her  women,  saying  that  thev  rather  ough» 


440  HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 

to  thank  God  for  her  resolution,  and  kissing  them,  willed  them  to  depatt  from 
the  scaffold,  and  farewell.  And  so  resolutely  kneeled  down,  and  having  a  ker- 
shief  banded  about  her  eyes,laid  down  her  neck,  whereupon  the  executioner  pro- 
ceeded. Her  servants  were  incontinently  removed,  and  order  taken  that  none 
should  approach  unto  her  corpse,  but  that  it  should  be  embalmed  by  the  surgeon 
appointed.  And  further  her  crosse,  apparel,  and  other  things  are  retained  here, 
and  not  yielded  unto  the  executioner  for  inconveniences  that  might  follow,  but 
he  is  remitted  to  be  rewarded  by  such  as  sent  him  hither. 

This  hath  been  the  manner  of  our  dealings  in  this  service,  whereof  we  have 
thought  good  to  advertise  Your  Lordships,  as  particularly  a"  we  could,  for  the 
time,  and  further  have  thought  good  to  signify  unto  You  . >rdships  besides, 
that  for  the  avoiding  of  all  sinister  and  slanderous  reports  sat  may  be  raised 
to  the  contrary,  we  have  caused  a  note  thereof  to  be  conceive  J  to  the  same  effect 
iii  writing,  which  we  the  said  Lords  have  subscribed,  with  the  hands  of  such 
other  there  the  knights  and  gentlemen  above  named  that  were  present  at  the 
action.  And  so  beseeching  Almighty  God  long  to  bless  Her  Majesty  with  a 
most  prosperous  reign,  and  to  confound  all  his  and  her  enemies,  we  take  our 
leaves.     From  Fotheringay  Castle,  the  8th  of  February,  1586,  in  hast. 

Your  Lordships  at  commandment. 

N.  B.  This,  as  well  as  several  other  papers  in  this  Appendix,  is  taken  from  a  col 
lection  made  by  Mr.  Crawfurd  of  Drumsoy,  historiographer  to  Queen  Anne 
now  in  the  library  of  the  Faculty  of  Advocates.     Mr.  Crawfurd's  transcriber 
has  omitted  to  mention  the  book  in  the  Cott.  Lib.  where  it  is  to  be  found. 

No.  LII.  (p.  274.) 

The  Objections  against  Mr.  Davison,  in  the  Cause  of  the  late  Scottish  Queen,  must 
concern  Things  done  either,  1.  Before  her  Trial  at  Fotheringay.  2  During 
that  Session.     3.  After  the  same. 

[Cott.  Lib.  Cal.  C.  1.] 

1.  Before  her  trial,  he  neither  is,  nor  can  be  charged  to  have  had  any  hand 
at  all  in  the  cause  of  the  said  Queen,  or  done  any  thing  whatsoever  concerning 
the  same  directly  or  indirectly. 

2.  During  that  session,  he  remained  at  court,  where  the  only  interest  he  had 
therein,  was  as  Her  Majesty's  secretary,  to  receive  the  letters  from  the  commis- 
sioners, impart  them  to  Her  Highness,  and  return  them  her  answers. 

3.  After  the  return  thence,  of  the  said  commissioners,  it  is  well  known  to  all 
her  council, 

1.  That  lie  never  was  at  any  deliberation  or  meeting  whatsoever,  in  parlia- 
ment, or  council,  concerning  the  cause  of  the  said  Queen,  till  the  sending  down 
of  Her  Majesty's  warrant  unto  the  commissioners,  by  the  Lords  and  others  ol 
her  council. 

2.  That  he  was  no  party  in  signing  the  sentence  passed  against  her. 

3.  That  he  never  penned  either  the  proclamation  publishing  the  same,  the 
warrant  after  her  death,  nor  any  other  letter,  or  thing  whatsoever  concerning 
the  same.     And, 

That  the  only  thing  which  can  be  specially  and  truly  imputed  to  him,  is  the 
carrying  up  the  said  warrant  unto  Her  Majesty  to  be  signed.  She  sending  a 
great  counsellor  unto  him,  with  her  pleasure  to  that  end,  and  carrying  it  to  the 
great  seal  of  England,  by  her  own  speciai  direction  and  commandment. 

For  the  better  clearing  of  which  truth,  it  is  evident, 

1.  That  the  letter,  being  penned  by  the  Lord  Treasurer,  was  delivered  by 
him  unto  Mr.  Davison,  with  Her  Majesty's  own  privity,  to  be  ready  for  to  sign, 
when  she  should  be  pleased  to  call  for  it 

2.  That  being  in  his  hands,  he  retained  it  at  the  least  five  or  six  weeks  un- 
presented,  nor  once  offering  to  carry  it  up,  till  she  sent  a  great  counsellor  unto 
him  for  the  same,  and  was  sharply  reproved  therefor  by  a  great  peer,  in  Het 
Majesty's  own  presence. 

3   That  having  signed  it,  she  gave  him  an  express  commandment  to  carry  it 


APPENDIX,   No.  LI  I.  441 

to  the  seal,  and  being  sealed  to  send  it  immediately  away  unto  the  commission- 
ers, according  to  the  direction.  Herself  appointing  the  hall  of  Fotheringay 
for  the  place  of  execution,  misliking  the  court-yard,  in  divers  respects,  and  in 
conclusion  absolutely  forbad  him  to  trouble  her  any  further,  or  let  her  hear 
any  more  hereof,  till  it  was  done.  She,  for  her  part,  having  (as  she  said)  per- 
formed all  that,  in  law  or  reason,  could  be  required  of  her. 

4.  Which  directions  notwithstanding,  he  kept  the  warrant  sealed  all  that 
night,  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  next  day  in  his  hands,  brought  it  back  with 
him  to  the  court,  acquainted  Her  Majesty  withal,  and  finding  Her  Majesty 
resolved  to  proceed  therein,  according  to  her  former  directions,  and  yet  de- 
sirous to  carry  the  matter  so,  as  she  might  throw  the  burthen  from  herself,  he 
absolutely  resolved  to  quit  his  hands  thereof. 

5.  And  hereupon  went  over  unto  the  Lord  Treasurer's  chamber,  together  with 
Mr.  Vice-chamberlain  Hatton,  and  in  his  presence  restored  the  same  into  the 
hands  of  the  said  Lord  Treasurer,  of  whom  he  had  before  received  it,  who 
from  thenceforth  kept  it,  till  himself  and  the  rest  of  the  council  sent  it  away. 

Which,  in  substance  and  truth,  is  all  the  part  and  interest  the  said  Davison 
had  in  this  cause,  whatsoever  is,  or  may  be  pretended  to  the  contrary. 

Touching  the  sending  down  thereof  unto  the  commissioners,  that  it  was  the 
general  act  of  Her  Majesty's  council  (as  is  before  mentioned)  and  not  any  pri- 
vate act  of  his,  may  appear  by, 

1.  Their  own  confession.  2.  Their  own  letters  sent  down  therewith  to  the 
commissioners.  3.  The  testimonies  of  the  Lords  and  others  to  whom  they  were 
directed.  As  also,  4,  of  Mr.  Beale,  by  whom  they  were  sent.  5.  The  tenor  of 
Her  Majesty's  first  commission  for  their  calling  to  the  star-chamber  for  the  same, 
and  private  appearance  and  submission  afterwards  instead  thereof  before  the 
Lord  Chancellor  Bromley.  6.  The  confession  of  Mr.  Attorney-General  in  open 
court  confirmed.  7.  By  the  sentence  itself  upon  Record.  8.  Besides  a  common 
act  of  council,  containing  an  answer  to  be  verbally  delivered  to  the  Scottish 
ambassador  then  remaining  here,  avowing  and  justifying  the  same. 

Now  where  some  suppose  him  to  have  given  some  extraordinary  furtherance 
thereunto,  the  contrary  may  evidently  appear  by, 

1.  His  former  absolute  refusal  to  sign  the  band  of  association,  being  earnestly 
pressed  thereunto  by  Her  Majesty's  self. 

2.  His  excusing  of  himself  from  being  used  as  a  commissioner,  in  the  exami- 
nation of  Babington  and  his  accomplices,  and  avoiding  the  same  by  a  journey 
to  the  Bath. 

3.  His  being  a  mean  to  stay  the  commissioners  from  pronouncing  of  the  sen- 
tence at  Fotheringay,  and  deferring  it  till  they  should  return  to  Her  Majesty's 
presence. 

4.  His  keeping  the  warrant  in  his  hands  six  weeks  unpresented,  without  once 
offering  to  carry  it  up,  till  Her  Majesty  sent  expressly  for  the  same  to  sign. 

5.  His  deferring  to  send  it  away  after  it  was  sealed  unto  the  commissioners, 
as  he  was  specially  commanded,  staying  it  all  that  night,  and  the  greatest  part 
of  the  next  day,  in  his  hands. 

6.  And,  finally,  his  restoring  thereoi  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Treasurer, 
of  whom  he  had  before  received  the  same. 

Which  are  clear  and  evident  proofs,  that  the  said  Davison  aid  nothing  in  this 
cause  whatsoever,  contrary  to  the  duty  of  the  place  he  then  held  in  Her  Ma 
iesty's  service. 

This  seems  to  be  an  original.     On  the  back  is  this  title : 

The  innocency  of  Mr.  Davison  in  the  cause  of  the  late  Scottiah  Queen 


Vol.  HI. — fi6 


442  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND. 

No.  LIII.  (p.  312.) 

Letter  from  &  to  His  Majesty  King  Jama.* 

|From the  original.    Biol.  Fac.  Jur.  Edin.    A.  1.  34.  No.  4.) 

Most  worthy  Prince,  the  depending  dangers  upon  your  affectionates,  }  avt 
been  such,  as  hath  enforced  silence  in  him,  who  is  faithfully  devoted  to  youi 
person,  and  in  due  time  of  trial,  will  undergo  all  hazards  of  fortune  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  just  regal  rights,  that,  by  the  laws  divine,  of  nature  and 
of  nations,  is  invested  in  your  royal  person.  Kail  not  then,  most  noble  and 
renowned  Prince,  from  him  whose  providence  hath  in  many  dangers  preserved 
you,  no  doubt  to  be  an  instrument  of  his  glory,  and  the  good  of  his  people. 
Some  secrets,  I  rind,  have  been  revealed  to  your  prejudice,  which  must  proceed 
from  some  ambitious  violent  spirited  person  near  Your  Majesty  in  council  and 
favour ;  no  man  in  particular  will  I  accuse,  but  I  am  sure  it  hath  no  foundation 
from  any,  with  whom,  for  your  service,  1  have  held  correspondence,  otherwise, 
I  had,  long  since,  been  disabled  from  performance  of  those  duties,  that  the 
thoughts  of  my  heart  endeavoureth  ;  being  only  known  to  this  worthy  noble- 
man bearer  hereof,  one  noted  in  all  parts  of  Christendom  for  his  fidelity  to 
your  person  and  state,  and  to  Mr.  David  Kowlis  your  most  loyal  servant,  my 
first  and  faithful  correspondent ;  and  unto  James  Hudsone,  whom  I  have  found 
in  all  things  that  concern  you  most  secret  and  assured.  It  may,  therefore. 
please  Your  Majesty,  at  the  the  humhle  motion  of  ©,  which  jargon  I  desire  to 
be  the  indorsement  of  your  commands  unto  me,  that,  by  some  token  of  youi 
favour,  he  may  understand  in  what  terms  you  regard  his  fidelity,  secrecy,  and 
service.  My  passionate  affection  to  your  person  (not  as  you  are  a  King,  but 
as  you  are  a  good  King,  and  have  just  title,  after  my  sovereign,  to  be  a  great 
King)  doth  transport  nie  to  presumption.  Condemn  not,  most  noble  Prince, 
the  motives  of  care  and  love,  altho1  mixed  with  defects  in  judgment. 

1.  I,  therefore,  first  beseech  Your  Majesty,  that  for  the  good  of  those  whom 
God,  by  Divine  Providence,  hath  destined  to  your  charge,  that  you  will  be 
pleased  to  have  an  extraordinary  care  of  ail  prarcticers,  or  practices,  against 
your  person  ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  that  in  both  kingdoms,  either  out 
of  ambition,  faction,  or  fear,  there  are  many  that  desire  to  have  their  sovereign 
in  minority,  whereby  the  sovereignty  and  state  might  be  swayed  by  partiality 
of  subalternate  persons,  rather  than  by  true  rule  of  power  and  justice.  Pre- 
serve your  person,  and  fear  not  the  practices  of  man  upon  the  point  of  your 
right,  which  will  be  preserved  and  maintained  against  all  assaults  of  competition 
whatever.  Thus  I  leave  the  protection  of  your  person  and  royal  posterity  to 
the  Almighty  God  of  Heaven,  who  bless  and  preserve  you  and  all  yours,  in  all 
regal  happiness,  to  his  glory. 

2.  Next  to  the  preservation  of  your  person,  is  the  conservation  and  secret 
keeping  of  your  councells,  which,  as  I  have  said,  are  often  betrayed  and  dis- 
covered, either  out  of  pretended  zeal  in  religion,  turbulent  faction,  or  base  con- 
ception, the  which  Your  Majesty  is  to  regard  with  all  circumspection,  as  o 
matter  most  dangerous  to  your  person  and  state,  and  the  only  means  to  ruin 
and  destroy  all  those  that  stand  faithfully  devoted  to  Your  Majesty's  service. 
Some  particulars,  and  persons  of  this  nature,  I  make  no  doubt  have  been  dis- 
covered by  the  endeavours  of  this  nobleman,  the  bearer  hereof,  of  whom  Your 
Majesty  may  be  further  informed. 

3.  The  third  point  considerable  is  that  Your  Majesty  by  all  means  possible, 
secure  yourself  of  the  good  affection  of  the  Krench  King  and  states,  by  the 
negotiation  of  some  faithful  secret  confident ;  the  Krench  naturally  distasting 
the  union  of  the  British  Islands  under  one  monarch.  In  Germany,  I  doubt  not, 
but  you  have  many  allies  and  fri-jnds,  but  by  reason  of  their  remote  state  thev 

•  In  the  former  editions  I  printed  this  as  a  let'er  from  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  but  am  i.aw  satisfied  tha 
I  was  mistaken  in  forming  this  opinion.  Pec  Fir  TV  Palrymple's  Rem.  on  the  Hist,  of  Scot.  p.  233 
As  the  letter  is  curious  I  republish  it,  though  i  ramio!  pretend  to  say  to  which  of  tie  King's  num? 
rous  correspondents  in  England  it  should  in  ascribed 


APPENDIX,   No.  LIU  443 

do  not  so  much  importe   this  affair,  which  must  be  guided  by  a  quick  and 
sudden  motion. 

4.  When  God,  by  whose  providence  the  period  of  all  persons  and  times  is 
determined,  shall  call  to  his  kingdom  of  glory  Her  Majesty  (although  1  do 
assuredly  hope  that  there  will  not  be  any  question  in  competition,  yet  for  that  i 
hold  it  not  fitting  to  give  any  minute  entrance  into  a  cause  of  so  high  a  nature), 
I  do  humbly  beseech  Your  Majesty  to  design  a  secret,  faithful  and  experienced 
confidant  servant  of  yours,  being  of  an  approved  fidelity  and  judgment,  con- 
tinually to  be  here  resident,  whose  negotiation,  it  were  convenient  Your  Majesty 
should  fortifie,  with  such  secret  trust  and  powers,  as  there  may  not  need  14  days 
respite  to  post  for  authority,  in  a  cause  that  cannot  endure  ten  hours  respite, 
v.-ithout  varieties  of  danger.  In  the  which  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  all  such 
as  pretend  least  good  to  your  establishment,  will  not  in  public  oppugn  your  title, 
but  out  of  their  cunning  ambition  will  seek  to  gain  time  by  alledging  their  pre- 
tence of  common  good  to  the  state,  in  propounding  of  good  conditions  for  dis- 
burdening the  common  weale,  of  divers  hard  laws,  heavy  impositions,  corrup- 
tions, oppressions,  &e.  which  is  a  main  point  to  lead  the  popular,  who  are  much 
disgusted  with  many  particulars  of  this  nature.  It  were  therefore  convenient, 
that  these  motives,  out  of  Your  Majesty's  providence  should  be  prevented,  1  y 
your  free  offer  in  these  points  following,  viz. 

1.  That  Your  Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  abolish  purveyors  and  purveyance, 
being  a  matter  infinitely  offensive  to  the  common  people,  and  the  whole  king- 
dom, and  not  profitable  to  the  Prince. 

2.  That  Your  Majesty  would  be  pleased  to  dissolve  the  court  of  wards,  being 
the  ruin  of  all  the  noble  and  ancient  families  of  this  realm,  by  base  matches, 
and  evil  education  of  their  children,  by  which  no  revenue  of  the  crown  will  be 
defrayed. 

3.  The  abrogating  the  multiplicity  of  penal  laws,  generally  repined  against 
by  the  subject,  in  regard  of  their  uncertainty,  by  bein^  many  times  altered 
from  their  true  meaning,  by  variety  of  interpretation. 

4.  That  Your  Majesty  will  be  pleased  to  admit  free  outport  of  the  nativt 
commodities  of  this  kingdom,  now  often  restrained  by  subalternate  persons  for 
private  profit,  being  most  prejudicial  to  the  commerce  of  all  merchants,  and  a 
plain  destruction  to  the  true  industry  and  manufacture  of  all  kingdoms,  and 
against  the  profit  of  the  crown. 

These,  being  by  Your  Majesty's  confidents  in  the  point  of  time  propounded, 
will  assuredly  confirm  unto  Your  Majestie  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  whole 
kingdom,  and  absolutely  prevent  all  insinuations  and  devices  of  designing 
patriots,  that  out  of  pretext  of  common  good  would  seek  to  patronize  them- 
selves in  popular  opinion  and  power,  and  thereby  to  derogate  from  Your  Ma- 
jesty's bounty  and  free  favour  by  princely  merit  of  your  moderation,  judgment, 
and  justice. 

Your  Majesty's  favour,  thus  granted  to  the  s  abject,  will  no  way  impeach  the 
profits  of  the  crown,  but  advance  them.  The  disproportionable  gain  of  some 
chequer  officers,  with  the  base  and  mercenary  profits  of  the  idle  unnecessary 
clerks  and  attendants,  will  only  suffer  some  detriment ;  but  infinite  will  be  the 
good  unto  the  kingdom,  which  will  confirm  unto  Your  Majesty  the  universal 
love  and  affection  of  the  people,  and  establish  your  renown  in  the  highest 
esteem  to  all  posterity. 

The  Lord  preserve  Your  Majestie,  and  make  you  triumphant  over  all  your 
enemies. 

My  care  over  his  person,  whose  letters  pass  in  this  pacquet,  and  will  die  before 
he  leave  to  be  yours,  shall  be  no  less  than  of  mine  own  life,  and  in  like  esteem 
will  I  hold  all  your  faithful  confidents,  notwithstanding  I  will  hold  myself  re- 
served from  being  known  unto  any  of  them,  in  my  particular  devoted  affectiom 
unto  your  Majesty,  only  this  extraordinary  worthy  man,  whose  associate  I  am 
in  his  misfortune,  doth  know  my  heart,  and  we  both  will  pray  for  you,  and  if 
we  live  you  shall  find  us  together. 

I  beseech  Your  Majesty  burn  this  letter,  and  the  others;  for  altho'  it  be  in 
an  unusual  hand,  yet  it  may  be  discovered. 

Your  Ma/  ;i  /'s  ;nosl  devoted,  and  humble  servant, 


INDEX 


TO  THE 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND. 


■idamson.  Archbishop  of  Si.  Andrews,  is  excom- 
municated by  the  synod  of  Fife,  358.  He  ex- 
communicated his  opponents,  ib.  Is  restored 
by  the  general  assembly  upon  conditions,  358, 
359.  His  mean  submission  to  the  general  as- 
sembly, 383. 

Albany,  Alexander,  duke  of,  cabals  with  his  no- 
bles against  his  brother,  K.  James  III.,  38.  Is 
made  prisoner,  bul  escapes  to  France,  ib.  Con- 
cludes a  treaty  with  Edward  IV.  of  England, 
ib.  Procures  assistance  to  invade  Scotland  on 
mean  conditions,  38,  39.  Returns  to  Scotland, 
and  is  restored  to  favour,  39.  Cabals  again, 
but  is  forced  to  tiy  to  France,  ib.  Made  Regent 
during  the  minority  of  K.  .James  V.,  30.  30. 
After  several  unsuccessful  struggles  with  the 
nobility,  he  is  forced  to  retire  to  France,  31. 

Alencon,  Duke  of,  Q.  Elizabeth  long  amuses  the 
court  of  France  by  carrying  on  a  treaty  of 
marriage  with  him,  333. 

Allen,  Cardinal,  published  a  book,  proving  the 
lawfulness  of  killing  excommunicated  Prin- 
ces, 253. 

ilea,  Duke  of,  his  intrigues  in  favour  of  &. 
Mary,  315.  317.  333.  Is  recalled  from  his 
government  of  the  Netherlands,  225. 

Ambassadors,  their  office,  40. 

Andrews,  St.,  the  Archbishop  of,  remarkably 
cured  of  a  dangerous  distemper,  59,  60.  The 
motives  of  his  opposition  to  the  CI.  Regent,  70. 
His  great  influence  on  the  bench  of  Bishops, 
and  weight  in  Parliament,  ib.  Governed  the 
church  with  great  moderation,  71.  Persecutes 
the  Reformers,  ib.  Is  imprisoned  for  celebrat- 
ing mass,  123.  Ruins  ft.  Mary's  affairs  by  his 
imprudent  conduct,  183.  Is  taken  prisoner  in 
Dumbarton  castle,  and  hanged,  211. 

,  St.  the  castle  of,  demolished  by  the 

French,  52. 

,  St.,  the  prior  of,  promotes  a  treaty  be- 
tween lire  Q..  Regent  and  the  Reformers,  76. 
Is  provoked  to  leave  the  court,  77.     Is  one  of1 
the  chief  promoters  of  the   Reformation,  83.  [ 
Some  account  and  character  of  him,  ib.     Art   | 
ful  endeavours  used  to  undermine  him,  ib. 
Presumption  of  his  innocence  of  the  designs 
charged  on  him,  84.    Is  sent  by  the  Convention  < 
to  invite  the  Queen  to  Scotland,  104.     Is  re- 
ceived by  her  with  confidence  and  affection,  i 
105.     Restrains  the  turbulent  spirit  of  the  peo-  I 
pie  againsi  Popery,  110.    Is  sent  to  restrain  the  j 
licentious  practices  of  the  borderers,  113.     Ex-  ' 
ecutes  his  commission  with  vigour  and   pru-  I 
dence,  ib.     A  conspiracy  aeainst  him  discover- 
ed, 116,  117.    Is  created  Earl  of  Mar,  117.    Rt- 
comes  obnoxious  to  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  117, 
118.     See  Mar  and  Murray. 

In/pis,  Gilbert  de  Umfreville,  Earl  of,  was  the 
only  man  who  asserted  the  independence  of  his 
country,  11 
— ,  Douglas  Earl  of,  assumes  the  Regency 


during  the  minority  of  K.  James  V.,  21.  3J.  « 
unable  to  gam  his  affections,  31.  Ib  attainted, 
ami  dies  into  England,  ib.  Obtains  leave  to 
return  into  Scotland,  341.  -Surrenders  hiinscJ! 
to  K.  James  V).,  345.  He  with  several  othets 
seizes  the  castle  of  Stirling  to  oppose  Arran, 
346.  They  are  forced  to  fty  into  England  ar 
the  approach  of  the  King  wnh  an  army,  ib. 
He  is  attainted,  and  his  esrate  forfeited.  -4') 
Is  concerned  in  a  plot  in  favour  of  Spam,  2r<5 
Is  seized,  and  commuted  prisoner  to  the  castle 
of  Edinburgh,  285,  286.  Escapes  and  flies  to 
the  mountains, 286.  Offers  to  submit  to  a  trial, 
387.  Sentence  is  pronounced  against  him,  288 
He  refuses  to  submit,  ib. 

Anjou,  Duke  of,  a  marriage  proposed  between 
liim  and  U-  Elizabeth,  314. 

Anne,  a  Princess  of  Denmark,  married  to  K. 
James  VI.,  282.  Her  arrival  in  Scotland  and 
coronation,  283.  Heads  a  party  that  opposes 
the  Chancellor,  386. 

Jlrchbishvps,  Bishops,  Deans,  and  Chapters,  re 
vived  in  Scotland  during  the  King's  minority, 
320,  221.  This  gives  great  offence  to  many  of 
the  clergy,  221.  '  An  act  of  assembly  against 
these  offices,  338.  Bishops  made  subject  to 
presbyteries  and  assemblies,  358.  A  great 
stroke  given  to  their  authority,  276,277.  None 
of  them  present  at  the  Uueen's  coronation,  383. 

Argyll,  Earl  of,  is  appointed  to  carry  the  crown 
matrimonial  to  the  Dauphin  of  France,  71. 
Uses  his  interest  with  the  Reformers  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  U  Regent,  76,  Leaves  her 
court  in  resentment  of  her  treachery,  77.  Re- 
fuses to  accede  to  a  treaty  with  Murray  the 
Regent,  198.  (s  soon  after  forced  to  submit,  ib. 
Acts  as  Lieutenant  to  the  Queen  after  the  Re- 
gent's murder,  207.  Is  prevailed  on  to  join  the 
King's  party,  213.  Quarrels  with  Athol,  227 
Confederates  with  him  against  Morton,  th. 
Regent  for  their  mutual  defence,  ib.  They  re- 
monstrate againsi.  him  to  the  King,  230.  They 
raise  fences  against  turn,  ib.  Negotiate  a  treaty 
with  him  by  the  mediation  of  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib. 
Is  promoted  to  the  office  of  Chancellor,  231 
The  king's  authority  delegated  to  him  and 
Lord  Forbes  against  the  popish  Lords,  289. 
His  forces  are  defeated  in  an  engagement  with 
them,  290. 

Aristocracy,  predominant  In  Scotland,  109. 

Armada,  Spanish,  preparations  for  it,  273.  It 
is  defeated,  280 

Arran,  Earl,  is  appointed  Regent  during  the  mi 
nority  of  Q.  Mary,  43.  His  character,  44 
Consents  to  the  schemes  of  England,  which  dis 
gusts  the  public,  45.  Becomes  suspicious  of 
the  Earl  of  Lennox,  46.  Is  forced  to  renounce 
the  friendship  with  England,  and  declare  for 
France,  ib.  and  to  persecute  the  Reformers,  47 
Publicly  abjures  the  doctrinesof  the  Reformers, 
ib.    Is  contemned  bv  one  hall,  apd  little  t-u*te<J 


I  IV  D  E  X. 


4*3 


fey  the  other  part  of  tin:  nation,  ib.  Heads  the 
partisans  of  France  and  defenders  of  popery, 
4<j.  Attempts  in  vain  to  seize  the  murderers  of 
Cardinal  Beatoun,  51.  Is  forced  to  make  ;t 
truce  with  the  conspirators,  ii>.  His  eldesi  son 
is  conditionally  excluded  all  right  of  succession, 
52.  His  mean  concession  to  the  court  of 
France,  55.  Gets  the  title  of  Chatelheraull,  ib. 
Is  undermined  by  the  Q.  Dowager,  5CJ.  Propo- 
sals and  arguments  im  his  resignation,  ib.  He 
consents  to  it,  ib.  Retracts  by  the  influence  of 
the  Archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  til),  is  at  last 
prevailed  on,  and  gets  advantageous  terms,  ib. 
See  Chatcllier  aidt. 

irran,  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Chatelherault, 
joins  in  an  association  with  the  Reformers,  82. 
Narrowly  escapes  intended  ruin  at  the  courl  of 
France,  83.  Is  full  of  resentment  againsl  the 
French  on  that  account,  ib.  The  congregation 
solicit  Q.  Elizabeth  to  ma:  ry  him,  101.  His 
great  imprudence  with  regard  to  Q.  Maty,  113. 
Discovers  a  conspiracy  against  the  Queen's 
favourite,  116,  117.  Loses  his  reason,  231.  Is 
imprisoned  by  Morton,  232. 

,  late  Capt.  Stewart,  nets  that  title  and 

estate,  ii.  236.  Is  appointed  to  conduct  Morton 
from  Dumbarton  to  Edinburgh,  ib.  His  in- 
famous marriage  with  the  Countess  of  March, 
237.  His  variance  with  Lennox,  238.  Is  frus- 
trated in  an  attempt  to  rescue  the  King  at  Ruth- 
ven,  240.  Is  confined  prisoner  to  the  castle  of 
Stirling,  241.  Regains  his  liberty  and  the 
King's  regard,  244.  Resumes  his  power  arid 
arrogance,  ib.  Gets  the  Ruthven  conspirators 
declared  guilty  of  high  treason,  24.5.  Is  detest- 
ed asauthorof  a  persecution  against  the  clergy, 
247.  Is  gained  over  to  Q.  Elizabeth's  interest, 
249.  Gels  several  forfeited  estales,  ib.  His 
corruption  and  insolence,  252.  Is  made  chan- 
cellor, and  has  unlimited  power,  ib.  His  ve- 
nality is  exceeded  by  that  of  his  wife,  ib.  His 
monstrous  tyranny  and  oppression,  252,  253. 
His  power  undermined  by  Wotton,  the  English 
envoy,  257.  Is  confined  in  the  castle  of  St. 
Andrews,  but  soon  recovers  favour,  ib.  His 
interest  sinks  much,  257.  Is  stripped  of  his 
honours  and  spoils,  and  reduced  to  his  original 
station,  258. 

Articles,  Lords  of,  their  origin  and  business,  38. 
By  whom  chosen,  ib.  The  subsequent  varia- 
tions and  political  use  made  of  this  institu- 
tion, 39 

Arundel,  Earl  of,  is  appointed  a  commissioner  to 
the  conference  at  Westminster,  194. 

flshby,  ambassador  from  Q.  Elizabeth  to  Scot- 
land, 278.  His  great  promises  to  King  James, 
ib.  His  promises  are  soon  forgot,  280.  He  is 
ashamed  and  withdraws  privately  front  Scot- 
land, ib 

Assassination,  the  frequency  of  it  in  Scotland, 
how  accounted  for,  147.  Several  instances  of 
it  in  France,  ib.  A  sU/p  put  to  it  there  and  in 
Scotland,  148.  Several  great  men  approve  of 
it,  ib.    Prevailed  greatly  afterwards,  283. 

Assembly,  of  the  church  of  Scotland .  the  first  but 
feeble  and  irreaular,  104.  Another  as:  mlifey, 
their  demands  from  the  Convention,  113,  114. 
Two  other  assemblies  in  vain  solicit  an  aug- 
mentation  of  their  revenues,  121.  They  ad- 
dress Q.  Marvin  high  strains  of  complaint,  130. 
An  assembly  proceeds  at  Glasgow,  notwith- 
standing the  King's  interdiction,  239.  Two  as- 
semblies yield  many  of  the  privileges  of  the 
church  to  the  King,  297.  Declare  it  lawful  for 
ministers  to  sit  in  Parliament,  298.  See  Clergy. 

Association,  formed  in  defence  of  Q  Elizabeth 
against  Q.  Mary,  250. 

Athol,  Earl  of.  the  occasion  of  his  quarel  wi'l: 
the  Earl  of  Argyll.  227.  Joins  with  him  in  op- 
posing Morton, the  Regent,  ib.  flies  soon  after 
at  an  entertainment  at  Morton's,  231.  Suspi- 
cions of  Ins  being  ooisoned.  Kb 


Mubignd,  Lord  de,  second  son  of  the  Lorl  Len 
nox,  ai  rives  in  Scotland  from  France,  £32 
Becomes  soon  a  great  favouriteof  King  James, 
ib.  High  mies  ami  posts  bestowed  on  him, 233. 
A'oies  against  him,  Appendix,  iii.  414.  See 
/,■  iiiiiu . 

Austrian  family,  their  origin  and  power, 40,41- 

Babington,  Anthony,  some  account  of  him,  260 

The  rise  of  his  conspiracy  against  Q.  Eliza 
beih,  ib.  Tlie  names  and  scheme  of  operationa 
of  his  associates,  ib.  They  are  betrayed,  seized 
and  executed,  261. 

Bacon.  Sir  Nicholas,  appointed  one  of  the  com 
missioners  to  the  confederates  at  West m in 
ster,  194. 

Baliol,  John,  his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Scotland 
10.  Is  preferred  by  Edward  I.,  ib  Soon  forced 
by  him  to  resign,  11 

Ballard,  a  trafficking  priest,  solicits  an  invasion 
of  England  from  Spain,  260.  Joins  in  a  con- 
spiracy to  murder  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Is  dis- 
covered, and  taken  into  custody,  261,  and  exe- 
cuted, ib. 

Barons,  their  jurisdiction  very  extensive,  15. 
The  difference  between  Ihe  greater  and  lesser, 
whence,  37.  Three  hundred  of  them  remon- 
strate against  the  conduct  of  the  Q.  Dowager. 
66.  The  lesser  admitted  by  their  representa- 
tives in  Parliament,  277.  Petition  of  the  lessei 
Barons  to  Parliament,  Appendix,  358.  See 
Nobles. 

Basilicon  Doron,  a  book  published  by  K.  Jauo-a 
VI.,  strengthens  his  inlerest  in  England,  299. 

Beatoun,  Cardinal,  made  use  of  by  K  James  V 
to  mortify  the  nobles,  33.  His  pretensions  to 
the  regency  on  the  death  of  that  Prince.  13. 
Forges  a  testament  of  the  lale  King,  ib.  His 
views  how  disappointed,  ib.  His  character,  ib. 
Opposes  the  Earl  of  Arran,  Regent,  45.  Excites 
most  of  the  nation  against  the  English,  4ti. 
Seizes  the  young  Queen  and  her  mothe-,  ib. 
Cajoles  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  ib.  Obliges  the 
Regent  to  renounce  England  and  declare  for 
France,  ib.,  and  to  persecute  the  Reformers,  47. 
Engrosses  the  chief  direction  of  affairs,  ib 
His  double  dealing  with  the  Earl  of  Lennox  re- 
senied,  48  Is  murdered,  50.  His  death  fatal 
to  the  Catholics,  ib.  A  vain  attempt  to  revenge 
it,  51.    Scandalous  reports  concerning  him,  64. 

Bedford,  Earl  of,  comes  as  ambassador  from  Q. 
Elizabeth  to  witness  the  baptism  of  James  VI., 
155.  His  instructions,  156.  His  letters  to  Sir 
W.  Cecil,  Appendix,  371.  374.  377. 

Bellenden,  Sir  Lewis,  justice  clerk,  K.James's 
resilient  at  London,  256.  Joins  in  promoting 
' '.  Elizabeth's  interest  in  Scotland, ib.  Is  sent 
with  her  envoy  into  that  country,  ib. 

Black,  Mr.  David,  minister  of  St.  Andrews,  his 
ridiculous  anil  seditious  expressions  in  the  pu! 
pit,  293  Being  supported  by  the  clergy,  he  de 
dines  the  civil  jurisdiction,  293,  294.  Is  en: 
demned  by  the  privy  council.  294.  Is  sentence! 
by  the  King  to  reside  beyond  Spey,  ib. 

Blackadder,  Captain,  and  three  others,  executed 
for  the  murder  of  Darnly,  174. 

Bocthius,  Hector,  bis  History  of  Scotland,  some 
account  of.  8. 

Bolton  Castle,  Queen  Mary  confined  a  prisonei 
there.  188. 

Bonot.  a  foreigner,  made  governor  of  Orkney,  65 

Borderers,  an  attempt  to  restrain  their  licentious 
practice:,  113.     Q.  Mary  visits  them,  152.     A 
scuffle  there, in  which  tlie  English  warden,  &.< 
were  made  piisoners,  226. 

Borthwirk.  Lord,  assists  the  Q.  Regent  in  de 
fending  Leith.  89. 

Botkwell,  James  Hepburn.  Earl  of,  intercepts  a 
sum  of  money  from  England  to  the  Congreg.i 
Hon,  89.  Favours  the  Queen  Regent,  but  re- 
sides at  his  own  house,  ib.  Is  by  the  Far!  r,t 
Murray  summoned  to  a  public  trial,  133     Pro 


446 


INDEX. 


vents  it  by  leaving  the  kingdom,  lb.  A  sentence 
of  outlawry  against  him    prevented   by   the 
Queen,  ib.    Is  permitted  to  return,  137.    Es- 
capes wilh  her  alter  the  murder  of  Rizio,  145. 
Some  account  of  his  former  behaviour,  149. 
Commences  a  favourite  with  the  Queen,  ib. 
She  reconciles  him  to  several  Lords,  with  whom 
he  was  at  variance,  150.     He  increases  in  fa- 
vour with  her,  ib.     Circumstances  concurring 
in  this,  151.    He  is  wounded  in  attempting  to 
seize  one  of  the  borderers,  152.     The  Queen's 
extraordinary  regard  for  him  on  this  occasion, 
ib.     To  securi-  adherents,  he  obtains  a  pardon 
for  Morton  and  his  associates,  157.     Proposes 
i  lie  restoration  of  the  Popish  ecclesiastical  juris- 
iliction,  ib.     His  views  in  this,  15o.     Is  sus- 
p<  <  ed  the  author  of  Dandy's  murder,  160.     Is 
charged  with  it  by  Lennox,  161.     But  still  fa- 
voursd   by  the   Queen,  161,  162.     Appointed 
governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle,  162.     His  trial 
is  hurried  on,  ib.    Remarkable  partiality  in  his 
favour,  ih.     Lennox  accuses  him  openly,  163. 
Comes  to  his  trial  with  a  great  retinue,  ib.     Is 
acquitted  by  a  jury,  ib.     The  trial  universally 
censured,  ib.    Challenges  any  that  would  ao-. 
i  use    him,   164.     Several   acts  of  parliament 
pa.ssed  in  his  favour,  ib.    He  procures  an  act  in 
favour  of  the  Reformation,  165.     Prevails  on 
several  of  the  nobles  to  recommend  him  as  a 
husband  to  the  Queen,  166.    Seizes  the  Queen 
»n  a  journey  from  Stirling,  and  carries  her  to 
Dunbar,  167.     His  view  in  this,  168.    Obtains 
a  pardon  under  the  great  seal,  ib.     Procures  a 
divorce  from  his  wife,  ib.    Carries  the  Queen 
to  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  ib.    Iscreated  Duke 
nl Orkney,  169,  and  married  to  the  Queen,  ib. 
is  not  allowed  the  title  of  King,  ib.    He  watches 
the   Queen  very  closely,  ib.     Endeavours  to 
get  the  Prince  into  his  custody,  ib.    Is  alarmed 
with  an  association  of  the  nobles  against  the 
Queen  and  him,  170.     Carries  the   Queen  to 
the  castle  of  Borthwick,  171.    Raises  forces 
against  the  confederate  lords,  ib.     He  marches 
against  them,  ib.     Proposes  a  single  combat, 
172.     This  how  prevented,  ib.     Takes  his  last 
farewell  of  the  Queen,  and  is  forced  to  fly,  ib. 
Spends  for  a  casket  of  letiers  from  Q.  Mary  to 
bim,  174.    They  are  intercepted  by  the  Earl  of 
Morton,  ib.     His  miserable  fate,  179.     Reflec- 
tions on  his  conduct,  ib.    Copy  of  his  divorce 
from  Lady  Jane  Gordon,  Appendix,  379. 
Hothwell,  Francis  Stewart,  created  Earl  of  Both- 
well,  280.   Is  imprisoned  for  consulting  witches, 
■284.     Escapes  and  attempts  to  break  into  the 
King's  presence,  ib.     Retires  to  the  north,  ib. 
He  and  his  adherents  are  attainted, 285.     Fails 
in  an  attempt  to  seize  the  King,  ib.     Is  taken 
under  protection  of  Q.  Elizabeth,  who  solicits 
for  him,  286.     Seizes  the  King's  person,  287. 
Forces  him  to  dismiss  the  chancellor,  and  his 
other  favourites,  ib.,  and  to  grant  him  a  reinis- 
jion,  ib.    H  is  bold  and  insolent  behaviour  after- 
ward,  ib.    Is  encouraged  by  the  English  ambas- 
sador. 288.     Makes  another  attempt  to  come  at 
she  King.  289.     Is  repulsed,  and  obliged  to  fly 
:  .  the  north  of  England,  ib.    Is  abandoned  by 
O.  Diizabeth,  and  forced  to  fly  into  Spain  and 
Italy.  291.     Remains  in  indigent  obscurity,  and 
•  -  never  after  reconciled  to  the  King,  ib. 

.  Adam,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  performs  the 

erembny  of  marriage  of  Q.  Mary  to  the  Earl 
of  Bothweli,  169. 
fi  ,i\wel  ihaugh      See  Hamilton. 
LoiL.ogr.c,  wrested  by  the  French  outofthe  hands 
oOlie  English,  55.    They  consent  to  restore  it 
and  its  dependencies  to  the  French,  56. 
'Inr.n,  Envoy  from  Q.  Elizabeth,  accuses  Len- 
nox of  disturbing  the  peace,234.     Is  refused  an 
audience,  ib.     Is  sent  to  encourage  the  con- 
spirators   at   Ruthven,  241,  to    inquire  about 
King    James's     correspondence     with     the 
?ope   3tN) 


Boyd,  Lord,  his  ambitious  views  in  the  time  of 
K.  James  III.  frustrated,  20. 

- — ,  is  prevailed  on  to  join  the  King's  party 
against  Q.  Mary,  213.  Joins  the  Ruthven  con- 
spirators, 240. 

Brienne,  Count  de,  comes  an  ambassador  to 
France  to  witness  the  baptism  of  K.  James 
VI.,  155. 

Bruce,  Robert,  his  claim  to  the  crown  of  Scot 
land,  10.  His  grandson  asserts  his  right,  and 
vindicates  the  honour  of  his  country,  11.  He 
attempts  to  reduce  the  power  of  the  nobles,  24 

,  a  priest  employed  by  the  King  of  Spain  to 

seduce  the  Scotch  nobles,  280. 

,  Mr.  Robert,  a  presbyterian   minister,  pei 

forms  the  ceremony  of  the  coronation  of  Is 
James's  Queen,  283. 

,  Edward,  Abbot  of  Kinloss,  acquits  himseli 

with  address  and  reputation  as  ambassador  at 
the  court  of  England,  299. 
,  Mr.  Robert,  a  minister,  his  resolution  in  re- 
fusing to  publish  the  King's  account  of  Gow 
rie's  conspiracy,  308.   Is  deprived  and  banishea 
on  that  account,  ib. 

Buchanan,  George,  his  history  of  Scotland,  some 
account  of,  8.  Remarks  on  his  dialogue  De 
Jure  Regis,  178.  Note.  Alone  accuses  Q 
Mary  of  a  criminal  correspondence  with  Rizic; 
144.  J\Tote.  Approved  of  assassination,  148 
Attends  the  Regent  into  England  when  called 
on  to  accuse  Q.  Mary,  190.  Was  one  of  the 
preceptors  of  K.  James  VI.,  227.  Commended 
for  his  great  genius,  320,  321. 

Burleigh.     See  Cecil. 

Boroughs,  when  first  represented  in  Farlia 
ment,  277. 

Cats,  John,  a  declaration  of  his  in  name  of  Q 
Elizabeth  to  the  Lords  of  Grange,  at  Lething- 
ton,  Appendix,  409. 

Caithness,  Earl  of,  his  protest  at  the  trial  of  Both 
well  for  the  murder  of  Damly,  164. 

Calvin,  the  patron  and  restorer  of  presbyterian 
church  government,  103. 

Camden,  some  mistakes  of  his,  156.  Note. 
167.     Note. 

Canongate,  near  Edinburgh,  a  Parliament  he!d 
there,  212. 

Cardan,  some  account  of  him,  60.  His  remarka- 
ble cure  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  ib. 

Carry.  Sir  George,  sent  ambassador  from  Q 
Elizabeth  to  encourage  the  conspirators  ai 
Ruthven,  241. 

,  Robert,  sent  by  Q.  Elizabeth  to  soothe  K 

James  after  the  death  of  his  mother,  274.     Is 
not  permitted  to  enter  Scotland,  ib.    Was  tb' 
first  that  brought  K.James  intelligence  of  it 
death  of  Q.  Elizabeth,  316. 

Casket  of  letters  from  Q.Mary  to  Bothwell. 
seized  by  the  Earl  of  Morton,  174.  Her  ene- 
mies avail  themselves  much  of  them,  ib. 

Cassils,  Earl  of,  joins  the  King's  party,  213. 

Castiinau,  the  French  ambassador,  is  employed 
to  procure  the  consent  of  his  court  to  Queen 
Mary's  marriage  with  Darnly,  130.  He  en 
deavours  to  make  up  the  differences  between 
the  Queen  and  him.  150.  His  intercession  ox, 
behalf  of  Q.Mary,  254. 

Catherine  of  Medicis,  assumes  the  government 
after  the  death  of  Francis  II.  her  son,  102 
Her  harsh  treatmentof  Q.  Mary,  ib.  Her  views 
in  behaving  more  friendly  to  her.  125.  Bends 
her  whole  endeavours  to  destroy  the  Pro- 
testants, 214.  Her  artful  conduct  with  tha 
view,  ib. 

Cecil,  his  great  capacity  as  a  minister,  96.  106 
Is  employed  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  France 
106.  Overreaches  the  French  ambassador  in 
the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  ib.  A  letter  of  his 
cited  to  show  that  Q.  Elizabeth  had  no  inten 
tion  to  intercept  Q.  Mary  in  her  return  to  Scot 
land,  109    Note.    Is  appointed  a  commissionei 


INDEX. 


447 


lo  the  conference  at  Westminster,  lift.  Is  sent 
bv  Q.  Elizabeth  with  proposals  to  U.  Mary,  -Jir.i. 
Has  an  interview  with  her,  which  excites  Q. 
Elizabeth's  jealousy,  2*25.  Is  treated  harshly 
by  Q.  Elizabeth  for  consenting  to  Q.  Mary's 
death,  '274. 

Cecil,  Sir  Robert,  son  to  the  former,  heads  the 
party  against  Essex,  309.  His  character,  31U. 
Hi*  great  assiduity,  ib.  Enters  into  a  private 
correspondence  with  K.  James,  312. 

"lelibacy  of  the  popish  clergy,  a  chief  engine  of 
their  policy,  63. 

Charles  V.  Emperor,  his  gnat  power,  40.,  and 
unlimited  ambition,  1'.  Is  checked  by  Fran- 
cis I.,  ib. 

,  K.  of  France,  ma/tes  a  league  with  Q. 

Elizabeth,  217. 

Chatellurav.lt,  Duke  of,  that  title  conferred  on 
the  Earl  of  Arran,  Regent  of  Scotland,  55.  His 
right  of  succession  to  the  crown  of  Scotland 
maintained,  68.  Enters  a  protestation  to  save 
his  right,  70.  Joins  the  Reformers  in  endea- 
vouring to  expel  the  French  army,  81.  Joins  in 
association  with  them,  82.  Is  looked  on  as  the 
head  of  the  Congregation,  83.  Ills  pusillanim- 
ity, 88.  Becomes  obnoxious  to  Q.Mary,  113. 
Deprived  of  his  French  pension,  125.  Is  alarmed 
at  the  Earl  of  Lennox's  return  to  Scotland,  128. 
An  accommodation  brought  about  by  the 
Queen's  influence,  ib.  Adheres  to  Murray  in 
opposing  the  Queen's  marriage,  135.  Is  par- 
doned on  his  humble  application,  but  forced  to 
reside  in  France,  138.  His  partisans  grumble 
at  Murray's  being  advanced  to  the  Regency,  180. 
Returns  from  France,  and  heads  the  Queen's 
adherents,  197.  Is  made  her  Lieutenant-gen- 
eral, 198.  His  resolution  wavering,  the  Regent 
commits  him  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh, 198.  Is  set  at  liberty  by  Kirkaldy,  and 
joins  the  Queen's  party,  206.  Is  proclaimed 
traitor  by  Lennox,  the  new  Regent,  208.  Is  re- 
conciled to  Morton  the  Regent,  223.  Articles  of 
a  treaty  between  them,  ib.    His  death,  226. 

.'Jiurth  of  Scotland,  revolutions  in  it  after  the 
union  of  the  crowns,  319,  320.  See  Assembly, 
Clergy. 

Church  Lands  annexed  to  the  crown  by  Parlia- 
ment, 276. 

Clans,  the  institution  and  nature  of,  17. 

Clergy,  Popish,  their  great  riches  and  power,  32. 
62.  Were  made  use  of  by  K.  James  V.  to  sup- 
press the  nobles,  32.  Made  a  considerable  body 
in  Parliament,  62.  Their  great  influence  over 
the  laity,  ib.  They  engrossed  learning,  63,  and 
held  many  of  the  chief  employments,  ib.  Their 
power  increased  by  celibacy,  ib.  They  seized 
the  estates  of  the  intestate,  ib.,  and  tried  all 
matrimonial  and  testamentary  causes,  ib.  Be- 
come obnoxious  to  the  laity,  64.  Their  great 
corruptions,  whence,  ib.  Those  of  Scotland 
particularly  dissolute,  ib.  Their  weak  defence 
of  their  tenets,  ib.  Try  in  vain  to  impose  false 
miracles,  65.  Their  impolitic  conduct  to  the 
Reformers,  72. 

,  Reformed,  try  in  vain  to  recover  the  re- 
venues of  the  church,  104, 105.  Procure  a  de 
molition  of  all  relics  of  popery,  105.  A  new 
regulation  concerning  their  revenues,  114, 115. 
They  are  no  gainers  by  it,  ib.  Their  stipends, 
what  in  those  days,  ib.  Are  offended  at  the 
moderation  of  their  leaders,  124.  Occasion  a 
tumult  among  the  people,  ib.  More  complaints 
of  their  poverty,  157.  Are  jealous  of  Queen 
M  »ry,  ib.  The  small  allowances  appointed  to 
support  them  all,  ib.  Their  application  for 
payment  of  their  stipends,  of  little  effect,  180. 
Fresh  complaints  of  the  deficiency  of  the  funds 
for  their  maintenance,  203.  Are  put  off  with 
fair  words  and  promises,  ib.  Archbishops,  &c. 
introduced  among  them  by  Morton,  220,  221. 
Their  grievances  under  his  administration,  226 
They  approve  of  the  Ruthven  conspirators,  24T 


245.  By  favouring  them  they  provoke  the 
King,  246.  Severe  laws  made  against  them, 
247.  T  -y  of  Edinburgh  lly  into  England,  ib 
As  do  several  others  that  were  most  eminent, 
ib.  More  vigorous  measuresagainst  them,  249 
250.  They  obtain  no  redress  on  the  restoration 
of  the  exiled  lords,258.  Represent  their  griev- 
ances to  Parliament,  275.  A  maintenance 
provided  for  them  by  Parliament,  276.  They 
prevail  to  get  presbyterian  government  estab- 
lished by  law,  285.  Their  zeal  against  the 
popish  lords, 288. 292.  Their  rash  proceedings, 
292.  They  erect  a  standing  council  of  the 
church,  ib.  Vindicate  one  of  their  number  who 
declined  the  civil  jurisdiction,  293,  294.  Theii 
standing  council  ordered  to  leave  Edinburgh 
294.  Thisoccasions  a  violent  tumult  there,  295 
They  use  their  utmost  efforts  lo  spirit  the  peo- 
ple, 295,  296.  Are  deserted,  and  fly  to  England, 
296.  Their  power  greatly  reduced,  ib.  Art 
prevailed  on  to  give  up  many  of  their  privi- 
leges, 297.  Are  restored  to  a  seal  in  Parlia- 
ment, 298.  This  violently  opposed  by  many  oi 
them,  ib.  But  carried  in  their  general  assem- 
bly, ib.  Those  entitled  to  this  privilege  are  laid 
under  many  regulations  and  restrictions,  301. 
They  are  brought  under  great  subjection,  ib. 
The  revolutions  among  them  since  the  union 
of  the  crowns,  320. 

Clinton,  Lord,  appointed  a  commissioner  at  tht 
conference  at  Westminster,  194. 

Cockburn,  of  Ormiston,  receives  a  supply  at 
money  from  the  English  to  the  congregation, 
89.     Is  intercepted,  and  robbed  of  it,  ib. 

Coin  in  Scotland,  some  account  of,  87.  225. 

Commissaries  appointed  to  try  causes  in  place  of 
the  spiritual  court,  100.  They  are  deprived  of 
all  authority,  157. 

Confession  of  faith  by  the  Reformers  consented  to 
by  ParMament,  99. 

Congregation,  the  Protestants  distinguished  by 
that  name.  74.  Their  leaders  enter  into  an  as- 
sociation, ib.  Are  involved  in  difficulties,  88. 
Apply  to  Q  Elizabeth  for  assistance,  ib.  Money 
sent  them  by  her  intercepted,  89.  Make  a  rash 
and  desperate  attempt  on  Leith,  and  are  re 
pulsed,  ib.  Are  no  less  unfortunate  in  a  second 
skirmish,  ib.  Are  quite  dispirited  and  retreat 
to  Stirling,  ib.  Are  joined  by  the  body  of  the 
nobles,  ib.  Their  army  dwindles  away,  90. 
Are  animated  by  Knox,  ib.  They  apply  again 
to  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Their  parties  harass  the 
French,  92.  Assisted  by  a  fleet  from  England, 
93.  Conclude  a  treaty  at  Berwick  with  the  D. 
of  Norfolk,  ib.  The  design  and  substance  of 
this  treaty, ib.  Negotiate  a  peace  with  France. 
97.  Articles  of  the  treaty,  ib.  They  reap  ad 
vantages  from  it,  98      See  Reformation. 

Covenant, national,  framed  in  defenceof  the  King 
and  government,279.  The  nature  and  reason 
ableness  of  it,  ib.    The  proftress  of  it  since,  ib. 

Courtesy  of  Scotland,  what,  69. 

Craig,  a  minister,  boldly  testifies  against  Queen 
Mary's  marriage  with  Bothwell,  169. 

Crawford,  Capt.  of  Jordan  Hill,  surprises  Dum- 
barton Castle,  210, 211.  The  difficulties  of  thai 
enterprise,  211. 

,  Earl  of,  one  of  the  heads  of  the  Spanish 

faction,  278.  280.  Offers  his  service  to  the  King 
of  Spain,  280.  Joins  in  rebellion  against  tht 
Kine.  281.  Is  forced  to  submit  to  him,  ib.,  and 
imprisoned  a  short  time,  ib. 

Crichton.  Regent  during  the  minority  of  K.  Jame* 
11.,  his  barbarous  policy,  26,  27. 

,  a  Jesuit,  a  plot  against  Q-  E  izabeth 

discovered  by  his  means,  250. 

Criminals,  a  remarkable  instanceof  the  difficulty 
of  bringing  them  to  justice,  14. 

Croc,  Du,  the  French  ambassador,  refused  to 
countenance  Q.  Mary's  marriage  with  Both- 
well,  169.  Attempts  in  vain  a  reconciliation 
between  the  Queen  and  the  confederate  lords 


448 


INDEX 


171,  172.     Mediates  a  truce  between  the  King 
and  Queen's  party  in  Scotland,  217. 

Oioieii  Matrimonial  ot' Scotland,  rights conveyed 
by  the  grant  of,  69.  Is  granted  by  Parliament 
to  the  Dauphin  of  France,  70.  Deputies  ap- 
pointed to  carry  it,  but  are  prevented,  71.  Is 
demanded  by  Darnly,  142. 

Cunningham,  Robert,  appears  at   the    trial   of 
Bothwell  in  name  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  163 
Demands  a  delay,  which  is  refused,  ib. 

Curie,  one  of  Q.  Mary's  secretaries,  is  seized, 
and  carried  prisoner  to  London,  262.  Is  pro- 
duced an  evidence  against  her,  205. 

"  'arnly,  Henry  Lord,  thought  of  as  a  husband  to 
ft.  Mary,  126.  His  right  of  succession  consi- 
dered, ib.  Is  permitted  to  visit  the  court  of 
Scotland,  129.  Arrives  there,  and  quickly 
gains  the  Queen's  heart,  129,  130.  His  cha- 
racter, ib.  Disgusts  several  of  the  nobles,  par- 
ticularly Mui  ray,  131.  Cultivates  a  familiarity 
with  David  Rizio,  ib.  Is  despised  on  that  ac- 
count, ib.  Grows  intolerably  insolent  and 
haughty,  134.  Schemes  to  assassinate  Murray, 
135.  A  plot  to  seize  and  send  him  to  England 
prevented  by  the  Queen,  ib.    Evidences  of  this, 

135.  His  marriage  with  the  Queen  celebrated, 

136.  Is  honoured  with  the  titile  of  K.  of 
Scotland,  ib.  Is  implacable  with  respect  to 
the  exiled  nobles,  140.  Loses  the  Queen's  af- 
fection by  his  untoward  behaviour,  142.  De- 
mands the  crown  matrimonial,  ib.  Becomes 
suspicious  of  Rizio's  ill  offices  with  the  Queen, 
143.  His  resolution  to  be  avenged  of  him  en- 
couraged by  the  nobles,  ib.  Articles  agreed  on 
between  them  for  that  purpose,  144.  Heads 
the  conspirators  who  perpetrate  the  murder, 
145.  Confines  the  Queen  after  it  is  committed, 
ib.  Prohibits  the  meeting  of  the  Parliament, 
ib.  Makes  his  escape  with  the  Queen,  ib. 
Her  hatred  to  him  increases,  148,  149.  Is  neg- 
lected by  her,  and  treated  with  little  respect  by 
the  nobles,  150.  Resolves  to  leave  Scoiland, 
151.  His  wayward  and  capricious  behaviour, 
ib.  He  writes  the  reasons  of  his  conduct  to  the 
Queen,  ib.  His  strange  behaviour  at  the  bap- 
tism of  the  Prince,  155.  A  false  reason  alleged 
for  this  confuted,  156.  Retires  to  his  father  at 
Glasgow,  157.  Falls  sick  there,  158.  Conjec- 
tures concerning  his  distemper,  ib.  Is  neglected 
by  the  Queen,  ib.  She  afterwards  visits  and 
expresses  affection  for  him,  159.  He  is  pre- 
vailed on  by  her  to  come  to  Edinburgh,  160. 
Is  lodged  in  a  separate  house,  ib.  He  is  mur- 
dered there,  ib.  His  character,  ib.  A  pro- 
clamation issued  for  discovering  the  murderers, 
160,  161.  A  remiss  inquiry  made  into  it,  161. 
Capt.  Blackadder  and  three  others  executed  on 
that  account,  174.  The  confession  of  Morton, 
the  Regent,  at  his  death,  concerning  the  mur- 
der, 237.  A  dissertation  concerning  his  mur- 
der, 323.  Paper  of  objections  of  the  court  of 
England  against  his  marriage  with  Q.  Mary, 
Appendix,  364. 

David  T.  King  of  Scotland,  his  profusion  to  the 
church.  62. 
-  .  II.  troubles  during  his  minority,  19. 

Davison,  sent  into  Scotland  by  Q.  Elizabeth,  as 
a  spy  on  the  French  ambassador,  242  Is  sent 
to  gain  Arran's  interest  to  Q.Elizabeth, 249. 
This  he  soon  accomplishes,  ib.  Brings  the 
warrant  for  Q.  Mary's  death  at.  Q.  Elizabeth's 
desire,  260.  Is  charged  by  her  with  disobeying 
her  orders,  273,  274.  Is  imprisoned,  tried,  and 
fined,  and  loses  all  favour,  274.  Objections 
agalii9t  him  in  the  cause  of  the  late  Scottish 
Queen,  App.  440. 

Desse,  Mons.  is  sent  with  a  supply  of  forces  to 
assist  the  French  against  the  English  in  Scot- 
land, 55.     His  success  there,  ib. 

Discipline  in  the  church,  the  first  book  of,  com- 
posed,  104.    Why  objected  against  in  a  con- 


vention of  the  states,  .b.  Another  attempt  .n 
favour  of  ci-irch  discipline  frustrated,  99. 
Douglas,  th<  /tower  and  property  of  that  faun 
ly,  20.  They  aspire  to  independency,  ib.  WU 
liam,  Earl  of,  murdered  by  K.  James  II.,  26, 
27.  His  son  endeavours  to  resent  it,  27.  Is 
forced  to  rly  into  England,  ib. 

•,  William,   Q.  Mary  committed  a  pri- 


soner to  his  castle  at  Lochleven,  173. 

-,  George,  brother  to  the  above,  assists  the 


Queen  in  making  her  escape,  181. 

,  Archibald,  one  of  Darnly's  murderers, 

259.  Undergoes  a  mock  trial  for  that  crime, 
and  is  acquitted,  ib.  Is  sent  ambassador  to 
England,  ib.  Letter  from  him  to  the  Q.  of 
Scots,  Appendix,  427.    To  the  King,  432. 

Drury,  Sir  William,  enters  Scotland  with  an 
army  to  support  the  King's  party,  207.  They 
join  him,  and  drive  off  the  Queen's,  ib.  He 
procures  a  truce  between  the  King  and  Queen's 
parties,  217.  Comes  with  forces  to  assist  Mor- 
ton in  besieging  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  224. 
Which  is  forced  to  surrender,  ib. 

-,  Sir  Drue,  is  appointed  one  of  Q.  Mary's 


keepers,  251. 

Dudley,  Lord  Robert,  recommended  by  Q.  Eliza- 
beth as  a  husband  to  Q.  Mary,  125.  Why  a 
favourite  of  Q.  Elizabeth's,  ib.  Is  highly  pro- 
moted by  her,  ib.  His  situation  extremely  deli- 
cate, 126.     Becomes  suspicious  of  Cecil,  ib. 

Dumbarton  Castle  surprised  and  taken  in  the 
King's  name,  by  the  Regent,  210,  211. 

Dury,  a  minister  of  Edinburgh,  banished  from 
his  charge  by  K.  James  for  his  free  invectives 
against  the  courtiers,  239.  After  being  restored, 
he  is  driven  from  it  a  second  time,  for  approv 
ing  the  Raid  of  Ruthven,245. 

Edinburgh,,  is  taken  and  burnt  by  the  English, 
48.  A  great  fray  there  between  the  French 
and  Scots,  57.  Is  seized  by  the  Reformers,  79 
Its  inhabitants  are  terribly  alarmed  by  the 
French,  89.  A  treaty  there  with  the  French 
and  English,  97.  A  loan  demanded  of  it  by  Q. 
Mary,  139.  Which  is  granted  for  the  supe- 
riority of  Leith,  ib.  The  treaty  of,  insisted  on 
by  Queen  Elizabeth,  156.  Is  possessed  by  the 
Queen's  party,  206,  and  fortified  by  them,  212. 
The  city  and  castle  hold  out  against  the  King's 
forces,  216.  Are  reduced  to  great  straits  by 
famine,  217.  Are  relieved  by  a  truce,  ib.  The 
citizens  take  up  arms  to  promote  the  King's 
marriage,  282.  They  rise  again,  and  insult  the 
King  and  his  ministers  on  the  murder  of  the 
Earl  of  Murray,  284.  Assist  the  King  against 
Huntly,  089.  A  violent  tumult  there  on  ac- 
count of  the  clergy,  295.  They  are  severely 
punished  for  it  by  the  King,  296.  Their  minis- 
ters return  to  their  charges,  297.  Divided  into 
parishes,  and  number  of  ministers  increased, 
ib.  They  dprline  punishing  the  account  of 
Gowrie's  conspiracy.  SOS.  All  except  one,  who 
is  banished,  are  D-vsuaded  by  the  King  to  do 
it,  ib. 

Edward  I.  of  England,  destroyed  the  public 
archives  of  Scotland,  8.  Is  made  umpire  be- 
tween Bruce  and  Baliol,  10.  Has  art  to  ac- 
quire the  superiority  of  Scotland.  11.  Ilia 
wars  with  the  Scots  under  Robert  Bruce,  11  £4. 

Ea-linton,  Earl  of,  is  prevailed  on  to  join  the 
King's  party,  213. 

Elizabeth,  her  peaceable  accession  to  the  crown 
of  England,  71.  Supports  the  Congregation  in 
Scotland,  88.  Is  sparing  in  her  supplies,  88, 
89.  Resolves  to  support  them  on  a  second  ap- 
plication, 90, 91.  Her  good  conduct  in  matters 
of  importance,  91.  Motives  that  determined 
her  to  assist  them,  91,  92.  Her  deliberate  and 
resolute  conduct,  93.  Sends  a  strong  fleet  to 
their  assistance,  ib.  Concludes  a  treaty  with 
them,  ib.  Her  right  to  the  crown  of  Englt:.< 
asserted  by  Francis  and  Mary  in  France  97 


I JN  OLA 


44* 


Obtain*  advantageous  terms  for  the  Scots,  97. 
Is  solicited  by  the  Parliament  of  Scotland  to 
marry  the  Karl  of  Arran,  101,  this  she  declines, 
<b.  The  seeds  of  her  discontent  with  U.  Mary, 
105,  106.  Her  jealousy  of  the  succession,  100. 
Her  excessive  vanity,  and  jealousy  of  Mary  s 
oeauty,  10H.  Her  dissimulation  to  her,  ib. 
Kwfuses  her  a  safe-conduct,  ib.  Evidences  thai 
en«  had  no  intention  to  molest  Mary  in  her 
passage  to  Scotland,  109.  Sends  to  congratu 
late  he;  a. rival  in  Scotland,  111.  Refuses  a 
ooncossion  jiade  by  Q.  Mary,  112.  Her  jea 
lousy  of  her  riy . ; t  betrayed  her  into  mean  ac- 
tions, ib.  Her  resemblance  to  Henry  Vll  ,  lb. 
A  persona:  interview  Willi  Q.  Marv  proposed, 
.  Li  'fhe  artfully  declines  it,  ib.  Her  vv-ws 
In  regard  to  U..  Mary's  marriage,  122  Assumes 
a  disagreeable  authority,  ib.  Names  one  tor  a 
husband  to  u  Mary,  125.  The  different  quan- 
tisations tor  her  ministers  and  favourites,  1-25. 
Dissembles  with  Q.  Mary  about  her  marriage, 
li'i,  and  likewise  with  regard  to  L.  Darnly, 
1-27.  Affronts  Q.  Mary  by  her  insinuation  con- 
cerning Lennox,  lb.  Is  perplexed  about  the 
marriage  of  the  Scottish  Queen,  129.  Permits 
Darnly  to  visit  the  Court  of  Scotland,  ib.  Af- 
fects to  declare  against  Q.  Mary's  marriage  to 
nun,  132.  Her  reasons  for  this  conduct,  ib. 
Her  great  dissimulation  in  that  affair,  134. 
Her  harsh  and  deceitful  behaviour  to  Murray 
and  his  associates,  who  had  fled  to  her,  138 
Is  struck  at  hearing  of  the  birth  of  James  VI., 
150.  Consents  to  stand  godmother  to  him,  ib. 
The  Parliament  address  her  to  settle  the  suc- 
cession, 153.  This  greatly  embarrasses  her, 
ib.  She  sooths  and  gains  her  Parliament,  154. 
Endeavours  to  accommodate  her  differences 
with  Mary,  15(i.  Writes  to  her  to  delay  the 
trial  of  D? rnly's  murderers,  163.  Interposes  in 
her  behalf  when  a  prisoner,  174,  175.  Her  am- 
bassador is  refused  access  to  Q.  Mary,  175. 
Sue  offers  assistance  to  the  other  nobles,  ib. 
Her  deliberations  concerning  the  disposal  of 
Q.  Mary  on  her  arrival  in  England,  184,  185. 
tii-solves  to  detain  her  there,  185.  Her  motives 
Tor  this  conduct,  ib.  Sends  her  letters  of  con- 
dolence, and  gives  orders  to  watch  her  con- 
duct, ib  She  gladly  accepts  the  office  of  um- 
pire between  her  and  her  subjects,  186.  Re- 
ceives a  very  pressing  letter  from  Q.  Mary,  187. 
Her  precautions  against  her,  188.  Appoints 
commissioners  to  hear  Q.  Mary  and  her  ac- 
cusers, 190.  Her  important  situation  on  that 
occasion,  ib.  Her  views  in  this  affair,  ib.  Re- 
ceives the  Regent's  demands,  192.  Removes 
the  conference  to  Westminster,  193.  Her  mean 
-ounces  to  get  the  evidence  of  Q.  Mary's  guilt 
'roin  the  Regent,  196.  Treats  her  with  great 
rigour,  ib.  Writes  a  harsh  letter  to  Q.  Mary, 
ib.  She  dismisses  the  Regent  without  approv- 
mg  or  condemning  him,  197.  But  secretly  sup- 
ports  his  party,  ib.    Makes  proposals  to  the  Re-  ; 

ill  in  .Mary's  favour.  198.     Norfolk  s  project 
concealed  from   her,  200.     Discovers  and  de- 
fi  its  a  rebellion  in  Q.  Mary's  favour,  202,  203.  | 
Resolves  to  deliver  her  up  to  the  Regent,  203. 
Her  great  concern  at  his  death,  205.   Continues 
to  encourage  factions  in   Scotland,  205,  206.  | 
I  It-r  political  conduct  with  regard  to  Lennox,  j 
307,  208.     Is  excommunicated  and  deprived  of 
her  kingdom,  &c.  by  the  Pope,  208.     Supports 
the  King's  party  in  Scotland,  and  names  Len- 
nox to  be   Regent,  208.     Proposes  a  treaty  of 
accommodation  between  Q.  Mary  an*1  her  sub- 
jects, 203,  209.     Procures  a  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties, 208.     Sends   proposals  to  a.  Mary,  209. 
Her  artifices  in  the  conduct  of  this  affair,  ib 
Vppoints  commissioners  to  frame  a  treaty,  ib.  I 
"i:nls  a  pretence  to  render  their  meeting  fruit- 
less, 210.     A  marriage  proposed  between  her 
and  the  Duke  of  Anjou,214.     Declares  openly 
against  the  Queen's  partv.216.    Concludes  a 
Vol.  II.— 57 


treaty  witli  France,  217.  Her  motiv.s  for  ne 
golialing  a  peace  between  me  two  panic-  u 
Scotland,  222.  Is  jealous  of  Cecil's  mien  u\\ 
with  Q.  Alary,  225.  Negotiates  a  treaty  b 
tween  Morion  and  his  adversaries,  230.  Hej 
answer  10  K.  James's  demand  of  a  possi  bsi  m 
of  an  estate  in  England,  231.  A  marriage  i.r 
tween  her  and  the  D  of  Aleugon  proposed,  232 
Interposes  m  behalf  of  Morton,  2.(5.  Her  mer» 
sures  in  o.dei  to  save  him,  235,  236.  Couiile 
nances  the  conspirators  ai  Ruthven,  241.  i.- 
alarined  at  a  conspiracy  against  her,  248.  Tin 
designs  of  U.  Mary's  adtiereuts  a.ainst  her,  ib 
Endeavouis  to  recover  her  interest  in  Scotland 
and  gains  Arran  to  her  interest,  24'J  Amuses 
U.  Mary  with  a  fruitless  negotiation,  250.  A 
new  conspiracy  against  her,  ib.  An  associa 
tion  formed  for  her  defence,  ib.  Her  suspicions 
of  U..  Mary,  251.  Her  life  endangered  by  t 
conspiracy,  253.  This  how  discovered  and 
prevented,  ib.  Occasions  an  extraordinary 
statute  for  her  preservation,  ib.  Is  in  a  dan 
gerous  situation  from  the  progress  of  the  Hoiy 
League,  iioti.  Endeavours  to  form  a  coufedei a 
cy  of  the  Protestant  Princes,  ib.,  and  to  pro 
ceed  with  rigour  against  Q.  Mary,  ib.  \  i 
vances  her  interest  in  Scotland,  and  proposes  s 
league  with  it,  ib.  Settles  a  pension  upon  K. 
James,  ib.  Concludes  a  treaty  with  Scot 
land,  259.  Account  of  Babington's  conspiracy 
against  her,  260,  261.  Her  dissimulation  after 
Q.  Mary's  conviction,  267.  Her  answer  to  K. 
James's  intercession  for  her,  269.  Her  further 
dissimulation  and  anxiety,  ib.  Signs  the  war- 
rant for  her  execution,  270.  Her  speech  to 
Davison  on  that  occasion,  ib  Affects  to  la 
inent  Q.  Mary's  death,  273.  Several  marks  ot 
her  artifice  in  that  affair,  273,  274.  She  en- 
deavours to  sooth  K.  James,  274.  Provoca- 
tions given  by  her  to  Spain,  278.  Prepares  to 
meet  its  resentment,  ib.  Endeavours  to  secure 
Scotland,  ib.  Tries  to  prevent  K.  James's 
marriage,  282.  Solicits  him  to  treat  conspira- 
tors against  him  witn  rigour,  286.  Evades  the 
decision  of  K.  James's  right  of  succession  to 
the  crown  of  England,  299.  Is  disgusted  at 
several  of  his  proceedings,  ib.  Discovers  his 
correspondence  with  the  Pope,  300.  Fresh 
grounds  of  her  suspicion,  307.  Her  conduct 
with  regard  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  310.  Her 
irresolution  concerning  his  death,  311,  and 
great  concern  after  it,  312.  Receives  ambas- 
sadors from  K.  James  with  regard,  and  in- 
creases hit  subsidy,  ib.  Her  last  illness,  313. 
Conjectures  concerning  the  causes  of  her  me- 
lancholy, 314  Her  death,  315,  and  character, 
ib.  Declared  the  King  of  Scots  her  successor. 
316.  Some  of  her  letters,  Appendix,  360.  372. 
378.  382.  389,  390.  397.  399.  407. 

Elphinston,  secretary  to  K.  James  VI.,  deceive* 
him  into  a  correspondence  from  the  Pope,  300. 
Is  tried,  and  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  ib., 
and  pardoned  on  the  Queen's  intercession,  ib. 

England,  the  English  seize  and  detain  K.  James 
I.  of  Scotland  long  a  prisoner,  20.  The  nobles 
lhere  humbled,  21.  Had  early  two  houses  of 
Parliament,  37.  They  invade  Scotland,  48 
Their  depredations  there,  ib  A  peace  between 
England,  France,  and  Scotland,  50.  Invade 
Scotland  again,  53  Gain  a  great  victory,  ib. 
It  proves  of  little  advantage  to  them,  54.  They 
force  the  Scots  into  a  closer  union  with  France, 
ib.  Conclude  a  peace,  56.  An  English  fleet 
arrives  in  Scotland  to  assist  the  Congregation, 
93.  A  peace  concluded  between  them,  ib. 
They  enter  Scotland  and  besiege  the  French  ib 
Leith,  94.  Are  several  times  repulsed,  ib 
Causes  of  their  bad  success,  95.  Articles  of  a 
treaty  of  peace,  96,97.  They  quit  Scotland, 98. 
Reflections  on  the  right  of  succession  to  thei* 
crown,  106, 107.  The  Parliament  favours  Q 
Mary's  richt  of  succession,  153.     A  league  b» 


450 


INDEX. 


iween  England  and  France,  217  Between 
England  and  Scotland,  259.  The  national 
covenant  adopt,  d  in  England,  2711. 

Vntaits,  with  what  view  introduced,  J5. 

Episcopal  government  in  the  church,  some  ac- 
count of  it,  102,  103.  Au  attempt  to  revive 
it  220.  It  is  abolished  by  the  assembly,  238. 
Jurisdiction  abolished,  585.     See  Archbishops. 

Errol,  Kail  ol,  one  of  the  heads  of  tile  Spanish 
faction,  278.  His  utfers  of  service  to  the  K.  of 
Spain, 2bii.  Appears  in  rebellion, 281.  Isforced 
to  suunul  to  tlif  King,  ib.  lmpusoned  for  a 
short  lime,  ib.     Joins  ill  another  conspiracy, 

285.  Is  summoned  by  the  King  to  surrender, 

286.  Offers  to  submit  to  a  trial,  287.    Sentence  ; 
proit^'inred  against  him,  288. 

Trskine  ol  Dun,  is  employed  by  the  Queen  Re 
gent  to  deceive  tht  Protestants,  75.  His  resent- 
ment of  this  usage,  ib. 

,   Lord,  governor  of  Edinburgh  Castle, 

acts  a  neutral  part  between  the  Queen  Kege.it 
and  the  Congregation,  'JO.  Receives  the  Queen 
Regent  into  the  castle,  94.  Is  created  Earl  of 
Mar,  119.    See  Mar. 

,  Alexander,  has  the  chief  direction  of  the 

education  of  K.  James  VI., 227.  Admits  some 
of  the  nobles  to  make  complaints  to  hiin  against 
Morton  the  Regent,  228.  Is  turned  out  of 
Stirling  Castle  by  his  nephew  the  Earl  of 
Mar,  229. 

Esncval,  the  French  envoy,  endeavours  to  ob- 
struct a  treaty  between  England  and  Scot- 
and,  259 

Essex,  Earl  of  set  up  by  the  English  Papists  as 
a  candidate/or  the  crown,  290.  Heads  a  party 
in  England,  309.  His  character,  ib.  Is  greatly 
distinguished  by  the  Queen,  ib.  Favours  the 
King  of  Scots,  310.  Obtains  the  offices  of  Lord 
Lieutenant  and  Commander  in  Chief  in  Ire- 
land, ib.  Is  unsuccessful  in  that  expedition,  ib. 
Receives  a  harsh  letter  from  the  Queen,  ib. 
Returns  to  England,  and  is  confined,  ib.  Is 
tried  and  censured,  ib.  Endeavours  to  spirit 
up  K.  James,  ib.  His  rash  and  frantic  conduct, 
311.  Is  again  taken  into  custody,  ib.  His 
death,  ib.  His  son  and  associates  are  restored 
to  their  honours  after  the  accession  of  King 
James,  312. 

Europe,  the  state  of,  at  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  39. 

Excommunication, a  terrible  engine  of  the  Popish 
clergy,  1)3. 

Fclton.  an  Englishman,  fixes  the  Pope's  excom- 
munication of  Q.  Elizabeth  on  the  gates  of  the 
Bishop  of  London's  palace,  208. 

Fenelon,  M  de  la  Molte,  sent  by  the  French  king 
to  interpose  for  K.  James,  when  confined  by 
the  Ruthven  conspirators,  242.  Is  forced  to 
return  without  success,  243. 

Feudal  government,  its  origin  and  aristocratical 
genius,  12,  13.  Causes  which  limited  the  power 
of  feudal  monarchs,  13.  Feudal  vassals  liable 
to  few  taxes,  ib.  A  remarkable  instance  of  trie  | 
feebleness  of  feudal  government,  14.  The  | 
most  perfect  idea  of  the  feudal  system,  how  at- 
tained, 23.  State  of  it  in  England,  42.,  and  in 
Scotland,  36.  41. 

Fife,  a  populous  and  powetful  county,  much  de- 
voted to  the  Congregation,  92.  Is  destioyed 
and  plundered  by  the  French,  ib.  The  synod 
of,  excommunicates  the  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrew's  for  contumacy,  258.  They  excom- 
municate the  Popish  lords,  287. 

Flowden,  the  battle  of,  30. 

Forbes,  Lord,  with  the  Earl  of  Argyll,  is  sent 
against  the  Popish  lords,  289.  Are  defeated  by 
them.  290. 

Fordun,  John  de,  his  history  of  Scotland,  when 
wrote,  8. 

Forrester,  Sir  John,  warden  of  the  English 
l»>rder,«»outlle  between  him  and  the  Scots,  226. 


Fothermgay  Castle,  Q.  Mary  s  imprisonment 
trial,  and  death  there,  262.  272. 

France,  the  consequences  of  the  subversion  of  tin 
feudal  government  there,  39,  40.  A  body  oi 
French  arrive  in  Scotland  to  support  the  Catho- 
lics, 52.  They  reduce  the  castle  of  St.  An 
drew's,  ib.  Another  party  of  them  arrive  there, 
55.  Their  transactions  there,  ib.  Conclude 
a  peace  with  England,  56.  Their  polite  con 
duct,  ib.  They  leave  Scotland,  ib.  Their  artl 
rices  in  a  treaty  of  marriage  between  the  Dtp 
piiin  and  the  Queen  of  Scots,  68.  The  Pro- 
testants endeavour  to  expel  the  French  army 
out  of  Scoilaad,  81.  Another  party  of  then; 
arrive  there,  and  fortify  Leith,  84.  They  ex 
asperate  the  people  by  their  insolence,  ib 
They  are  sent  against  the  Congregation,  92 
They  destroy  and  plunder  File,  and  are  much 
harassed  by  parties  of  the  Congregation,  ib 
Are  greatly  alarmed  by  the  arrival  of  the  Eng- 
lish fleet,  93.  They  return  to  Leith  greatly 
harassed  and  exhausted,  ib.  Are  besieged  there 
by  the  English  and  the  Congregation,  94  They 
gain  several  advantages,  ib.  Their  motives 
for  concluding  a  peace,  96.  Negotiations  for 
that  purpose,  ib.  Articles  of  the  treaty,  97. 
They  leave  Scotland,  98.  The  French  advise 
Q.  Mary  to  moderate  measures,  105.  Then 
proposals  by  an  ambassador  rejected,  ib.  The  i 
agree  to  Q.  Mary's  marriage  with  Lord  Dandy 
130.    The  licentiousness  of  their  morals,  159. 

,  King  of,  a  copy  of  his  directions  sent  to 

Scotland,  Appendix,  415. 

Francis  I.  gives  a  check  to  the  ambitious  projects 
of  Charles  V.,  41.  His  fidelity  to  the  Scots,  50 
His  death,  52. 

II.  comes  to  the  crown  of  France,  82.    His 


character,  ib.  He  treats  the  Protestants  with 
great  rigour,  96.  Is  guided  by  the  Duke  o'. 
Guise  and  Cardinal  of  Lorrain,  82.  Hit 
death,  101. 

Gifford,  Doctor,  and  Gilbert,  their  notion  con 
corning  the  lawfulneas  of  killing  heretical  ex- 
communicated princes,  260.  They  join  in  o 
conspiracy  to  kill  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Gilbert 
being  gained  by  Walsingham,  betrays  his  asso- 
ciales,  261.  Is  employed  to  carry  on  a  foreign 
correspondence  with  Q.  Mary,  261. 

Glamis,  Lady,  is  condemned  to  be  burnt  for 
witchcraft,  33. 

Lord  Chancellor,  intimates  the  King's 


order  to  Morton  to  surrender  the  regency,  228 
Is  killed  in  a  rencounter  at  Stirling,  229. 

,  the  tutor  of,  joins  the  conspirators  o 

Ruthven,  240  Hi*  bold  speech  to  K.  James, 
ib.  He 'with  the  other  consptratnrs  seize  the 
castle  of  Stirling,  and  erect  their  standard,  246 
He  is  attainted,  and  his  estate  forfeited,  249. 

Glasgow,  Bishop  of,  a  note  of  his  concerning  the 
CJueen  of  Scotland's  dowry,  Appendix,  411. 

Glrntnirn,  Earl  of,  joins  the  Ruthven  conspira 
mi  s,  240. 

Glcnlx-nat,  the  battle  of,  290. 

Gordon,  Sir  John,  a  scuffle  in  the  streets  of  Kdin 
burgh  between  him  and  Lord  Ogilvy,  118 
Being  confined  for  it,  he  makes  his  escape,  ib. 
When  ordered  by  the  Queen  to  surrender  him- 
self, he  takes  up  arms  against  her,  lb  Is  de- 
feated, and,  together  with  his  brother,  made 
prisoner,  120.  He  is  beheaded,  and  his  brother 
pardoned,  ib. 

,  Lord,  set  at  liberty,  137 

,Sir  Adam,  exerts  himself  for  the  Queen  t 

interest  in  the  North,  316.  His  character  ami 
good  conduct  as  a  soldier,  217. 

Gowrie,  Earl  of,  joins  in  a  conspiracy  to  seizt 
the  King  at  Ruiliven,  240.  Is  visited  and  par 
doued  by  the  King  after  his  escape,  244.  M« 
comes  suspected,  and  is  ordered  for  France 
246.  Delays  his  voyage,  and  is  taken  into  cus 
tody,  ib.    He  i»  tried  and  executed,  347. 


INDEX 


45  J 


Uomrie,  .lo/in  and  Alexandei,  sons  i»f  ilif  above, 
their  character  and  conspiracy,  301.  The  sur- 
prising circumstances  id"  that  remarkable  trans- 
action, 302,  303.  Several  different  conjectures 
concerning  it,  304— :it>7.  Theii  dead  b  xlies 
brought  into  Pdrliament,  and  condemned,  B08. 
1 'heir  estates  and  honours  forfeited,  and  name 
abolished  for  ever,  ib.  Different  accounts  of 
this  affair  published,  but  not  satisfactory,  303, 
309.     See  Hut/wen. 

•  iraham,  Sir  David,  oi  Fintray, accused  of  a  con- 
spiracy with  the  Popish  lords  in  favour  of 
Spain,  -285.    Is  convicted  and  beheaded,  386. 

i  iray,  Master  of,  some  account  of  hint;  251.  He 
becomes  a  favourite  of  K  Jamep  VI.,  ib.  Is 
gained  to  Q.  Elizabeth's  interest,  252.  Betrays 
ii.  Mary,  ib.  Persuades  K.  Jamet  to  write  a 
iiarsh  and  uudutifnl  letter  to  her, 254.  Joins 
with  others  in  promoting  Q.  E'lzr  beth's  inter- 
est in  Scotland,  250.  His  treacbiry  when  sent 
to  intercede  for  &.  Mary,  200  His  baseness 
discovered,  he  is  disgraced,  275  His  vain  at- 
roinpt  against  Secretary  Maitland,  ib.  Acts  in 
Italy  as  a  spy  from  the  coart  of  England,  209, 
300.  A  memorial  of  hip  for  His  Majesty, 
Appendix,  433 — 435.  To  the  Secretary  of 
Si  ale,  435. 

■ .  nisi ,  Duke  of,  his  violent  counsels  with  regard 
in  the  Scots,  81.  Is  murdered  a;  the  sietje  of 
Orleans,  122. 

,  liis  intrigues  against  Q.  Elizabeth,  248.  Is 

principal  promotet  of  t!ie  Holy  League,  255 
278.  Drives  the  French  King  out  of  his  capi- 
tal, 2'3. 

;{  dH'.gtoun,  seized  and  fortified  by  the  English, 
~  t.    Is  recovered  by  the  French,  55. 

"ani'ion,  the  rise  of  that  family,  21).  Arbitrary 
proceedings  of  Morton  the  Regent  against  it, 
231.     See  Chutclherault. 

,   of   Bothwelhaugh,   taken    prisoner 

at  the  battle  of  Langside,  188.  Is  tried  and  con- 
demned for  rebellion,  ib.  Obtains  a  pardon 
from  Murray,  the  Regent,  by  the  intercession 
of  Knox,  ib.  An  account  of  his  murdering 
.Murray,  204.  Makes  his  escape,  ib.  Is  re- 
ceived in  triumph  at  Hamilton,  205. 

— ,  Mr.  Patrick,  the  first  who   sutfered 

in  Scotland  for  the  Protestant  religion,  71. 

Ha/ton,  vice  chamberlain  of  England,  the  ariru 
inent  by  which  he  prevailed  on  Q.  Mary  to 
plead  at  her  trial,  264. 

Henry  II.  of  France,  sends  forces  to  assist  the 
Scots,  52.  A  marriage  proposed  between  his 
son  the  Dauphin  and  the  young  Q.  of  Scots,  55. 
Excites  the  Scots  to  invade  England,  66.  His 
Infamous  imposition  on  Gl.  Mary  in  the  treaty 
of  marriage,  68.  Persuades  his  son  and  Queen 
Mary  to  assume  the  titles  of  K.  and  Q.  of  Ens- 
land,  73.    His  death,  SI. 

— —  III. degenerates  greatly  on  his  accession  to 
the  crown  of  France,  255.  Enters  into  a  pri- 
vate negotiation  with  QL.  Elizabeth,  256.  In- 
terposes feebly  in  behalf  of  Q.  Mary.  267. 

Vlll.of  England,  by  his  system  of  reforma- 
tion becomes  formidable  both  to  Papists  and 
Protestants,  33.  Proposes  an  interview  with 
K.James  V.,  ib.  Is  disappointed  by  him,  and 
declares  war  against  Scotland,  34.  Invades  it, 
but  is  forced  to  retreat,  ib.  His  importance  as 
to  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe,  41.  His  in- 
fluence in  Scotland  how  obtained,  42.  His 
schemes  with  regard  to  iton  the  death  of  James 
V.,  44.  Were  ill  conducted  by  himself,  and 
odious  to  the  Scots,  ib.  His  treacherous  seizure 
of  Scots'  ships  that  took  shelter  in  his  ports,  45. 
Attempts  to  gain  the  Regency  by  meat  pro 
tuises,  46.  Invades  Scotland,  48.  This  hem;.' 
ill  conducted,  turns  to  no  account,  ib.  Receive- 
aad  rewards  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  4.).  Eu- 
courasec  the  murderers  of  Cardinal  Beatoun, 
51.    His  deaih  and  character,  52.     His  in- 


consistent conduct,  ?d.     Excluded  the  Scotch 
line  by  ins  testament,  ib. 

Hetties,   Lord,  joins  Chatelherault  in  opposing 
the  Regent,  108.    Comes  to  a  treaty  with  him, 
ib.    lie  id  tiie  Duke  are  committed  prisoner* 
to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  ib.     Intimates  the 
King's  order  to  Morton  to  resign  the  Regency, 
22-f     Account  of  his  behaviour  in  Parliament. 
Appendix,  391.     A  letter   from   liim   to   Lord 
Scroop  and  Sir  F.  Knollys,  304. 
j  Hertford,  Earl  of,  invades  Scotland  with  an  Eng 
lish  army,  48.     Instructions  of  the  privy  conn 
cilto,  49.    Burns  Edinburgh  and  Leith,  48    i> 
made  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  Protector  of  Eu 
land,  53.     See  Somerset. 
\  Hicleford,  secretary  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  bi 
trays  him  by  discovering  his  intrigues  with  U 
Mary,  215. 

Highlands  and  Isles,  an  attempt  to  civilize  them 
by  K.  James  VI.,  3i:i.  Regulations  for  that 
pin  pose,  ib.  Three  towns  endued  with  the  pri 
vileges  of  royal  boroughs  ordered  to  be  built 
there,  ib. 

Hodgson,  a  priest  of  Rheims,  maintained  the 
lawfulness  of  killing  heretical  excommuni 
cated  Princes,  260. 

Home,  Alexander,  Lord,  thwarts  the  measures  o. 
the  Duke  of  Albany,  Renent,  20. 

,  Lord,  sent  by  K.  James  VI.  with  a  secret 

embassy  to  the  Pope,  300. 

Hotoard.     See  Norfolk. 

Hunsdon,  Lord,  governor  of  Berwick,  his  inter- 
view with  Arran,  240. 

liuntly,  Earl,  though  a  Catholic,  joins  the  Re- 
formers in  opposing  the  French  army,  81.  As- 
sists them  only  with  fair  promises,  B0.  His 
further  concurrence  with  them,  95.  Some  ac- 
count of  that  family,  117.  His  enmity  agiinsl 
the  young  Queen's  ministers,  ib.  His  resent- 
ment inflamed  by  an  accident.  1)8  His  plot 
against  her  ministers  disappointed,  ib.  Breaks 
out  into  open  rebellion,  ib.  Is  trodden  to  death 
in  a  battle,  120.  His  family  prosecuted  with 
the  utmost  rigour,  ib.  Several  anecdotes  and 
conjectures  concerning  his  plot,  ib.  Is  at- 
tainted by  Parliament,  123.  The  attainder 
repealed,  and  the  family  restored  to  estate  and 
honours,  164. 

-,  his  attachment  to  Bothwell.  Ib2.  166. 

Refuses  to  submit  to  the  Regent,  19*  Is  forced 
to  do  it,  ib.  Acts  as  lieutenant  to  the  Queen 
after  the  Regent's  murder,  207.  Is  proclaimed 
a  traitor  by  Lennox,  the  new  Rep°nt,  208.  Re- 
ceives some  money  and  promise  of  assistance 
from  Spain,  ib.  Agrees  to  a  treaty  with  Mor- 
ton the  Regent,  223.  Is  or.e  of  the  heado  of  the 
Spanish  faction,  278.  Engages  to  th<;  Prince 
of  Parma  to  serve  the  King  of  .-*pa;ii,  280.  Ig 
imprisoned  for  a  short  time,  981.  Erect*  a 
standard  of  rebellion,  ib.  Bo:  forced  to  sub- 
mit to  the  King,  ib.  Is  again  imprisoned.  > 
Is  soon  set.  at  liberty,  ib.  Receives  a  romn  is 
sion  from  the  King,  28}.  Mi«  barbarous  n  ei- 
der of  the  Earl  of  Mu'ray,  ib.  fs  summoned 
to  surrender  to  justice.  2>-K  f'iies  to  the  moun- 
tains, ib.  Offers  to  submit  to  trial,  287.  Sen 
tence  pronounced  agah-t  him,  288.  Refuses  tr 
submit,  ib.  Makes  another  desperate  attempt, 
but  is  forced  to  fly,  289,  290. 

Inverness  Castle  refuses  to  surrender  to  Q.  Mary, 
119.   It  is  forced,  and  the  governor  punished,  ib. 
Italy,  the  liberty  of,  how  preserved,  40. 

James  I.  was  detained  long  a  prisoner  in  Eng- 
land, 20.  Troubles  In  Scotland  during  t,iat 
time,  ib.  Was  much  improved  by  an  English 
education,  25.  His  policy  on  his  return  tc 
Scotland,  ib.  His  character,  26.  Suppresses 
the  power  of  the  nobles,  25.  They,  being  es 
asperated,  conspire  against  and  murder  him,  2<i 

II.  troubles  in  Scotland  during  his  minor' 


452 


INDEX 


iv  20.  Wis  attempt?  against  the  nobles,  26,  27. 
Murders  the  Karl  <>r  Douglas,  27.  Procures 
several  good  laws  lo  be  passed,  ib.  Reduces 
(in-  p«>wer  of  the  nobles,  ib.     His  death,  28. 

?  111.  ihe  slate  of  Scotland  during  his  mi- 
n  :ily,  20.  His  impolitic  conduct,  28-  Kills 
one  of  ids  brothers,  and  is  invaded  by  another. 
•13,  2'J.  Is  greatly  insulted  by  his  ri^bl^s,  29. 
His  despicable  minions, ib.  Was  th*  rust  that 
appointed  a  standing  guard  to  tiis  person,  lb. 
The  nobles  are  provoked  to  taK^  arm.'  against. 
Ijim,  30.  Is  killed  in  a  battle  ajiavn*'.,  them,  ib. 
His  character,  ib. 

IV.  Lis  i  haractei.  30.    Is  killed  in  a  battle 

against  the  English  at  Fiowden,  ib 

V.  his  minority  long  and  t'lt'J'llei'.',,  20. 

Transactions  during  that  tune,  lid,  31.  As- 
sumes the  governp"""!*.  wli'le  very  young  31. 
His  character,  ib.  His  a<b-;iii'-  jor  iiuuiblir-g 
the  nobles,  32,  33.  Is  divert"-.*  irnin  it  :>v  rj,e 
clergy,  34.  Tales  arms  for  <.x;e  defence  of  Ins 
kingdom,  ib.  His  nobles  refusing  to  follow  hiin, 
throws  him  into  a  deep  melancholy.  34,  35. 
Which  Ib  increased  by  a  surprising  defeat  of 
his  forces,  35.  His  death,  ib.  Reflections  on 
his  conduct,  35,  36.  He  refused  an  alliance 
with  Charles  V.,  Emperor,  42. 

VI.  hia  birth.  !S».   His  baptism.  156.   The 

care  of  nun  commV.iOil  to  the  F.a/t  of  Mar,  162. 
227.  'a  by  him  p:«w>t  «»d  from  fating  into  the 
hanunof  Bothr»ei.  )TB  (i  crowned.  177.  The 
no'lct,  oppressed  ii/  Morton,  tae  Keeeni,  turn 
their  even  to  luiu  for  redress,  *.'..  His  educa- 
tion and  disposition,  Ib.  He  becomes suspicious 
or  the  Regent's  power,  29;,  22».  Discovers 
early  *  gicat  attachment  to  favourites,  232. 
Adopt*  two  of  different  dispositions,  232,  2:13. 
Eiitci*  Edinburgh  with  gieat  solemnity,  233. 
la  bybl*  favourites  eMBfad  in  unpopular  mea 
suret,  i*a  la  seised  bv  a  party  of  nobles  at 
Hutbve n  940,  aud  forced  to  receive  complaints 
againu  uj  favourites,  ib.  Dissembles  with 
them  and  fcanisb.es  Lennox,  241.  Is  brought  to 
Stirling  aud  Hoiyrood-house,  ib.  His  concern 
for  Lennox's  death,  and  regard  for  his  memory, 
242.  Receives  the  French  ambassador  with 
great  respect,  ib.  Makes  his  escape  from  the 
conspirators,  243.  Resolves  to  treat  them 
with  moderation,  ib.  Visits  Gowrie,  and 
grants  lwm  a  pardon,  244.  Renews  his  fond- 
ness for  Arran,  ib.  Is  by  him  persuaded  to 
violent,  measures  against  the  conspirators,  ib. 
His  answer  to  a  haughty  letter  from  Q.  Eliza- 
beth on  their  behalf,  ib.  Is  by  her  interposition 
rendered  more  violent  against  them,  245.  Is 
provoked  by  the  clerey,  245,  246.  His  steps  to 
humble  them,  247.  Mis  profusion  to  Arran,  249. 
Sends  a  new  favourite  to  England  against  the 
banished  lords,  251.  Devolves  the  whole  regal 
authority  on  Arran,  252.  Writes  an  undutiful 
letter  to  his  mother,  254.  Is  threatened  to  be 
disinherited  by  her,  255.  Receives  a  pension 
from  (A.  Elizabeth,  256.  Is  reconciled  to  the 
exiled  lords,  258.  Becomes  popular  by  con- 
cluding  a  treaty  with  F,ngland,259.  His  scan- 
dalous behaviour  with  regard  to  Archibald 
Douglas,  ib.  His  endeavours  to  save  his 
mother's  life  after  long  condemnation, 267, 268. 
Is  greatly  incensed  at  her  death,  274.  Argu- 
ments used  by  the  English  minister  to  pacify 
hiin.ib.  Is  forced  to  stifle  his  resentment,  275. 
Attempts  to  unite  the  nobles,  276.  Is  courted 
ioth  by  Spain  and  England,  278.  Resolves 
v  ieorously  to  adhere  to  the  latter,  279.  Takes 
several  s'eps  with  that  view,  ib.  His  skill  in 
the  Popish  controversy,  281.  Wrote  a  com- 
mentary on  the  Revelations,  ib.  His  maxims 
■villi  regard  to  popery,  ib.  His  excessive  lenity 
to  conspirators  against  him,  ib.  Resolves  to 
marry  the  Prioress  of  Denmark,  2^2.  Arts 
used  to  prevent  it,  ib.  The  i.iarr.iase  is  con- 
summated in  Norway,  282.     Passes  several 


months  in  Denmark,  lb.  Reflections  on  his 
conduct  there,  ib.  His  arrivul  u,  Scotland  with 
his  Queen,  283.  Indulge**  the  Presbyterians, 
ib.  The  ill  consequences  of  his  lenity,  ib.  Hi 
zeal  against  witchcraft.  2c3,  2&4.  Is  solicited 
by  Q,.  Elizabeth  to  trealiiit  conspirators  against 
him  with  rigour,  286.  Is  suspected  of  cohniv 
jug  wiili  litem,  ib.  Is  surprised  and  seized  by 
Roth  well,  28/,  and  forced  to  comply  with  his 
■  etins,  ib.  His  lenity  to  Bothweii  abused,  28H 
is  suspected  of  favouring  the  Popish  lords  %7 
288.  Is  in  new  danger  from  tliem,  289.  Dele 
ga'es  hisauihorityto  Argyll  and  Forbes  against 
them,  ib  Goes  in  peison  against  them.  -j'4i . 
Wastes  their  lands,  and  garrisons  their  castles, 
ib  His  right  of  the  succession  of  the  crow  i  ■  i 
England  opposed  by  tlie  Papists,  ib.  His  I.  m 
iy  to  them  incenses  the  clergy  and  pejple.  is*" 
29:?  Is  much  provoked  by  the  obstinacy  oi 
•'it  clergy,  294.  Gives  orders  against  them,  in 
Is  much  insulted,  and  in  great  danger  at  Edin 
hurgh.  294,. 295.  Leave?  Edinburgh,  and  pro 
(.e-ds  v.ith  severity  against  the  citizens,  205, 
290.  Acquires  absolute  dominion  in  ecclesias- 
tical affairs,  297  Strengthens  his  interest  ,.. 
Parliament  by  restoring  the  teats  jf  the  eccle- 
siastics, 298.  Endeavours  with  success  t  >  ga,r 
a  party  in  England,  299.  Increases  his  reputa 
Hon  by  publishing  his  Basili con  Doron,  i'.t.  1- 
accused  by  li.  Elizabeth  of  corresponding  with 
the  Pope,  30d.  This  he  denies,  an  1  how  tic- 
counted  for,  ib.  •  Uher  reports  concerning  this, 
ib.  Is  a!  great  pains  to  gain  the  Roman  f'ath  • 
lies,  ib.  His  regulations  wiiti  regard  to  th< 
church,  301.  The  mysterious  affair  of  Woo. 
lie's  conspiracy,  301 — 309.  His  cautious  be 
havinur  in  regard  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  310. 
Sends  ambassadors  to  save  him,  311.  They 
arrive  mo  late  '.U.  He  restores  his  son  anil  as- 
sociates lo  ilieir  honours  after  his  accession 

312.  Continues  his  intrigues  in  England,  ib. 
His  interest  greatly  strengthened  there,  ib.  En- 
deavours to  civilize  the  Highlands  and  Isles, 

313.  Is  proclaimed  King  in  England  after  the 
death  of  (A.  Elizabeth,  316.  Is  proclaimed 
likewise  in  Scotland,  ib.  Prepares  for  his 
journey  to  England,  ib.  Enters  London  and 
takes  possession  of  the  throne,  317.  His  cha- 
racter how  different  from  that  of  Q.Elizabeth, 
ib.  A  letter  trom  him  to  Mr.  Archibald  Doug- 
las, Appendix,  431.  furious  letter  to  him  from 
an  unknown  English  correspondent,  442. 

Keith,  Sir  William,  sent  to  intercede  for  Q.Mary 
when  under  sentence, 268.  Letter  from  him  to 
Secretary  Maiiland,  Appendix,  431. 

Kent,  Earl  of,  appointed  to  see  the  sentence 
against  Q.  Mary  executed,  270. 

Ker,  of  Eerniherst,  ravages  England,  on  the  mur- 
der of  Murray  the  Regent,  205.  His  design. 
206.     Has  a  scuffle  with  the  English,  257. 

,  George,  brother  to   L.  Newbattle,  is  dis 

covered  when  ready  to  sail  to  promote  a  plo 
in  Spain,  285.  His  scheme  opened,  ib.  Es 
capes  out  of  prison,  286. 

KilligreiB,  Henry,  his  declaration  on  the  peace, 
Appendix,  410. 

Kings,  feudal,  the  most  limited  of  all  Princes,  12. 
General  causes  of  this,  13.  Their  revenues 
were  but  small,  ib.  Had  no  standing  armies, 
ib.,  and  jurisdiction  limited,  14.  Means  used 
to  Hxtend  the  royal  authority,  2],  22.  Their 
jurisdiction  enlarged.  22.  The  extraordinary 
influence  of  the  Scottish  Kings  in  Parliament 
36.     The  reason  of  this,  Hi 

Kirknldy  of  Grange  one  of  the  murderers  ot 
Beatoun.  is  recti; 'ed  b;  the  Q.  Dowager,  67 
His  attainder  r.  versed  in  Parliament,  123 
( itl'nrs  to  light  llnthwell  in  single  combat,  17? 
His  interview  with  Q.  Mary,  in  the  name  oi 
ihe  conf"derate  I  <<\\~,  ib.  Kescnes  Maitlai  •' 
fromconfinemvii  I'l    Labourite  support  tlit- 


INDEX. 


453 


Ring's  authority,  and  restore  harmony  after 
the  murder  of  ttie  Regent,  200.  Accedes  to  the 
Queen's  party,  ib.  Provides  for  a  siege  by  m 
creasing  his  garrison  and  fortifying  Edinburgh, 
211.  Proclaims  Lennox's  authority  unlawful 
and  usurped,  ib.  Attempts  in  vain  to  prevent 
a  meeting  of  the  parliament,  212.  Forms  a 
scheme  for  surprising  the  King's  party,  213.  Is 
at  first  successful,  but  afterwards  defeated,  ib. 
Comes  near  to  an  agreement  with  Mar  the  Re- 
gent, 219.  A  treaty  witli  Morton  breaks  it  off, 
223.  Fires  upon  Edinburgh  from  the  cattle,  ib. 
's  besieged  by  the  Regent,  assisted  by  the  Eng- 
lish forces, 224.  Is  forced  by  mutiny  of  the  gar- 
rison  to  capitulate,  ib.  Surrenders  to  Drury 
the  English  general,  ib.  Is  by  order  of  ft. 
Elizabeth,  delivered  up  to  tiie  Regent, 225.  He 
ami  his  brother  are  executed,  ib. 

ft  nuilys,  Sir  Francis,  sent  by  ft.  Elizabeth  with 
letters  of  condolence  lo  ft.  Mary  on  her  arrival 
in  England,  1<^5.  Some  of  his  letters,  Appen- 
dix, 3J3,  3'J4.  397.  400. 

Knox,  John,  u  famous  Reformer,  his  character, 
37.  After  being  some  time  abroad,  he  is  recall 
ed  by  the  persecuted  Protestants, 75.  Inflames 
the  multitude  at  Perth  with  rage  against  the 
Papists,  75.  70  His  notion  concerning  the 
government  ol  women,  whence,  73.  His  resi- 
dence fixed  in  Edinburgh,  80.  Complains  of 
the  lukewarinness  of  the  Reformers,  85.  His 
opinion  to  the  convention  of  Reformers,  that  it 
is  lawful  to  resist  and  deprive  tyrannical  prin- 
ces, 80.  Animates  and  revives  the  desponding 
Congregation,  90.  Complains  of  the  neglect  of 
the  Reformers  in  providing  maintenance  for 
their  preachers,  100.  Recommends  tiie  Geneva 
model  of  church  government,  103.  Proposes 
superintendents  in  the  church,  104.  Composes 
the  first  nook  of  discipline,  ib.  Reuuunces 
friendship  with  the  Earl  of  Murray  for  his  mo- 
deration, 124.  Is  tried  for  encouraging  a  mu- 
tiny among  the  people,  and  acquitted,  ib.  Po- 
pish judges  concur  in  this  decision,  ib.  Is  pub- 
licly accusedby  Maitlandof  preaching  seditious 
ooctrire  concerning  resistance,  12H.  Character 
,t  the  two  disputants,  ib.  Approved  of  several 
iiistnncesof  assassination,  148.  Agrees  to  some 
regulations  concerning  the  election  of  Bishops, 
SKI.  His  death  and  rh»iacter,  ib.  His  eulo- 
e;mn  by  Morton  the  Regent,  222.  Articles 
■en!  by  him  to  the  General  Assembly,  Appen- 
dix, 409. 

Lungtide,  the  bottle  »f  ^Kt.  jP3. 

Lair  en,  Cardinal,  is  seiu  ivs  a  nuncio  from  the 
Po'-e  with  a  present  to  '4.  Maty  of  Scotland, 
IM.     h  stopped  at  Paris,  USA 

Lta/rve,  holy,  a  ronfeduacy  of  Roman  Catholics 
sr, 'ailed,  255.  Wrs  uta^crsally  agreed  to  by 
iht.ni  all  over  Europe,  ib. 

Learning,  the  revi»*l  of,  promotes  the  Reforma- 
tion, 61. 

Lekesier.  Earl  of,  ap;/i:r'ed  a  commissioner  to 
the  conference  tX  V^-stminster,  194. 

Keith  burnt  by  the  Eagl'sh,  48.  Fortified  by  the 
French,  84.  Besieged  by  the  English,  94.  Q. 
Marj  isnd*  i  r«er«  trom  France,  109.  The  su- 
periority of  it  gi  anted  by  her  to  Edinburgh, 
139.  Is  seized  and  fortified  by  Morton  the  Re- 
gent, 212. 

Lennox,  Earl  of,  arrives  in  Scotland  from  France, 

46.  Is  much  courted  by  Cardinal  Beatoun,  ib. 
His  pretensions  to  the  succession,  how  founded, 

47.  Resents  Beatoun's  deceitfulness  to  him, 

48.  Heads  the  Reformers  and  the  advocates 
for  the  English  alliance,  ib.  Surprises  the  Re-  i 
gent  and  Cardinal,  ib.  Is  outwitted  by  ilie  | 
Cardinal,  ib.  Continues  alone  in  the  interest  I 
of  England,  49.  fs  forced  to  fly  to  that  court,  i 
where  he  is  rewarded,  ib.  Is  married  to  a  niece  j 
«f  K.  Henry's,  by  which  he  became  father  to  a  j 
race  of  Kings,  ib     His  claim  to  the  succession,  : 


126.  127.  Is  imprisoned  for  a  sccrcct  r.irre* 
poudence  with  ft.  Mary,  127.  Is  invited 
cretly  by  her  lo  return  to  Scotland,  ib.  Arrive* 
In  Scotland,  and  is  received  with  great  fa- 
miliarity by  her,  128.  His  forfeiture  is  repealed, 
and  he  is  restored  lo  his  estate  and  honours  by 
the  Parliament,  ib.  His  lady  sent  prisoner  fo 
the  Tower  of  London,  132,  and  treated  with 
rigour,  134.  He  insists  on  the  prosecution  ot 
his  son  Dandy's  murderers,  161.  Charges 
Bothwell  with  it,  ib.  The  prosecution  is  hur- 
ried, 162.  He  craves  a  delay,  which  is  refused, 
ib.  He  is  left  alone  in  it,  ib.  Solicits  CI.  Eli- 
zabeth's interest  to  obtain  a  delay,  163.  Insists 
on  it  by  a  proxy  at  the  trial,  but  is  overrul  I 
ib.  Being  apprehensive  of  danger,  he  Hie:-  .,o 
wards  England,  164.  His  Countess  accus  S  I. 
Mary  of  the  murder  to  ft.  Elizabeth,  186.  He 
appears  at  the  conference  at  Westminster,  and 
accuses  ft.  Mary  of  the  murder  upon  oath,  195 
Returns  to  Scotland  protected  by  an  English 
army,  207.  Is  elected  Regent,  208.  His  pro- 
gress against  the  ftueen's  party,  ib.  Appoints 
commissioners  to  frame  a  treaty  with  those  of 
the  Queen,  210.  Surprises  Dumbarton  castle, 
210,-211.  Joins  the  Earl  of  Morton  at  Leith, 
212.  Holds  a  parliament  in  the  Cannongate, 
ib.  Another  at  Stirling,  213.  He  is  surprised 
and  killed  there,  ib. 

Lennox,  Lord  Aubigny,  his  character,  232,  233. 
Joins  with  the  King's  other  new  favourites  to 
undermine  Morton,  233.  Renounces  Popery, 
ib.  ft.  Elizabeth  demands  him  to  be  removed 
from  the  privy  council,  234.  Is  accused  by  her 
ambassador,  235.  Arran  tries  in  vain  to  sup 
plant  him,  238.  Is  commanded  by  K  James, 
at  the  request  of  the  nobles,  to  leave  the  king 
doni,  241.  Puts  off  his  departure  on  various 
pretences,  ib.  Returns  unwillingly  to  France, 
where  he  soon  dies,  242.  His  memory  vindi- 
cated, and  much  regarded  by  the  King,  ib 
Died  a  Protestant,  ib. 

,  Earl  of,  left  as  the  King's  lieutenant  in 

the  north,  after  dispersing  the  Popish  lords, 200 

Lesly,  Norman,  murders  Cardinal  Beatoun,  50. 
He  a.id  his  associates  keep  possession  of  the 
castle  of  St.  Andrews,  51.  Makes  a  truce  with 
the  Recent,  ib.  Are  encouraged  by  Henry 
VIII.,  ib. 

,  Bishop  of  Ross,  is  sent  by  the  Catholics 

in  Scotland  to  engage  ft.  Mary  in  their  interest, 
104.     His  proposals  to  her  rejected,  105.     His 
negotiations  in  England  in  favour  of  ft.  Mary, 
216.    Is  confined  long  in  the  Tower,  and  aftei 
wards  is  banished  from  England,  ib. 

Lindsay,  Lord,  carries  the  proposal  from  the  con 
federates  to  ft.  Mary,  that  she  should  resign 
the  government,  176.  Joins  the  Riithveit  con- 
spirators, 240. 

Lochlcein  Castle,  ft.  Mary  committed  a  prisoner 
there,  173.     Her  escape  from  thence,  181. 

,  Lord,  letters  to  and  from  him,  Appen 

dix,  412,  413. 

Logan,  of  Restalris,  an  alleged  accomplice  in 
Cowrie's  conspiracy,  304.  Is  tried,  305,  and 
his  estate  forfeited  long  after  his  death,  ib. 

Lords,  confederates,  associates  against  Both  well 
and  ft.  Mary,  170.  Raise  forces  against  them, 
171.  Publish  the  motives  of  their  conduct,  ib. 
Prevail  on  the  Queen  to  surrender  to  them,  172 
Assume  the  title  of  Lords  of  the  secret  council, 
and  the  royal  authority,  173. 

.  Popish,   conspire    against    K.James,  2^1 

Are  treated  by  him  with  great  lenity,  281 
Form  a  new  conspiracy,  285.  The  King  pro- 
ceeds against  them,  286.  More  of  his  lenity  to 
litem,  ib.  Fresh  dangers  from  them,  28L».  They 
receive  money  fronj  Spain,  ib.  Zeal  of  the 
clerjrv  asrainst  them,  ib.  Are  declared  guilty  of 
treason,  and  their  estates  forfeited  ib.  Defmt 
of  the  King's  army,  290.  Are  dispersed  on  the 
King's  approach,  ib.     Go  abroad,  and   eiv* 


»M 


INDEX. 


secunty  in  kern  Hie  peace, ib.    Return  to  Scot-  • 
land,  and  petition  lor  leave  to  reside  in  their  I 
own  nouses,  292.     This  granted  by  a  conven- 
tion of  elates,  ib.    Recant  tJieir  errors,  and  ! 
are  absolved  from  excommunication,  207.   Re   i 
lapse,  and  are  again  reconciled  to  the  church  ol  j 
Rome,  ib.     Are  restored  lo  tlieir  estates  and  I 
honours,  _'98. 
Lorrain,  Cardinal,  gets  some  of  the  best  bene    ! 
flees  in  Scotland,  70. 
,  Princes  of,  tlieir  ambitious  views,  72, 73 


Instigate  the  Dauphin  and  Q.  Alary  to  take  tii 
titles  of  King  and  Queen  of  England.  73.  Re 
solve  to  invade  England,  ib  ,  and  to  ch:;ck  the 
Reformation  in  Scotland,  ib  The  Cardinal's 
great  influence  over  the  young  King,  82.  Drives 
tile  Queen  Regeni  of  Scotland  to  violent  mea- 
sures, 34.  Their  violences  occasion  a  conspi- 
racy against  them,  96.  Are  forced  to  withdraw 
their  troops  from  Scotland,  ib.  They  insult  the 
Scottish  ambassador,  101.  Have  great  power 
over  the  young  King  and  Queen,  102.  Are 
forced  to  contract  their  views  on  the  death  of 
the  King.  ib. 
Luther,  a  bold  and  principal  promoter  of  the  Re- 
formation, 61.  The  rapid  progress  of  his  doc- 
trine, ib. 

Major,  John,  Ins  History  of  Scotland,  some  ac- 
count of,  8. 

Uuitl and  of  Lethington,  secretary  to  Mary,  Q. 
Regent,  leaves  her  service,  and  joins  the  Con- 
gregation, 90.  His  character,  ib  is  sent  by 
hem  ambassador  to  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Sends 
Jie  Scotch  assurances  of  her  protection,  92.  Is 
sent  by  Q.  Mary  to  the  court  of  England,  111. 
Makes  a  concession  to  Q.  Elizabeth,  112.  Ac- 
companies Q..  Mary  in  a  progress  to  the  North, 
118.  He  is  employed  by  Q7  Mary  to  desire  a 
personal  interview  with  Q.  Elizabeih,  120. 
Publicly  accuses  Knox  of  preaching  seditious 
doctrine  concerning  resistance,  129.  Intimates 
to  Q.  Elizabeth  the  intentions  of  Q.  Mary  to 
many  Dandy,  131.  Prudently  conceals  her 
resentment  from  Q.  Elizabeth,  133.  Proposes 
moderate  measures  with  regard  lo  Q.Mary, 
when  imprisoned,  176.  Attends  the  Regent 
when  callrd  on  to  accuse  her  in  England,  190. 
He  disapproves  of  this  measure,  ib.  His  in- 
-rigue  with  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  191.  199.  Is 
imprisoned  by  the  Regent,  202.  Is  relieved  by 
Kirkaldy,  and  secured  in  the  castle,  ib.  Pro- 
poses a  coalition  of  the  two  parties  after  the 
murder  of  the  Regent,  206.  Accedes  lo  the 
Queen's  party,  ib.  Is  deprived  of  his  office  of 
secretary,  and  proclaimed  traitor,  208.  Is  at- 
tainted in  a  Parliament  of  the  King's  party, 
212.  Agrees  with  Mar,  219.  His  views  in  re- 
fusing a  reconciliation  with  Morton  the  Re- 
gent, 222.  Rejects  overtures  of  a  treaty  with 
him,  222,  223.  Is  besieged  by  him  in  the  castle 
of  Edinburgh.  224  Is  forced  to  capitulate  and 
surrender  to  the  English  general,  ib.  To  avoid 
the  Regent's  resentment,  he  despatches  him- 
self, 225.  Several  of  his  letters,  Appendix, 
485.  431. 

— — ,  Sir  John,  is  made  secretary  for  Scot- 
land, 256.  Concurs  with  others  in  promoting 
Q.  Elizabeth's  interest  there,  ih.  Attempts 
against  him  by  Captain  James  Stewart,  late 
Arran,  275.  They  prove  abortive,  and  he  is 
advanced  to  be  chancellor,  ib.  An  attempt  to 
remove  nun  from  lhat  office  frustrated,  281. 
Mis  death.  291.  A  copy  of  verses  in  honour 
of  him  wrote  by  the  Kim;,  ib. 

V;r.  Earl  of,  that  title  conferred  on  the  Prior  of 
St.  Andrews,  117.  Accompanies  the  Queen  in 
a  progress  to  the  North,  118.  He  and  his  asso- 
ciates narrowly  escape  assassination,  118, 119. 
Is  created  Earl  of  Murray,  119.  See  .  Hurray 
- — ,  the  title  is  conferred  on  Lord  krskine,  119. 
The  person  of  tin   young  Princ.p  >•>,!  ii,io  his 


hands,  102.    His  resolution  in  preserving  una 
from  lloihwell,  169,  170.     Is  chosen   Regent, 
214.     Labours  lo  bring  about  a  general  peace, 
219.    Is  thwarted  by  Morton  and  bis  associate*, 
ib.      Dies  of  melancholy,  219,  220.     His  cha 
racter,  220.     His  merit  and  integrity  were  ae 
knowledged  by  both  parties,  ib. 
Mar,  the  .\oung  Earl,  being  imposed  on  byMor 
ton,  turns  out  his  uncle  from  the  castle  of  Stir- 
ling, 229.    Joins  the  Ruthveu  conspirators,  240 
He  with  the  .thers  seizes  Stirling  Castle,  and 
erects  their  nandard,  246.    Is  attainted,  and 
his  estate  forfeited,  249.     Is  pardoned,  and  re- 
stored to  estate  and  honours,  258. 
March,  Countess  of,  her  infamous  marriage  with 

the  Earl  of  Arran,  237. 
Mary  of  Guise,  Q.  Dowager  of  Scotland,  takes  a 
considerable  share  in  the  government,  54.     It 
much  addicted  to  the  French  interest,  ib.    Pro 
jects  a  marriage  of  her  daughter  to  the  Dau- 
phin of  France,  55.     Becomes  instrumental  in 
promoting  the  Reformation,  58.    Aspires  to  the 
office  of  Regent,  59.     Promotes  disaffection  to 
the  present  one,  and  favours  the  Reformers,  ib. 
Visits  the  court  of  France,  ib.     Returns  to 
Scotland  to  take  possession  of  the  Regency,  ib 
After  some  opposition  she  obtains  it,  60.    Con- 
fers several  offices  of  trust  upon  strangers,  65. 
Proposes  to  lay  a  tax  upon  land,  66.     Is  forced 
to  drop  it,  ib.    Tries  in  vain  to  excite  a  war 
with  England,  66,  67.     The  nobles  vigorously 
oppose  her  measures,  67.  Treats  the  Reformer! 
with  great  respect,  ib.    Obtains  a  concession 
from  the  Parliament  in  favour  of  the  Dauphin, 
70.     Her  artful  management  of  the  Reformers, 
ib.    Bestows  the  vacant  benefices  on  foreigners, 
ib.     She  alters  her  conduct  to  the  Reformers, 
72.     Remonstrances  against  the  violent  mea- 
sures of  the  Princes  of  Lorrain,  74.    Is  per 
suaded  by  them  to  persecute  the  Reformers,  ib 
Her  rash  answer  to  their  remonstrance,  74 
Summons  their  preachers  to  appear  before  her, 
75.     Bieaks  a  promise  she  had  made  them,  ib 
Marches  with  an  army  against  them, 76.   Con 
eludes  a  treaty  with  them,  ib     This  she  again 
breaks,  ib.     Her  severity  at  Perth,  76, 77.    Her 
scheme  discovered,  77.     She  goes  to   attack 
them,  ib.     Has  again  recourse  to  negotiation, 
ib.     She  is  startled  at  their  demands,  and  cets 
time  to  answer  them,  78.     Violates  another 
treaty,  ib.    Loses  Perth,  and  forced  to  abandon 
Stirling  and  Edinburgh,  she  retires  with  pre- 
cipitation to  Dunbar,  79.     Marches  to  attack 
the  Reformers  at  Edinburgh,  80.     Gains  time 
by  her  artifice,  ib.     Makes  another  treaty  with 
them,  ib.    Her  artifices  to  undermine  the  Prior 
of  St.  Andrews,  83.      The  absurdity  of  the 
scheme,  84.    Gets  a  reinforcement  of  French 
troops,  who  fortify  Leith,  ib.    She  disregards 
a  remonstrance  of  the  Reformers.  84.    Is  in- 
fluenced by  French  counsellors,  and  persuaded 
to  violent  measures,  84,  85.     Retires  to  Leith 
on  the  approach  of  the  Reformers'  army,  85. 
Her  prudent  and  artful  conduct  there,  ib.     Hei 
haughty  answer  to  a  fresh  remonstrance  from 
them,  86.   Is  by  a  convention  of  them,  deprived 
of  her  office  of  Regent,  87.     The  foundation  of 
this  sentence,  ib.     Foments  differences  among 
them,  88.    Is  deserted  by  her  principal  secreta- 
ry, Maitland  of  Lethington,  90.    Sends  French 
troops  against  the  Reformers,  92.     Retires  into 
the  caslle  of  Edinburgh  on  the  approach  of  the 
English,  94.    Her  death  and  character,  95.    Re- 
pented of  her  violent  measures,  96.     Listened 
to  the  instructions  of  a  reformed  preacher,  ib. 

,  Queen  of  England,  her  persecuting  reign 

60,61.     Her  death,  71. 

,  Queen  of  Scots,  bom,  43.     A  proposal  to 

marry  her  to  Edward  VI.,  44.  She  is  demanded 
bv  Henry  VIII.,  ib  Her  marriage  to  the  Dan- 
phin  of  Fiance  proposed,  55.  A  treaty  for  that 
purpose  concluded,  ib     She  is  sent  tiobeedu 


INDEX. 


456 


cated  in  France,  50.    The  fatal  cudsuiiuu 

this,  ib.  Is  imposed  on  by  the  artifices  of  the 
French  in  the  treaty  of  marriage,  68.  Her  mar- 
riage celebrated  witn  ,'i.\ir  pomp,  ib.  They 
take  the  title  of  Ki.ig  md  luecu  of  Eugiand, 
73.  She  makes  concessions  to  the  Cmgrega 
tion,  96,  97.  Declares  U.  Elizabeth's  right  to 
the  crown  of  England,  97.  She  acquires  an 
entire  ascendant  over  her  husband,  102.  Sue 
is  overwhelmed  with  great  affliction  on  his 
death,  and  retires  to  Kheinis,  ib.  She  is  in- 
vited by  the  convention  to  return  to  Scotland, 
104.  *r\  rmisssry  from  the  Catholics  in  Scot- 
land proposed  violent  measures  to  her,  104, 
105  She  Is  dftt«.rii.,.»'Od  'o  moderation  by  the 
Frsiich  and  the  Prio<  of  St.  Andrews,  105.  Is 
prev ruled  en  to  V'tf*  "-  *f '  her  return  lo  ScoL 
'ard,  ib.    The  origin  of  the  discord  between 

•er  and  U-  Elizabeth,  106.  Her  pretensions  to 
.he  crown  of  En?!sf.t.  'b  Is  envied  on  ac- 
count of  her  beauty.  lf$  Demands  safe-con- 
duct from  UEIiimii,  wfrch  is  refused,  ill. 
1  eaves  Fiance  witn  ^lpat  reluctance,  109. 
Lands  at  Leitb,  ib.  7a  nv.cn  affected  by  the 
change  of  her  situation.  ?r.  Several  disadvan- 
tages attending  her  access  oi.  ?09, 110.  Some 
sirciunsuneis  to  her  advantage,  110.  Her  ac- 
complishments of  body  and  mind,  ib.  The  ser- 
vants of  her  chapel  insulted,  ii(.  Procures  Hie 
free  <rTercise  of  her  religion,  111.  Issues  a 
r./i'xlarfianon  in  favour  of  tne  Protestants, ib. 
Employs  them  solely  ir  lre  administration,  Ib. 
Attempts  to  gain  Q  Fhzabeth's  favour,  ib. 
Makes  a  concession  %•:•  her,  112.  Which  is  re- 
jecter!. ir>  She  maifca  her  public  entry  lnio 
Ifdiuburgh,  ib    An  oi-i>it  offered  to  her  religion 

>ii  t  i;at  occasion,  ib.  Discourages  the  attempts 
of  tut  Papists  to  gain  her  favour,  113.  Her 
rt«-fcr?.'<  i!  i.o  the.  inn.  ly  of  Hamilton,  ib.  Makes 
\  progress  into  the  North,  118.  Her  ministers 
narrowly  escape  issassination,  118, 119.  Is  re- 
sumed acctss  to  the  castle  of  Inverness,  when 
:e!ievcd  by  the  Munroes  aid  other  clans,  119. 
Hei  forces  defeat  Huntley's  rebellion,  119,  120. 
8he  desires  an  interview  with   (A.  Elizabeth, 

120.  Negotiations  concerning  her   marriage, 

121.  Is  solicited  by  dicfereut  Princes,  ib.  Her 
deliberations  concerning  it,  122.  Is  forced  to 
bear  the  authoritative  behaviour  of  Q.  Eliza- 
beth. 122,  12:1.  To  please  her  subjects  deter- 
mines against  a  foreign  alliance,  123.  Deter- 
mines not  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  Edinburgh,  ib. 
Further  negotiations  for  her  marriage,  125. 
Discovers  the  views  of  Catherine  of  Medicis,  ib. 
Lord  Robert  Dudley  recommended  to  liei  as  a 
a  husband  by  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  She  is  highly 
offended  at  this,  ib.  Dissembles  with  (1.  Eliza- 
beth, 125,  128.  Entertains  thoughts  of  marry- 
ing Lord  Darnly,  120.  She  recalls  Lennox,  127. 
(s  affronted  at  a  letter  of  Q,.  Elizabeth's,  ib. 
Her  prejudice  against  the  Reformed,  and  zeal 
for  the  Catholic  religion,  12-*.  Is  taken  with 
Darnly  at  first  sight,  129.  Is  greatly  moved  at 
H.  Elizabeth's  insulting  craftiness  130.  Nego- 
tiates with  the  courtof  Rome  for  a  dispensation 
to  mairv  Damlv,  ib.,  and  the  consent  of  the 
court  of  France,  ib  Imposes  on  Randolph, 
li  u  app'ies  to  (A.  Elizabeth  for  consent  to  her 
marriage,  131.  Which  she  affects  to  refuse, 
■132  In  resentment  she  proposes  to  send  an 
.1(12! y  message  to  Elizabeth,  which  Maitland 
prevents,  133, 133.  Justifies  her  conduct  to  the 
English  ambassador,  133.  Endeavours  to  get 
Murray's  consent,  ib.  Courts  the  Pope's  pro- 
tection, and  receives  a  subsidy  from  him,  133, 
134.  Her  great  address  in  gaining  the  consent 
of  her  subjects,  134.  Prevents  a  plot  against 
Darnly,  135.  Summons  her  vassals  to  take 
a-;ns  against  Murray,  136,  and  him  to  appear 
before  her,  ifi.  Her  marriage  with  Darnly  cele- 
brated, ib  .Sne  <  onfers  the  li'.le  of  Kin?  of; 
Scots  upon    him,  ib.     This  eiep  cmsiired,  ib.  j 


il  ii   resentmenl  agaiutfl  the  miiccoutents,  136 

137.  She  mate  es  against  them,  137.  Hujecu 
the  intercession  of  U.  Elizabeth  in  their  behalf, 
ib.  Continues  hei  march  against  the  rebels,  n> 
tl  ircouducl  and  courage  on  mat  occasion,  137, 

138.  Drives  them  out  of  Scotland,  138.  Her 
further  resentmenl  against  them,  138,139.  Has 
ieeo  irse  to  several  devices  to  raise  money,  139. 
Her  prosperit)  proiuol  -  hei  religion,  ib.  Her 
deliberations  concerning  the  exiled  lords,  140 
1>  teruuncs  to  treat  them  with  lenity,  ib.  Is 
diverted  from  tins  by  her  religion  and  French 
influence,  141.  This  the  source  of  her  aftei 
misfortunes,  141,  142.  Her  intention  to  restore 
Popery,  142.  Is  disgusted  with  Darnly's  in.-, 
lent  behaviour,  ib.  Her  familiarity  with  Ki  ' 
offends  the  King,  143.  Vindicated  from  a  i<  ' 
criminal  correspondence  with  Rizio,  144.   U 

her  utmost  endeavours  to  prevent  his  murder. 
145.  tsue  is  confined  by  the  conspirators  ib. 
She  gains  the  King,  and  escapes  from  them,  ib. 
Is  reconciled  to  the  exiled  nobles,  146.  Her 
hatred  to  Darnly  increases,  148, 149,  and  favour 
for  Bolhwell  commences.  149.  Extinguishes 
some  domestic  feuds  among  the  nobles,  150.  Is 
delivered  of  her  sou  James  VI.,  in  the  caslle  ot 
Edinburgh,  ib.  Invites  several  foreign  Princes 
to  his  baptism,  ib.  Continues  to  treat  Dandy 
with  neglect,  ib.  Her  attachment  to  Bolhwell 
increases,  ib.  Prevents  Darnly's  intended  flight, 
151,152.  Visits  the  borders,  152.  An  instance 
of  her  regard  for  Bolhwell  on  that  occasion,  ib. 
How  she  rivalled  U.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Her  right 
of  succession  favoured  by  the  English  Parlia 
inenl,  153.  She  endeavours  to  avail  hersell 
of  that  opportunity,  153, 154.  She  takes  an  ex 
traordinary  step  in  favour  of  Popery,  154.  Re 
ceives  a  present  from  tiie  Pope,  but  stops  his 
nuncio  at  Paris,  154, 155.  Endeavours  to  pro 
cure  a  better  subsistence  for  the  reformed 
clergy,  155.  Her  aversion  to  the  King  exces 
sive,  becomes  melancholy,  ib.  Goes  to  Stirling 
to  celebrate  her  son's  baptism,  ib.  Is  greatly 
offended  at  the  King's  behaviour  on  that  occa- 
sion, 155, 15C  Restores  the  Popish  ecclesias- 
tical jurisdiction,  157.  Her  neglect  of  the  King 
during  his  sickness,  15».  The  breach  between 
thein  becomes  irrepaiable,  ib.  She  visits  him 
at  Glasgow,  159  The  motives  of  her  dissimu- 
lation on  thai  occasion,  ib.  Prevails  on  him 
to  come  to  Edinburgh,  160.  Her  suspicious  be- 
haviour to  him  there,  ib.  Issues  a  proclama- 
tion for  discovering  his  murderers,  !60, 161.  Is 
supposed  to  have  been  accessary  to  it,  161.  Is 
charged  with  it  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  ib 
Goes  to  visit  her  son  at  Stirling,  167.  Is  met 
on  her  return  by  Bothwell,  who  seizes  and  car 
riss  her  to  Dunbar,  ib.  This  supposed  with 
her  consent,  168.  Is  conducted  to  Ediiibngh 
ib.,  and  married  to  Bolhwell,  169.  Sends  a 
apology  to  the  courts  of  France  and  England 
ib.  Her  conduct  causes  a  general  indignation 
against  her  abroad,  170.  Is  aiarmed  at  a  cen 
brnation  of  the  nobles  against  her,  ib.  Slu  > 
publishes  a  manifesto  to  vindicate  hercondii'  , 
171.  Is  conducted  to  the  castle  of  BorthwiCK, 
ib.  Marches  with  Bothwell's  forces  against 
the  confederate  lords,  ib.  An  attempt  at  an 
accommodation  pvm  es  vain,  1" 1 ,  172.  Isforced 
to  surrender  lo  the  confederal-,  172.  Is  in- 
silted  be  the  soldieis  and  mob,  ib.  Is  carrier! 
lo  Edinburgh,  where  many  abuses  are  offeree) 
her,  172,  173.  Is  sent  a  prisoner  to  Locblevir 
casile,  173.  Q..  Elizabeth  interposes  on  hei  be- 
half, 174.  The  English  ambassador  is  refu"-3 
access  to  her,  175.  Various  proposals  amor  5 
the  confederates  concerning  her,  i75,  176. 
They  oblige  her  to  resign  the  government,  176, 
177.  I  liffei  ent  reasonings  on  this  measure  177. 
Is  much  moved  with  the  freedom  of  the  Earl 
of  Murray,  178.  Her  party  among  the  nobles 
becomes  dispirited,  179,    Her  resigrition  otttm 


•K>6 


INDEX 


crown  occupied  by  uie   Parliament,  sin!   her 
imprisonment  declared  lawful,  iolt     Her  lei-  , 
ters  to  Bothwell  read,  and  she  declared  ai  ces-  j 
sary  to  tee  K:uf'^  murder  ift.     Escapes  from  i 
Lochlevin,  '3i.      arrives  at  Hamilton,  ib.     Is  l 
attended   by  many   nobles  and   a   numerous  > 
army,  ib.     An  association  signed   in  Iter  de- 
fence   ib.    Her  iiiiprudenp"   hi   hazarding   a 
iattie,  182.     lit  army  dMea'ed  hv  the  con-; 
iederates,  183.    iter  preciiv'tat*  ft^Mfnto  Ga!  i 
loway,  ib     Rashly  determines  to  retire  to  Eng-  ; 
and,  184.    Goes  tiiithe*  against  ibe  adticeofj 
"ier  attendants,   it..    Ariive*   »•>  Carlisle,  ib. 
Arrites  to  Q..  Elizabeth,  impiorinj  ner   good] 
)ffice8,  ib.   Receives  leiiitn  of  condolence  i»om  i 
ier,  and  demands  admittance  tiu>  her   pre  ' 
tence,  185.    This  refumsd,  and  wny.  185.  In6  j 
Jffers  to  submit  her  cause  to  Q  Fdizabelb.  186 
(s  much  deceived  iti  h«4i  et;«;cta'io'i  from  tlit*.  ' 
187,  and  offended  on  discovering  the  aitificesof ' 
U-  Elizabeth,  ib.     Earnestly  solicits  to  be  ad-  j 
niitted  into  her  presence,  ib.    Sbe  >  carried  to  | 
Bolton  Castle,  188.    Chagrined  at  firjiti'.g  he»-  | 
sell"  a  prisoner,  ib.     Agrees  to  an  inquiry  iclo  ■ 
Her  conduct,  ib.     Her  dissimulation  with  r*  j 
^ard  to  religion,  189.  Commissioners  appooiied 
,'o  appear  in  her  name,  lilO.     Her  chief  view  in 
this  atFair,  ib.     C(>nsents  to  moving  the  confer- 
ance  to  Westminster,  193.     She  is  carried  to 
Tuthburyin  Staffordshire,  ib.   is  much  offended 
it  the  regard  shown  the  Regent,  and  recalls 
ner  consent  to  the  conference,  194.    The  ac- 
susations  against  her  produced  by  the  Regent, 
ib     Is  accused  likewise  by  the  Earl  of  Lennox, 
195.     Her  commissioners   refuse;   to    answer, 
Hud  demand  a  personal  interview,  ib.    They 
jitolesl  against  future  proceedings,  ib.     A  sus- 
picious circumstance  against  her,  ib.    Hercom- 
missioners  withdraw  from   the  meeting,  196. 
iler  resolute  answer  to  a  harsh  proposal  of  Q. 
Elizabeth,  ib.     Avoids  any  further  progress  in 
;he  inquiry,  197.     Is  enraged  at  the  proceed- 
ings,  and    proposes    desperate   measures,  ib. 
Spreads  chimerical  conjectures  with  that  view, 
ib.     Proposes  a  divorce  from    Bothwell,  199. 
[s  influenced  by  the  D.  of  Norfolk's  schemes, 
ib.     Exchanges  many  letters  and  love  tokens 
with  him,  ib.     Consents  to  proposals  from  the 
English  nobles, 200.    Their  views  in  this  trans- 
action, ib.  A  rebellion  by  her  adherents  against 
a.  Elizabeth,  202,  203.     Is  removed  to  Coven- 
try, 203.    d.  Elizabeth  thinks  of  delivering  her 
up  to  the  Regent,  ib      This  project  how  disap- 
pointed, 204.    Accession  of  several  to  her  party 
after  the  murder  of  the  Regent,  206.    They  en- 
deavour to  foment  a  war  with   England,  ib. 
Her  authority  proclaimed  at  Linlithgow,  207. 
Her  parties  defeated  by  the  new  Regent,  208. 
^Iie  answers  proposals  by  Q..  Elizabeth,  209. 
Attempts  in  vain  to  get  foreign  assistance,  ib. 
Appoints  commissioners  to  frame  a  treaty  for 
her  liberation,  209, 210.    This  proving  fruitless, 
she  is  more  strictly  confined,  210.    The  inva- 
lidity of  her  resignation  declared  in  a  Parlia- 
ment held  by  her  adherents,  212.     Act  of  Par- 
liament in  England  to  curb  her  and  her  party, 
214.    She  looks  for  protection  from  the  King  of 
Spain,  ib.     Is  denied  the  privilege  of  an  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  England,  216.    Is  more 
closely  confined  and  winched,  ib.    Proceedings 
against  her  in  England,  218.     Her  interest  ne- 
slected  by  the  French,  ib.     Is  hurt  by  the  mas- 
sacre at  Paris,  ib.     Her  adherents  divided  into 
two  factions,  222.    One  of  them  joins  with 
Morton  the  Regent,  223.     Review  of  the  cha- 
racters of  her  adherents  and  opponents,  224, 
225.     Her  forlorn  situation,  224.    Is  carried  to 
Buxton  Wells,  225.  Loses  several  of  her  friends 
by  death,  226.     Sends  a  letter  and  presents 
to  her  son,  232.   Her  messenger,  why  dismissed 
without  seeing  him,  ib.    Her  uneasiness  at  his 
confinement  by  the  Rulhven  conspirators,  242. 


Complains  to  Gt.  Elizabeth  of  her  hard  isaae, 
ib.,  and  begs  her  infr.-essioii  for  the  King  her 
,-on,  ib.    Throgmorton's  conspiracy  in  her  fa 
viiur,  248.  A  fruitless  negotiation  with  Q.  Eliza 
1-pih,  250.     Is  alarmed  tit  an  association  in  de 
fence  of  Q..  Elizabeth,  251.    Is  committed  to 
rrure  sevr  e  keepers,  ib.    Betrayed   by  Lord 
Gray,  the  Scotch  ambassador,  252.     A  statute 
for  the   preservation  of  Q..  Elizabeth,  prove* 
fatal  to  her,  253.     Is  more  rigorously  treated, 
254     Her  complaints  to   Q,.  Elizabeth  disrt- 
g&roed,  ib.     Is  by  the  French  ambassador's  in 
terest  removed  toTuthbury,  ib.    Is  undliatuly 
trented  by  *.hr  King  her  son,  it.   Her  passiomir'i    . 
complaint  tc  the  French  ambassador  on  tine  j 
occasion,  ib.    Threatens  to  disinherit  him,  25i    1 
Several  discoveries  alleged  against  her,  26!    ! 
She  i«  guarded  with   unusual  vigilance,  262. 
Her  domestic  papers,  &c.  are  seized,  ib.    She 
is  cemveyed  to  Fotheringay  Castle,  ib.    Hen 
bc'ation  concerning  the  method  of  proceeding 
ag*:iist  her,  262,  2o3     Is  suspicious  of  poison 
o»  j,»'vate  murder,  263.    Vindicates  herself  to 
tl«-.  U   of  Guise,  ib.    The  commissioners  for 
iry,g  her  arrive  at  Fotheringay  Castle,  ib. 
Ht  nn'rifed  speech  when  refus'ng  to  plead, 
26X  2t4     Is  at  length  prevailed  on,  264.    She 
pioie.-tfl  ?gviwi.  the  authority  of  the  court,  ib. 
The  actitsd'.  oj:  against  her,  iu.    Her  defence, 
264.  265.    Her  sentence,  265.    irregularities  in 
her  trial,  266.     Her  sentence  is  confirmed  by 
Parliament,  ib..  who  demand  the  execution  of 
it,  ib.     France  interposes  feebly  in  her  behalf, 
267.    The  sentence  against  her  published,  268. 
She  is  treated  with  the  utmost  rigour,  ib.    Her 
last,  request  to  Q..  Elizabeth,  ib.     Refuses  the 
assistance  of  a  Protestant  bishop  or  dean,  269. 
Artifices  used  to  inflame  the  people  against  her, 
ib.      Her  behaviour  at   her  death,  270.  272 
Sentiments  of  historians  concerning   her,  ib. 
Her  character,  ib.     Her  person  described,  273. 
Is  buried  first  at  Peterborough,  and  afterwaids 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  273.    A  dissertation  on 
the  genuineness  of  her  letters  to  Bothwell,  323. 
Letters  from  her,  A  pp.  392. 396. 424.    Objections 
against  her  by  Walsingham,  421.    '.Vhatcourse 
to  be  taken  with  her,  ib.     Her  will,  425. 

Maxwell,  Lord,  arrives  from  Spain,  and  prepnres 
forces  to  join  the  Spaniards,  278.  His  fbiowers 
dispersed,  he  is  taken  prisoner,  279. 

Melvil  is  sent  by  the  French  King  to  observe  the 
motions  of  the  Queen  Regent  and  her  adversa- 
ries, 82.  Sent  to  make  up  a  difference  between 
Elizabeth  and  Mary,  128.  Brings  about  an 
appearance  of  friendship  between  them,ib.  Is 
sent  to  inform  Q.  Elizabeth  of  the  birth  of  K. 
James  VI.,  150.  Puts  a  letter  into  the  Queen's 
hand  against  her  marriage  with  Bothwell,  167. 
Is  forced  to  fly  from  court,  ib.  Advises  King 
James  to  moderate  measures  upon  his  escape 
from  the  Ruthven  conspirators,  243. 

,  Mr.  Andrew,  a  clergyman,  his  charade 

226.  Zealously  opposes  episcopacy,  ib.  De- 
clines the  civil  jurisdiction  in  ecclesiastical 
matters,  245  Is  forced  to  fly  into  England  to 
avoid  persecution  246. 

Melville,  Mr.  James,  minister  of  Anstruther,  is 
encomium  on  the  eloquence  of  Knox,  the  Re- 
former, 221. 

,  Sir  Robert,  sent  by  K.  James  to  intercede 

with  Q.Elizabeth  for  Q.Mary,  while  under 
sentence,  269.  Executes  his  commission  with 
fidelity  and  zeal,  ib.  A  letter  of  his  to  the 
King,  Appendix, 436. 

,Masterof  the  household  to  <l  Mary,takes 


his  last  farewell  of   her,  271.     Her  parting 

speech  to  him,  ib 
Mildmay,  Sir  Wajter  sent  by  Q.  Elizabeth  with 

proposals  to  Q.  Mary,  209. 
Monluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  employed  by  the 

French  to  conclude  a  peace  with  England  and 

Scotland,  96.    Tcrmi  agreed  to  by  him,  97 


INDEX. 


457 


Montgomery,  appointed  Archbisllop  of  Glasgow, 
238,  239.  Is  refused,  and  excommunicated  by 
tile  General  Assembly  for  Ins  immoral  life,  23J. 

Montmorency,  Constable  of  France,  endeavours 
to  prevent  the  Dauphin's  marriage  with  Queen 
Mary,  67.  His  prudent  advice  to  Henry  U., 
03.  Makes  a  slender  appearance  in  favour  of 
Q.  Mary,  218, 

Morton,  Earl  of,  his  irresolute  conduct  as  to  tile 
Reformation,  6i),  90.  Accompanies  U.  Mary 
in  a  progress  to  the  North,  118.  Instigates 
Darnly  10  be  avenged  of  Kizio,  143.  Takes  the 
direction  of  that  enterprise,  1411,  144.  Is  ad- 
mitted into  the  Queen's  presence,  who  pro- 
mises him  a  pardon,  145.  Is  forced  to  fly  into 
Engla  id,  146.  Obtains  his  pardon  on  B  >ih- 
well's  intercession,  157.  Seizes  a  casket  with 
letters  from  Q.  Mary  to  Bothwell,  174.  He  is, 
by  Q.  Elizabeth's  interposition,  in  favour  with 
me  King's  party  after  the  murder  of  the  Re- 
gent,'206.  Appointed  one  of  the  commissioners 
to  treat  with  the  Queen's  party,  210.  His  de- 
mands frustrate  the  meeting,  2 10.  Is  entirely 
iiillu"iiced  by  the  court  of  England,  212,  213. 
Commands  the  King's  forces  ai  Lei  th,  216.  Has 
several  skirmishes  wuh  the  Queen's  forces,  ib. 
Closely  besieges  Edinbuigh,  and  commits  great 
cruelties,  217.  A  suspension  procured  by  the 
E  igiish  and  French  ambassadors,  ib.  A  coa- 
lition of  parties  prevented  by  him,  211).  He  is 
chosen  Regent,  220.  His  mercenary  ingrati- 
tude to  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  ib.  Ob- 
tains the  temporalities  of  the  archbishopric  of 
St.  Andrews,  ib.  Labours  to  procure  a  peace 
between  the  two  parties,  222.  Attempts  in  vain 
to  gain  Maitland  and  Kirkaldy,  ib.  Makes  a 
treaty  with  Chatelherault  and  Huutly,  223. 
Gets  possession  of  the  castle  of  Fj4:\iburgh,224. 
His  severity  to  Kirkaldy  and  h,_  Brother,  234, 

225.  His  administration  becomes  odious,  225. 
His  various  methods  of  gratifying  his  avarice, 
225, 226.    Connives  at  the  dispute  of  the  clergy, 

226.  He  irritates  the  nobles,  226,  227.    Argyle 
and  Athol  refuse  to  answer  his  summons,  227. 
Makes  a  vain  attempt  against  Lord  Claude 
Hamilton,  ib.     Discovers  the  designs  of  the 
nobles  against  him,  and  proposes  lo  resign  his 
oilice,  228.     His  resignation  accepted  by  the 
King,  gives  universal  joy,  228,  229.    Obtains 
an  approbation  of  his  conduct,  and  a  pardon 
in  ample  form,  229.    Continues  to  watch  the 
motions  of  his  adversaries,  ib.     Is  forced  to 
surrender   the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  ib.     Re- 
gimes liis  authority,  230.     Gains  the  castle  of 
Stirling,  and  a  seat  in  the  Privy  Council,  ib 
Procures  a  meeting  of  the  Parliament  at  Sn> 
Sing,  ib.     His  security  ratified  in  it. ib.    Force.? 
an;  raised  for  and  au'ainst  him,  ib.    He  is  recon- 
ciled to  bis  adversaries  by  the  intercession  of 
Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.    Is  suspected  of  foul  piay  ac 
an  entertainment  at  his  own  house,  231.    His 
illegal  proceedings  against  the  family  of  Hamil- 
ton, 231,  232.     The  King's  new  favourites  tin-  I 
dermine  him,  233.    He  endeavouts  to  prevent  I 
them,  ib.     Q.  Elizabeth  interposes   in  his  fa.- [ 
vour,  234.     Is  ch  *.;;<:  a  with  being  accessory  to  ! 
Mie  late  King's  tii  ath.  ib      He  is  cotdined  in 
different  prisons.  £3t..     Dtsco".i-32C?  ar.  attempt  j 
■o  rescue  him,  ib.     All  his  friends  are  t.urnpd 
out  of . -.mce,  236.     f-7t  a  trie,!  and  condemned,  ! 
236, 2j7.    His  resolute  cr.h.i  t,e;  &\  ienrand  o  n- 
I'ession  before  and  at  rnj  de&to.  .'37      his  bo-iy 
is  tteated  with  ignominy,  if.. 

Hurray,  Earl  of,  late  Prior  of  ft.  Andrews,  \.<  es 
with  a  handful  of  men  again-n  f]  unity,  1 19. 
By  his  great  skill  and  courage  he  ?ains  a  com 
olete  victory,  119.  1-0.  His  grant  is  confirmed 
l»y  Parliament,  121.  Cabals  a-,u:nst  him  by 
!  ennos  and  Darnly,  131.  His  aversion  lo 
Darnly  and  other  court  favourites,  133.  ('alls 
Bothwell  to  stand  a  trial,  ib.  His  reasons  for 
opposing  Darnlv's  marriage  ,\  uh  the  Queen, 
Vol.  II.— 5£ 


133,134.  He  mil  n's  av.i  lilies  are  uiBftl  Llld 
dupes  of  U.  Elizabeliis  polity,  134.  Cxili  i  I  - 
to  seize  Darnly,  and  carry  him  lo  England.  133 
This  prevented  by  the  Queen,  ib.  Avoids  as 
aassinatiou  intended  him  by  Darnly,  ib.  Evi 
deuces  of  these  plots,  ib.  The  Queen's  vassals 
are  called  to  arms  against  him,  136.  He  is 
summoned  to  appear  beiore  her,  ib.  Is  again 
summoned,  and  outlawed  on  his  nonappear- 
ance, 137.  Is  forced  to  liy  wilh  his  associate. 
into  Argyleshire,  ib.  They  are  interceded  foj 
by  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Are  pursued  by  the 
Queen,  and  obliged  to  fly  into  England,  138. 
They  meet  with  unexpected  ill  treatment  from 
Q.Elizabeth,  ib.  Courts  Rizio  to  intercede 
with  the  Queen  for  him,  140.  Many  of  his  old 
friends  solicit  for  him,  ib.  The  Queen's  favour 
how  intercepted,  141.  A  Parliament  is  called 
to  attaint  them,  142.  This  how  prevented,  ib 
He  and  his  associates  arrive  at  Edinburgh,  145. 
Are  graciously  received  by  the  King  and 
Queen,  ib.  Are  alarmed  at  the  Queen's  ep 
cape,  but  soon  reconciled  to  her,  146.  He  is 
appointed  Regent  during  the  minority  of  K. 
James  VI.,  178.  His  harsh  behaviour  in  a 
visit  to  the  Queen,  ib.  The  success  of  his  wise 
administration,  179.  Procures  many  of  the 
Queen's  party  to  join  him.ib.  Gets  the  places 
of  strength  into  his  hands,  180-  His  offic  ot 
Regent  confirmed  by  Parliament,  ib.  His  ae 
vere  and  haughty  behaviour  disgusts  several. 
181.  His  adherents  in  great  consternation  m 
the  Queen's  escape  from  Lochlevin,  ib  His 
prudent  conduct  on  that  occasion,  182.  De- 
feats the  Queen's  army  at  Langside,  182, 183. 
He  improves  this  victory,  188.  His  lenity  to 
the  prisoners,  rb.  Is  called  upon  by  Q.  Eliza- 
beth, to  vindicate  his  conduce,  ib.  He  calls  a 
Parliament,  189.  He  arrives  at  York,  ib.  Ilia 
views  in  this  affair,  ib.  Complaints  of  the 
Queen's  commissioners  against  him,  191.  He 
behaves  with  great  reserve  on  this  occasion, 
ib.  This  part  of  his  conduct  accounted  for,  ib. 
Intrigues  with  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  ib.  His 
demands  from  the  English  commissioners,  192 
Answers  to  the  complaints  of  the  Queen'scom 
missioners,  without  touching  on  the  murder, 
J  93.  Agrees  to  have  the  conference  moved  tc 
Westminster,  ib.  Is  affectionately  received  bj 
Q.  Elizabeth,  which  offends  Q.  Mary,  194.  Is 
prevailed  on  bv  >.i  Elizabeth  to  accuse  Mary  oi 
the  ir.urder  ib.  ProJuces  his  evidences,  196 
Is  dismissed  by  Q. Elizaceifc  without  appro* 
)ng  or  condemning  his  conduct,  197.  His  party 
:s  secretly  supported  by  her.  i.>.  Returns  to 
Scotland,  and  by  his  vigorous  conduct  breaks 
the  Queen's  partv,  197, 198.  Ke  receives  pro- 
posals both  from  Q.  Elizabeth  and  Q.  Mary, 
198.  He  disappoints  Norfolk  201.  An  ac- 
count of  his  murdei,  204.  His  character,  ib 
His  death  much  lamented  by  <i  Elizabeth  anc 
the  King's  party,  '-'0i>  Mucl  anarchy  th°  con 
sequence  of  it,  ib.  Purtofa  letter  of  his,  App 
402  H;s  hen  murdered  by  Hie  Earl  of  Hunt 
ly,  284. 

JVasf ,  secieip.ty  lo  Q  Mcry,  is  sent  by  her  with 
a  letter  and  presents  to  her  son,  232.  Why  dis- 
missed v,m,ii-,>:i  seeing  him,  ib.  Is  sent  with 
oilers  ot  iiniafle  resignation  to  Q.Elizabeth, 
251.  Is  sei/.e<i  ann  sent  prisoner  to  London, 
262     is  ;nor!uced  nn  evidence  against  her,  265 

JVeoM  discovers  and  prevents  Parry's  design  to 
murder  Q.  Elizabeth,  253. 

j\'rbles,  J.i'i.t  extensive  |iower,  15.  Become  tur- 
bulent too  f<  rmidable,  ib.  Their  power  greater 
in  Scoi  unu  than  in  any  other  kingdom,  16.  The 
'  .iit-es  oi  this,  ib.  Their  power  of  long  dura 
lion,  .;  It  I  ecomes  intolerable  to  the  Princes 
in.  They  are  humbled  in  France  and  England 
ib.  But  continue  vigorous  in  Scotland,  ib 
Discords  among  them  encouraged.  22     Theii 


458 


INDEX 


juri-i'iction  circumscribed,  ib.  Are  greatly 
moulded  by  K.  James  V.,  32,  33.  Are  disap- 
pointed in  a  scheme  to  show  thPir  resentment, 
j;  Refuse  to  attend  the  King  into  England, 
.(4,  .'(J.  They  seize  the  revenues  oi'  the  church,  , 
100.  Refuse  to  part  with  them  to  the  re- 
formed clergy,  ib.  Dissensions  among  them, 
116.  117.  A  convention  of  them  approve  the 
Queen's  marriage  to  Dandy,  134.  Several  of 
them  recommend  bothwell  as  a  husband  to 
her,  Ititi.  A  3trange  combination  of  them  on 
this  occasion,  ib.  A  body  oi  theur  associate 
against  her  and  Bpthwell,  J7u.  Their  different 
views  in  this,  ib.  A  party  of  them  favours  the 
<&ueen,  174.  They  ate  much  dispirited  by  the 
good  conduct  of  Murray,  179.  They  are  much 
provoked  by  Morion  the  Regent,  226,  227. 
Think  of  redress  from  the  King,  227.  Infuse 
suspicion  of  tne  Regeirt's  power  into  him,  227, 
228.  A  meeting  of  them  by  him,  228.  A  party  of 
them  coirspire  against  the  King's  favourites,  240. 
They  seize  his  person  and  drive  them  off,  ib. 
Their  neglect  of  aird  ingratitude  to  the  clergy, 
258.  The  King  attempts  to  reconcile  their 
leads  and  unite  them,  276.     See  Lords. 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  appointed  a  commissioner  to 
hear  the  cause  between  Q.  Mary  and  her  ac- 
cusers, 190.  Forms  a  scheme  of  mounting  the 
throne  of  Scotland,  191.  Intrigues  with  the 
Regent  and  Maitland  with  that  view,  191, 192. 
lie  represents  the  demands  of  the  Scots  to  Q. 
Elizabeth,  192.  His  further  negotiations  with 
aspect  to  CI.  Mary,  199.  Endeavours  to  con- 
ceal his  design  from  Q.  Elizabeth,  ib.  Is  im- 
pi  ised  on  by  the  artifice  of  the  Regent,  ib.  Gets 
the  consent  of  many  of  the  English  nobles,  200 
His  project  approved  at  foreign  courts,  ib.  Is 
discovered  and  defeated  by  Q.  Elizabeth,  201. 
Flies  to  Norfolk, ib.  He  surrenders  on  a  second 
summons,  and  is  sent  prisoner  to  tire  Tower, 
ib.  Is  set  at  liberty,  and  continues  his  intrigues 
with  y.  Mary,  215.  Is  betrayed  by  his  secre- 
tary, ib.  Is  seized  with  his  dependants,  and 
accused  by  them,  ib.    Is  executed,  ib 

Northumberland,  Earl  of,  attempts  a  rebellion  in 
favour  of  Q.  Mary,  202.  His  scheme  defeated, 
202,  203.  He  is  seized  by  the  Regent,  203.  Is 
delivered  up  to  the  governor  of  Berwick,  and 
put  to  death  at  York,  220. 

Nottingham,  Countess  of,  some  account  of  the 
transactions  concerning  the  Earl  of  Essex's 
ring,  314. 

Oetavians ,  their  institution  and  extensive  powers, 
291.  They  undermine  the  King's  ministers,  ib. 
Become  odious,  and  a  combination  is  formed 
against  them,;.;.  Being  split  into  factions,  and 
envied  by  the  courtiers,  they  resign  their  com- 
mission, 297. 

Ogiloie,  Lord,  rus  a  scuffle  with  Sir  John  Gordon 
in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh,  118. 

Oliphont,  Master  of,  joins  the  Ruthven  conspira- 
tors. 240. 

Orange,  Prince  of.  sends  an  agent  into  Scotland, 
230.    His  instf uetions. ib.    Is  assassinated,  255. 

D'Oysal,  coiftmanitei  in  the  French  troops  in 
Sen. laud,  'lOfHvoiiis  Lo  promote  a  war  with 
England,  67.  His  design  frustrated,  ib.  The 
number  of  uoops  under  his  command,  n.  In- 
stigates the  Queen  Regent  to  violent  measures 
against  the  Reibrmers,  ib.  Is  sent  by  Q-  Mary 
to  demand  a  safe-conduct  from  CI. Elizabeth, 
(!u:  ing  her  voyage  to  Scotland,  108. 

t'ainley  Abbot  of,  arrives  in  Scotland,  46.  Cr«; 
ates  a  suspicion  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox  in  the 
Earl  of  Arran,  Regent,  ib.  Is  made  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  52. 

Paris,  the  massacre  of,  218.  Rejoicings  of  I  he 
Popish  party  on  account  of  it,  ib.  The  con- 
sternation and  horror  of  the  Protestants,  ib. 

Parliament,  thenature  of  iheir  original  constitu- 


tion, 36.  39.  Particularly  that  of  Scotland,  3T 
— 39.  A  Parliament  held  on  an  extraordinary 
occasion,  98.  A  difficulty  started  and  answered, 
99.  Their  proceedings  with  regard  to  religion, 
99 — 101.  Condemn  the  popish  and  approve 
the  reformed  doctrines,  99,  100.  Several  other 
regulations  of  the  same  tendency,  100.  Their 
validity  called  in  question,  ib.  Exceed  their 
powers,  101.  Their  pioceedings  laid  before 
the  King  and  Queen,  ib.  A  Parliament  in  fa- 
vour of  Bothwell,  164.  Pass  an  act  in  favoui 
of  the  Reformation,  165.  Confirm  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  confederates,  180.  Parliaments 
held  both  by  the  King's  and  Queen's  parti. 
212.  Another  of  the  Queens  adherents,  ii 
Attaint  upwards  of  200  of  their  opponents,  2 1 . 
A  Parliament  at  Stirling  by  the  King's  patlx 
ib.  Surprised  by  the  Queen's  adherents,  ib. 
Another  at  Stirling, 230.  One  at  Edinburgh, 
233,  and  on  the  King's  being  of  age,  275. 
Several  new  laws  made  there,  276.  The  lesser 
Barons  admitted  into  Parliament,  277. 

Parry,  Doctor,  undertakes  to  murder  Q.  Eliza 
beth,  253.  Is  encouraged  by  and  gets  absolu- 
tion from  the  Pope,  ib.  His  design  how  pre- 
vented, ib.    Is  executed,  ib. 

Parsons,  a  Jesuit,  publishes  a  book  in  favour  of 
the  Infanta  of  Spain's  right  of  succession  to  the 
crown  of  England,  2L/0. 

Pasquinades  and  Pictures,  accusing  Bothwell  of 
Dandy's  murder,  163.  A  law  made  against 
them,  164. 

Patten,  William,  his  account  of  the  Scottish  an- 
cient military  discipline,  54.  note 

Paulet,  Sir  Amias,  is  appointed  one  of  Q.  Mary's 
keepers,  251.  His  rigid  severity  to  her,  254. 
Discovers  her  foreign  correspondence, 261.  His 
rude  treatment  of  her,  268.  Refuses  to  be  con- 
cerned in  privately  assassinating  her,  270.  A 
letter  from  him,  Appendix,  429. 

Pellevi,  Bishop  of  Amiens,  is  appointed  to  sup 
portthe  Popish  interest  in  Scotland,  85.  Drives 
the  Queen  Regent  to  violent  measures  against 
the  Protestants,  ib. 

Perth,  an  insurrection  of  the  Reformers  tiiere 
against  the  Papists,  75,  76.  Its  inhabitants  are 
severely  treated  by  the  Queen  Regent,  76,  77 
A  French  garrison  placed  there,  77.  Is  be- 
sieged and  taken  by  the  protestants,  79.  A 
great  tumult  there  on  account  of  Gowrie's  con- 
spiracy, 303. 

Philip  II.  of  Spain,  married  to  Mary,  Queen  of 
England,  60.  Reinforces  his  army  with  her 
troops,  66  His  great  power,  255.  Joins  in 
the  holy  league,  ib.  Resolves  to  invade  and 
conquer  England,  278.  His  preparations  for  it 
dilatory,  279,  280.  His  design  frustrated,  280 
Meditates  an  invasion  of  England  through 
Scotland,  ib.  Intrigues  with  some  Scottish 
lords  with  that  view,  ib.  Remits  money  to 
them,  ib. 

Pinkey,  the  battle  of,  53,  54. 

Pius  V.  Pope,  excommunicates  Q.  Elizabeth,  de 
prives  her  of  her  kingdom,  and  absolves  he) 
subjects,  208. 

Polly,  one  of  Habington's  conspirators  against  Q. 
Elizabeth,  260.     Discovers  the  plot,  261. 

Poltroi,  a  frantic  zealot,  assassinates  the  Duke 
of  Guise  at  the  siege  of  Orleans,  122. 

Pont,  Mr.  Robert,  a  minister,  andoneof  the  Lords 
of  Session,  protests  against  laws  oppressive  to 
the  church,  247. 

Popery,  where  most  flourishing,  61.  What  kind 
prevailed  in  Scotland,  62.  Was  partly  grafted 
on  heathenism,  79.  Is  much  hurt  by  the  Con- 
gregation, 99.  Their  doctrines  condemned  by 
Pari  iament,  ib.  The  jurisdiction  of  their  courts 
abolished,  100.  Their  worship  prohibited,  ib. 
Attempts  in  vain  to  gain  Q.  Mary's  favour,  1 13 
The  /reat  influence  of  po|iery,  141. 
■  Power,  the  balance  of,  tbe  great  consequence  •( 
i     preserving  it.  40. 


I  N  D  EX 


459 


"rtabyterian  church  government  established  in 
Scotland.  102.  Is  confirmed  by  King  James 
VI.,  285. 

Protestants,  in  Prance,  violently  persecuted.  32, 
83.  Are  moderate  on  Q,.  Mary's  arrival  from 
France,  111-  Are  employed  by  her  in  the  ad- 
ministration, id.  A  scheme  tbi  suppressing 
them  all  over  Europe,  141.  A  league  formed 
for  that  purpose,  2.55.    Sec  Reformation. 

Ramsey,  a  favourite  of  K.James  HI.,  narrowly 
escapes  being  banged  with  ins  associates,  29. 
is  appoint™!  >  aptaiii  of  the  King's  guard,  and 
crenod  Earl  of  Bothwell.  ib.    See  Bothwell. 

Randan.  Sieui  de,  employed  1j>  .lie  French  to 
negouan  a  pi  ace  with  England  and  Scotland, 
96.    Twins  agreed  on  by  bim,  97. 

Randolph,  seal  to  encourage  Hie  Congregation, 
8r  Congratulates  U.  Mary's  arrival  in  Scot- 
lana,  11!  Urges  the  ra  ification  of  the  treaty 
in  Euiuourgh.  ib.  Is  imposed  on  by  Q.  Maty  in 
the  affair  of  her  marriage  with  Darnly,  134. 
Sent  into  Scotland  on  the  murder  ol  Murray, 
20(1.  Interposes  for  Mori  m,  235.  Flies  from 
Scotland  in  the  night,  236.  Is  sent  ai:ain  there, 
and  concludes  a  treaty  with  England,  259. 
Several  of  his  letters,  A  pp.  355.  358. 361,  362. 
369.  373,  374.  376. 

Rat.cliffe.     See  Sussex. 

Reformation,  its  progress  in  Scotland,  57  Ac- 
count of  its  first  preachers,  Ib.  Is  much  influ- 
enced by  England,  58.  Two  remarkable  inst.ru- 
inentsof promoting  it,  ib.  Makes  great  progress, 
61.  Causes  contributing  to  promote  it,  ib.  Its 
advantages  over  popery,  ib.  Is  favoured  by 
the  Q.  Regent,  67.  An  instance  of  regard  for  it 
in  Scotland,  68.  The  whole  party  not  charge- 
able with  Cardinal  Beatouo's  murder,  71  note. 
A  priest  burned  for  embracing  it,  ib  The  Re- 
formers violently  persecuted  by  the  Archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  ib.,  are  protected  by  the  Q. 
Regent,  ib.,  apply  in  vain  tn  tlit  Popish  clergy, 
72.  A  persecution  against  them  pushed  on  by 
the  French  interest,  73  The  preachers  sum- 
moned before  the  Regent.  75  They  are  de- 
ceived, and  declared  outlaws  by  her,  ib.  A 
riotous  insurrection  of  them  at  Perth  against  the 
Papists,  75.  Prepare  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  Queen,  76  Conclude  a  treaty  with 
her,  which  she  presently  bieaks.  ib  They  take 
arms  against  the  Queen,  77.  Insist  on  redress- 
ing civil  as  well  as  religious  grievances,  77,  78. 
The  influenced' the  Refotmationon  libeity  ,78. 
They  besiege  and  ta*e  IVith,  7&.  They  seize 
Stirling  and  Edinburgh  ib.  Corn.mil  great vio- 
lencesor.  churches  and  monasteries,  ;n.  Their 
conduct  how  accouf,v:.<  for,  ib.  \:.  instance 
of  their  rr;r>deration  ib.  Fix  taeir  residence  at 
Edinburgh.  30.  The  Queeri  prepares  to  attack 
them  ib.  Make  snathe/  treaty  with  her,  ib. 
Are  forced  to  abandon  Edinmugh,  &c.  but  al-  j 
lowed  the  exercise  oj  O.eir  religion, 80,8.1  De- 
mand the  expulsion  of  the  French  army:  33.  j 
Are  awsre  of  their  danger  from  Franc?  32. 
Their  party  strengthened,  it.  Remon*uar'5 
against  the  French  fortifying  I.eith,  84.  Take 
arms  in  their  own  defence  85  Reinonsuat*  j 
again  to  the  Regent.  86  Are  highly  incensed 
at  her  imperious  answer,  ib  By  advice  of  a 
Convention  depnve  -.lis  Queen  Dowager  ;;f  the 
office  of  Regent,  86.  87  The  foundations  of 
this  conduct,  87.  Examination  of  the  dtflerent 
principles  on  whitii  it  was  conducted  tn  differ- 
ent countries,  lb2,  103.  The  growth  of  it  en- 
couraged by  Parliament,  130.  See  Congre- 
gation. 

tUgzlitxei,  the  ample  ju.isdiction  of,  15. 

Rejtl'apinft  tue  privilege  of,  to  whom  belong- 
ing, 15    ' 

Revenge,  wictxraged  bcih  bv  rustorr  and  law,  72 

Revenues  of  Lbe  chtirrt  v'r'  ■■  iuigs  of  rariia 
meat  eor.<.ernitg  them,  I0(i  i 


Rxdolpki,  an  agent  for  (he  pope  of  London,  ne- 
gotiates for  Q.  Mary,  214, 215.  Ilia  argument! 
with  the  1).  ol  Norfolk,  215. 

Riiio,  David,  some  account  of  him  and  Ins  rise, 
131.  Uarnly's  connexion  with  him,  ib.  His 
good  offices  courted  by  Murray,  140.  His  ^i .ni 
interest  and  familial  ity  with  the  Queen,  143 
Incurs  the  hatred  ol  Darnly,  ib.,  and  of  the 
friends  of  the  exiled  Lords,  lb.  Several  con 
curiiug  causes  of  this,  ib.  A  combination 
formed  to  murder  him,  ib.  He  is  murdered  ir 
the  Queen's  palace,  141,  145. 

Romans  invade  llritain,  7.  <iive  the  earliest  ac 
counts  of  the  Scots,  ib. 

Ross,  bishop  of,  zealously  promotes  Queen 
Mary's  interest  at  Loudon,  214.  216.  Is  con 
fined  to  the  Tower,  and  threatened  with  capi 
tal  punishment,  216.  Is  set  at  liberty,  and 
banished  from  the  kingdom,  ib.  Some  letteiw 
of  his,  App.  398.  408. 

Rubay,  a  foreigner,  made  keeper  of  the  great  seal 
ol  Scotland,  65. 

Ruthven,  Lord,  the  murder  of  Rizio  proposed  to 
him  by  Darnly,  143.  Heads  the  conspirators 
against  him,  144.  His  part  in  that  transaction, 
ib.  Is  admitted  into  the  Queen's  presence, 
who  promises  him  a  pardon,  145.  Did  nol  i. 
pent  of  it  at  his  death,  148. 

,  created  Earl  of  Gowrie,  he  and  his  asso 

ciates  seize  the  King,  and  remonstrate  against 
his  favourites, 240.  Diive  them  from  him,  240, 
241.  Their  conduct  approved  in  an  assembly 
of  the  states,  241.  The  King  escapes  from 
them,  243.  By  Arran's  influence,  violent  mea 
suns  are  determined  against  ihem.  244.  Q. 
Elizabeth  intercedes  in  their  behalf,  ib.  Are 
declared  guilty  of  high  treason,  245.  Take  re- 
fuge in  foreign  countries,  ib.  Are  harshly 
treated  by  Q.  Elizabeth,  252.  A  reconciliation 
with  her  brought  about,  257.  Return  to  Scot 
land,  and  are  reconciled  to  the  King,  257,  258 
Their  moderation  on  being  restored  to  their 
estates  and  honours,  258.  Their  neglect  oi 
their  friends  the  clergy,  ib. 

,  that  name  abolished  by  Parliament,  308 

See  Gowrie. 

Ruthven  raid,  what,  240. 

Sadler,  Sir  Ralph,  his  representations  of  the  re- 
sentment of  the  Scots  for  the  seizure  of  theii 
ships  by  Henry  VIII.,  45.  Appointed  a  com- 
missioner to  hear  the  cause  between  Q.Mary 
and  her  accusers,  190, 

I  Sandilands,  of  Calder,  Lord  St.  John,  sent  to  lay 
the  proceedings  of  the  Congregation  Parlia- 
ment before  the  King  and  Queen  of  France. 

I  J  01.  Is  coldly  received,  and  dismissed  without 
a  ratification  by  them,  ib. 

I  Savage,  a  Spanish  officer,  his  desperate  resolu- 
tion to  kill  Q.  Elizabeth,  260. 

|  Scotland,  its  ancient  history  fabulous,  7.  The 
origin  of  the  Scots.  8.  Their  history,  why  re- 
markably obscute,  ib.  Some  account  of  the 
writers  of  it,  ib.  Is  divided  into  four  periods, 
ib  A  review  of  the  third  era,  9.  Some  ac- 
count of  the  controversy  concerning  its  inde 
pendency.  9 — 11.  This  "the  cause  of  great  ani 
moaities  and  much  bloodshed.  12.  The  stale 
of  Scotland  when  Bruce  began  his  reign,  ib. 
It  begins  to  have  an  influence  on  the  fate  of 
disiant  nations,  41  Influence  as  to  the  ba- 
lance of  powei  42.  Siate  of  Scotland  at  the 
birth  of  Q.  Mary,  43  Ts  invaded  by  the  F.ng- 
lish,  and  several  places  burnt  and  plundered. 
48.  Much  alienated  from  the  English,  48.  49! 
A  peace  concluded  between  England,  France, 
and  Scotland,  50.  Computation  of  damages 
done  bv  the  English  in  Scotland. 49.  50.  A  new 
breach  with  England,  52.  Ts  invaded  by  a 
great  English  army.  53.  The  Scots  are  de- 
feated wiih  great  slaughter,  53,  54.  Theii 
manner  of  fighting  at  that  time,  54.     A  mat- 


460 


INDEX. 


liage  agreed  of  t"ieir  young  Queen  and  the 
Dauphin  of  France,  55.  They  soon  repent  this 
step,  56.  A  fray  at  Edinburgh  occasions  their 
utter  aversion  to  the  French,  57.  This  inflamed 
by  another  incident,  06.  They  decline  a  war 
with  England,  ib.  Smid  representatives  to  wit- 
ness Q.  Mary's  marriage,  68.  Their  care  as  to 
the  marriage  articles,  ib.  They  refuse  consent 
U  the  demands  of  the  French,  09.  Four  of 
their  deputies  suspected  to  be  poisoned,  ib. 
Winch  much  increases  Hie  aversion,  ib.  Gram 
the  crown  matrimonial  to  the  Dauphin,  70. 
They  apply  to  the  English  for  assistance  against 
the  French,  83.  90.  An  English  fleet  arrives 
for  that  purpose,  93.  Conclude  a  peace  with 
England,  and  receive  an  English  army,  93, 94. 
All  parties  agree  in  detesting  the  French,  95. 
A  treaty  between  England,  France,  and  Scot- 
land, 96, 97.  Both  English  and  French  armies 
leave  Scotland,  98.  They  rejoice  much  at  the 
aeatn  ot  tlie  young  King  of  France,  102.  Send 
io  invite  the  Queen  to  Scotland,  104.  Reject 
proposals  of  an  ambassador  from  France,  105. 
State  of  Scotland  on  Queen  Mary's  return  from 
France,  109,  1 10.  Great  zeal  of  the  nation 
against  popery,  110.  The  Scots  brought  into 
contempt  by  Queen  Mary's  conduct,  170.  In 
a  miserable  condition  after  the  murder  of  Mur- 
ray the  Regent,  21-2.  State  of  factions  at  that 
Hiiie  in  it,  ib.  A  league  concluded  between 
Scotland  and  England,  259.  A  view  of  the  re- 
colutions  r>f  Scotland  since  the  accession  of 
James  VI.,  XV— 322.  Of  tlie  policy  of  the 
state,  317— 319,  and  of  the  church,  319. 320.  Of 
ihe  genius  and  laste  as  to  learning, 320 — 322. 

t-oH  of  Buccleugh,  enters  and  ravages  England 
after  tlie  iniinler  of  Murray  the  Regent,  205. 
The  design  of  l ins,  "206. 

's.rrope,  [.ord.M-rii  io  cntirtote  with  and  watch  Q. 
Mary  on  nci  nritv.tl  in  England,  185.  She  is 
committed  to  hi*  custody  -it  Bolton  Castle,  188. 
Why  his  lideiKy  ih  jut.  rusted,  and  the  Queen 
rr-nmve.ii.  193 

Session,  i-oids  and  eon/i  of,  Oy  whom  first  ap- 
pointed, 23.  The  president  and  one  half  of 
U  eit  number  ol  the  cieigy  62 

Se'.on.  i.nrd,  assists  Hit  Uni-cn  R>-s>=m  in  defend 
ing  Leuh,  89 

Sh7',rsbu.ry  Earl  of.lhc  i  t;<irge  of  U  Mary's  per- 
son commuted  in  bun  Iu3  Why  removed 
from  that  cliicn. 'i>|.  |s  appointed  to  see  the 
sentence  against  her  exvciili'd,  270.  Letter 
from  in u-  and  the  Ean  ol  Kf.nt  concerning  her 
death,  Ap(n'iii)i*,  137 

Siwlair.  Bishop  of  R<=i  a  zeaious  papist,  con- 
curs, as  President  oi  ihe  Session,  m  acquilti.ug 
Knox  of  a  charge  of  treason.  W4> 

Somerset.  Duke  of.  enters  Scotland  with  a  power- 
ful army  53.  Is  reduced  io  a  very  critical  situa 
tion,  ib.  Defeats  I  ne  Scots  wild  great  slaughter, 

53,  54.    This  victory  wliy  of  In i lo  advantage, 

54.  Cabals  against  him  at  the  court  ol"  Eng 
laud  foice  him  to  return,  ib  Is  mined  by  his 
enemies,  56 

Spain, great  warlike  preparations  there, 278  «o,p 
Armada.  The  infanta  of,  set  up  as  candidate 
for  the  crown  of  England,  290. 

Spanish  ambassadors  ordered  to  leave  England 
for  intriguing  in  favour  of  Q.  Mary,  2!fi.  249. 

Sprot,  Ins  discoveries  concerning  Cowrie's  con 
spiracy.  304.  305.     Is  executed,  305. 

Stewart,  James,  Prior  of  St.  Andrew?,  is  ap 
pointed  to  carry  the  crown  matrimonial  to  the 
Dauphin  of  France,  71.    See  St.  Andrews 

— — ,  Esme,  Lord  Aubigne,  his  arrival  in  Scot- 
land, 232.     See  Aubigne. 

-,  Capt.  James,  his  character,  233.    Becomes 


a  fiiToiirite  of  King  James,  ib.     Accuses  Mor 
ton  of  the  murder  of  the  late  King,  234.     Is 
created  Earl  of  A rran.    See  Arran. 

-.  Col.  William,  commander  of  the  Kings 


guard  contributes  to  his  escape  from  the  Ruth- 


ven  conspirators,  243.   Seizes  the  Earl  of  Gow 
rie,  246. 

Stewart,  Francis,  created  Earl  of  Bothwell,  280 
Joins  in  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  thf 
popish  Lords,  ib.     See  Bothwell. 

,  all  of  that  name  combine  in  opposing  the 

Chancellor,  286. 

Stirling,  seized  by  tlie  Reformers,  79.  A  parlia- 
ment there  by  the  King's  parly,  213.  Is  sur 
prised  by  the  Queen's  adherents,  and  a  great 
fray  ensues,  ib. 

Strozzi,  Leon,  commands  a  body  of  French  sent 
into  Scotland,  52  Reduces  and  demolishes  the 
Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  ib.     See  Prance. 

Succession,  a  remarkable  statute  concerning  it,  52. 

Superintendents  proposed  in  the  church  of  Scot- 
land, 104.     Their  business,  ib. 

Sussex,  Earl  of,  one  of  the  commissioners  to  hear 
the  cause  between  Q.  Mary  and  her  accusers, 
190.  Assembles  a  powerful  army  on  the 
borders.  200  He  and  Scrope  enter  and  ravage 
Scotland.  207 

Tax  upon  land  first  proposed  in  Scotland.  66. 

Thr  ok  mor  to  n,  Sir  Nicholas,  sent  ambassador  ex 
traordinary  from  Q.  Elizabeth  to  oppose  Q. 
Mary's  marriage  with  Damly,  132.  His  in- 
tercession for  the  exiled  Lords  is  much  re 
garded,  140.  His  enmity  to  Cecil,  ib.  Is  sent 
to  negotiate  Q.  Mary's  liberation,  174  Is  re 
fused  access  to  her  by  the  confederates,  175. 
Some  letters  of  his,  Appendix,  381,  382.  386. 
388.  390,  391. 

-,  Francis,  is  charged  with  a  conspi- 
racy against  Q.  Elizabeth, 248.  At  first  denies, 
but  afterwards  confesses  it,  ib  Reflections  on 
his  confession,  ib.     Is  executed,  249. 

Titchbourne,  designs  to  assassinate  Q.  Eiiza 
beth,  260. 

Treason,  persons  guilty  of  it,  tried  after  their 
death  by  the  law  of  Scotland,  305. 

Vilmort,  a  foreigner,  made  comptroller  of  Scot 
land,  65. 

Union  of  Scotland  and  England,  the  advantages 
of,  319. 

Wallace,  Sir  William,  bravely  asserted  the  liberty 
of  his  country,  II. 

Walsingham,  secretary  to  Q.  Elizabeth,  sent 
ambassador  to  King  James  VI.,  244  Returns 
without  success,  ib.  Makes  a  favourable  re 
port  to  her  concerning  James,  246.  Interposes 
in  favour  of  Q.  Mary,  251.  Discovers  Babinu 
ton's  conspiracy,  261.  Why  a  determined  and 
inveterate  enemy  to  Q.  Mary,  262.  A  ieue. 
from  him.  Appendix,  414 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  succeeds  Somerset  in  tltt 
government  of  England,  56. 

Westminster,  the  conferences  concerning  Quetu 
Mary  there.  193. 

Westmoreland,  Earl  of,  attempts  a  rebellion  in  fa 
vour of Q.  Mary.  202     His  schemes  discovered 
and   defeated,  202,  203.      He  escapes  to  the 
Netherlands,  203. 

WiUox,  a  minister,  declares  for  resistance  and 
deprivation  of  tyrannical  rulers.  *6.  Is  called 
to  attend  the  Q.  Dowager  on  her  deathbed,  96 

Wtsharl,  Geo.  his  illegal  execution  revenged,  50 

Witchcraft,  vigorously  prosecuted  by  K.  Jame* 
VI.  in  Scotland,  283",  284. 

Wtthorn,  the  Prior  of,  imprisoned  for  celebrating 
mass,  123. 

Wotton,  Dean  of  Canterbury,  employed  to  nr-go- 
tiale  a  peace  with  France,  96. 

.  Sir  Edward,  sent  by   Q.  Elizabeth  into 

Scotland,  256.  His  character,  ib.  Gets  in  K 
James's  favour,  ib.  Procures  a  league  between 
the  two  kingdoms,  ib.  Undermines  Arran'* 
power,  257.  Forms  a  plot  on  K.  James,  and 
forced  to  withdraw  without  taking  leave,  ib. 

York,  conferences  ai,  concerning  Q.  Mary,  189. 

Zouchc,  Lotd,  sent  ambassador  by  Q.  Elizabeth 
to  remonstrate  against  K  .  James's  leruty  to  thr 
popish  Lords,  283 ;  his  treachery,  ib. 


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